The act of changing the land use purpose from agricultural land to residential land without the permission of a competent state agency is an act of violating the principles of land use in Clause 1, Article 5 of the 2024 Land Law. Specifically, this act will be administratively sanctioned according to Article 8, Article 9 and Article 10 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP as follows:
Case 1: Conversion of agricultural land use purpose from rice land to residential land:
(1) The act of converting rice land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of the commune shall be fined as follows:
- A fine of between 20,000,000 VND and 30,000,000 VND for land areas under 0.01 hectares;
- A fine of between 30,000 VND and 50,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.01 hectares to less than 0.03 hectares;
- A fine of between 500,000 VND and 100,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.03 hectares to less than 0.05 hectares;
- A fine of between 100,000,000 VND and 150,000,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.05 hectares to less than 0.1 hectares;
- A fine of between VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000 shall be imposed on land areas from 0.1 hectares or more.
(2) For the act of converting rice land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of wards and towns, the penalty level is 2 times the penalty level corresponding to land within the administrative boundaries of communes.
In addition to being fined, land users are forced to restore the original state of the land before the violation, except for the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 139 of the 2024 Land Law and return the illegal profits obtained from the violation (Clause 5, Article 8 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP).
Case 2: Converting agricultural land use purposes from forestry land to residential land:
(1) For the act of converting forestry land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of the commune, the form and level of penalties are as follows:
- A fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND for land areas under 0.02 hectares;
- A fine of 20,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND for land areas from 0.02 hectares to less than 0.05 hectares;
- A fine of between 500,000 VND and 100,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.05 hectares to less than 0.1 hectares;
- A fine of between 100,000,000 VND and 150,000,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.1 hectares to less than 0.5 hectares;
- A fine of between VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000 shall be imposed for land areas from 0.5 hectares or more.
(2) For the act of converting forestry land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of wards and towns, the penalty level is equal to 2 times the penalty level corresponding to the provisions of Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.
In addition to being fined, land users are forced to restore the original state of the land before the violation, except for the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 139 of the 2024 Land Law and return the illegal profits obtained from the violation (Clause 5, Article 9 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP).
Case 3: Converting agricultural land use purposes that are not rice land, not forestry land to residential land:
(1) The act of converting agricultural land that is not rice land, not forestry land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of the commune, the form and level of penalties are as follows:
- A fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND for land areas under 0.01 hectares;
- A fine of between 20,000,000 VND and 30,000,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.01 hectares to less than 0.03 hectares;
- A fine of between 30,000 VND and 50,000 VND for land areas from 0.03 hectares to less than 0.05 hectares;
- A fine of between 500,000 VND and 100,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.05 hectares to less than 0.1 hectares;
- A fine of between 100,000,000 VND and 150,000,000 VND shall be imposed on land areas from 0.1 hectares or more.
(2) The act of converting agricultural land that is not rice land, not forestry land to residential land within the administrative boundaries of wards and towns, the penalty level is 2 times the penalty level corresponding to land within the administrative boundaries of communes.
In addition to being fined, land users are forced to restore the original state of the land before the violation, except for the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 139 of the 2024 Land Law and return the illegal profits obtained from the violation (Clause 4, Article 10 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP).
This fine level applies to individuals and organizations with the same violation, equal to 2 times the fine level for individuals (Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP).
