Tired of waiting for tax calculation
Many real estate buyers and sellers in Ho Chi Minh City are facing delays in paying personal income tax to complete the procedures for transferring ownership.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Duy from Da Nang bought a house in Phuoc Kien commune (Nha Be district) for more than 8 billion VND. As soon as he signed the notarization and declared the correct purchase price for tax calculation, his file was submitted to the one-stop department at the Nha Be district Land Registration Office Branch. All procedures were completed, the file was transferred to the tax department, but it has been 1 month and it is still not completed. While the new land price list is not available yet, the current land price list is still valid according to the provisions of the 2024 Land Law, but the tax department is "holding" the people's files.
Many people who sell real estate to pay off debts are also quite upset. Ms. My Hanh (living in An Phu ward, Thu Duc city) shared that she needed money to pay off bank debts so she sold a house in Citi Bella 1 neighborhood near Cat Lai port. And although she submitted her application in early August, she has not yet been able to complete the tax payment procedures. The tax authority has repeatedly responded that she must wait for the city's new land price list. This situation makes Ms. Hanh worried about the possibility of having to refund billions to the buyer because she cannot transfer the pink book on time.
“So if this land price list is out, will it be calculated according to it, or will it still be low and the request be made to record it according to the tax office’s proposed price? I have sold the land, the bank is freezing my account waiting for registration, I cannot get the money to pay the debt, the interest on the old debt must be paid every day. Every day the authorities delay, I suffer a loss. The old one is not allowed to be applied, while the new one has not been finalized yet,” Ms. Hanh was upset.
Thousands of files stuck at tax authorities
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, from August 1 to August 27, it received a total of 8,808 records. Of these, 346 records were for land use fee collection in cases of land use right recognition, 277 records were for land use fee collection in cases of land use purpose change, 5,448 records were for personal income tax from real estate transfer, and 2,737 records were for cases where no financial obligations arose (personal income tax from real estate transfer, registration fees, etc.).
Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association - said that there have been recommendations and proposed solutions to handle the 8,808 backlogged cases mentioned above. Accordingly, the Association requested the City Tax Department to direct the Tax Branches to immediately resolve 2,737 cases in cases where there are no financial obligations to the State because these cases do not incur personal income tax obligations from real estate transfers, registration fees, etc. because all of these cases are not legally entangled.
In addition, the Association proposed to classify 5,448 personal income tax records due to real estate transfers to have appropriate solutions and requested the Ministry of Finance to soon issue a document guiding the professional handling.
Accordingly, for personal income tax records due to real estate transfers, where the transferors record the price on the transfer contract equal to or higher than the house and land price prescribed by the provincial People's Committee at the time of transfer, the tax authority will continue to resolve the calculation of personal income tax due to real estate transfers. In case the tax authority detects signs of declaring the transfer price lower than the house and land price prescribed by the provincial People's Committee at the time of transfer, the tax authority will request the parties to re-declare the transfer price and consider resolving the calculation of personal income tax due to real estate transfers as has been done in previous years.
Regarding 346 pending land use fee collection records when recognizing land use rights and 277 pending land use fee collection records when changing land use purposes, according to the Association's proposal, competent authorities in Ho Chi Minh City must make efforts to soon issue an "adjusted land price list" in the next 1 or 2 weeks to both resolve 8,808 pending records at the tax authority and apply the adjusted land price list to 11 cases as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 159 of the 2024 Land Law.
