The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has just issued a document giving comments on the appraisal of the draft Resolution of the Government on removing and handling difficulties in calculating land use fees for households and individuals when converting the purpose of use from agricultural land to residential land.
HoREA added the reason for proposing to amend Clause 2, Article 3 of the draft Resolution, recommending to allow "re-calculating land use fees" for cases that have paid according to the notice of the tax authority before the effective date of the Resolution.
The Association believes that Clause 1, Article 55 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2025 clearly states: "Only in cases where it is necessary to ensure the common interests of society and exercise the rights and interests of organizations and individuals as stipulated in the law and resolution of the National Assembly, shall legal documents of central agencies, People's Councils, and provincial People's Committees be regulated to take effect first".
According to HoREA, the policy of the draft Resolution, if issued, will benefit households and individuals who pay land use fees according to the new regulations. However, households that have paid land use fees according to Article 8 of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP are in a disadvantageous situation, suffering "disadvantage" when having to pay 100% of land use fees for both the area within and exceeding the limit.
The Association analyzed that Decree 103/2024/ND-CP, which has only been effective since August 1, 2024, has only been in effect for more than a year, so the number of households and individuals who have paid land use fees in the old calculation method is not much. Therefore, if land use fees are allowed to be recalculated according to the provisions of the draft Resolution, the state budget will not be greatly affected, because the Ministry of Finance has enough data to report to the Government and competent authorities.
This adjustment, according to HoREA, also helps prevent comparisons between households that have previously paid high land use fees and households that will be applied a new calculation method, thereby limiting the arising complaints, ensuring fairness for the people.
To prove it, HoREA gave a specific example: two plots of land of Mr. A and Mr. B, each plot of 300m2, located next to each other. The land price in the price list is 10 million VND/m2, perennial garden land is 0.5 million VND/m2, the local residential land limit is 250m2, so each plot has 50m2 of land exceeding the limit.
In case Mr. A made a red book before the new Resolution took effect, according to Decree 103/2024/ND-CP, he must pay 2.85 billion VND. Calculated according to the formula: (10 million VND x 300m2) - (0.5 million VND x 300m2).
If Mr. B makes a red book after the new Resolution is issued and applies a fee of 30% for the area within the limit, 50% for the area exceeding the limit, the total amount to be paid is only 950 million VND, down 66.6% compared to Mr. A.
If applied according to HoREA's proposal (20% within the limit, 30% exceeding the limit), Mr. B only had to pay 617.5 million VND, down 78.3% (equivalent to nearly 4/5) compared to Mr. A.
From the above example, the association warned of the possibility of comparisons and complaints among people, causing complications in management. Therefore, HoREA proposed that the Ministry of Finance submit to the Government for consideration the amendment of Clause 2, Article 3 of the draft Resolution in the direction of allowing the recalculation of land use fees for cases that have paid according to the notice of the tax authority before the effective date of the Resolution.
According to HoREA, if this proposal is approved, the new policy will both ensure the legitimate rights of the people and avoid complaints, while not causing a big impact on the State budget.
