According to the draft, the Ministry of Finance proposes to exempt personal income tax on income from the transfer of open-end fund certificates if held for 2 years or more from the date of purchase. In addition, the drafting agency also added a regulation reducing the personal income tax rate by 50% (currently at 5%) for profits that individual investors receive from securities investment funds and real estate investment funds established under the Securities Law, within the period prescribed by the Government.
Statistics from 20 fund management companies show that the personal income tax collected from fund certificate transactions is currently only about 20 - 30 billion VND/year. Fund management companies can track the time holding fund certificates through accounting methods, thereby ensuring tax exemption and reduction conditions for the right subjects.
According to the State Securities Commission, the market currently has over 80 publicly traded funds with a total revenue of about VND90,000 billion, but compared to actual demand, it is still very small. The country currently has about 10 million securities accounts, of which 99.9% are personal investor accounts. The expansion of tax incentives is expected to encourage individual investors to participate more in investment channels through open-end funds, thereby promoting balanced development between individual and institutional investors.
The Ministry of Finance said that this proposal is based on the orientation in Resolution 68 of the Politburo on private economic development, emphasizing the completion of tax policies to facilitate investment activities contributing capital to enterprises and mobilizing medium and long-term capital through investment funds.
Previously, Decision No. 1726 of 2023 of the Prime Minister approving the Stock Market Development Strategy to 2030 also aimed to promote the development of stock investment funds, towards a reasonable structure between individual and institutional investors. The proposed solutions include diversifying fund certificate distribution channels, encouraging investor participation through funds, and studying support mechanisms to ensure consistency and unity in the legal system.
