Public hospital owes land rent, has no source to pay
Trieu Hai Regional General Hospital (Quang Tri town, Quang Tri province) is a public hospital, eligible for land rent exemption for land used for construction of public works according to regulations of the law on land.
In the plan for autonomy and self-responsibility for performing tasks, organizing personnel and finance for hospitals in the period of 2023-2025 approved by the People's Committee of Quang Tri province, there is no content about land rental costs.
According to current regulations, land for construction of public service facilities of public service organizations that is transferred from land allocation without land use fee collection to land lease is eligible for consideration for exemption from land rent according to regulations.
In June 2022, Trieu Hai Regional General Hospital submitted a request for exemption from land rent to the Quang Tri Provincial Tax Department. Later, the Quang Tri Provincial Tax Department determined that the hospital was late in filing the exemption application, and had to pay more than VND 371 million. "The reason the hospital filed the exemption application late was that at that time there was a COVID-19 epidemic, the unit focused on disease prevention work, and then the application was late," said Mr. Le Thanh Duong, Director of Trieu Hai Regional General Hospital.
Meanwhile, Trieu Hai Regional General Hospital does not have the financial resources to pay land rent and late payment fees as required by the tax authorities. If forced, it will seriously affect the work of medical examination and treatment, care and protection of people's health in the province.
Please give instructions for public units, private units are not clear.
In addition to Trieu Hai Regional General Hospital, in Quang Tri there are 9 other cases of public service units owing land rent arrears. These units must switch to land lease according to the 2013 Land Law. Currently, the total arrears are more than 13.2 billion VND, of which the Quang Tri Provincial Bus Station Management Center owes the largest amount, more than 4.3 billion VND. In addition to the land rent arrears, some units also have to pay late payment fees totaling more than 500 million VND.
According to the People's Committee of Quang Tri province, because 10 public units do not have a source to pay land rent debt, the delay in completing land rent exemption and reduction documents is mainly due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the People's Committee of Quang Tri province has compiled 10 units with land rent debt and reported to the Ministry of Finance to ask for solutions.
For private units, because of slow procedures for land rent exemption and reduction, they owe land rent. What is the solution?
Answering this question, Mr. Ha Sy Dong - Acting Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee - said that educational institutions are exempted from land rent, but the 2013 Land Law stipulates that all documents and procedures must be completed.
“The People's Committee of Quang Tri province is directing the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the Provincial Tax Department, the Department of Finance and related sectors to review current regulations to resolve them in a way that creates conditions for educational institutions to develop sustainably and socialize according to the policies of the Party and the State,” said Mr. Ha Sy Dong.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper No. 275 published an article “Land tax debt, the largest private school in Quang Tri is at risk of closing” reporting that in 2009, Trung Vuong Primary, Middle and High School (abbreviated as Trung Vuong School) was allocated land to build a private educational facility in Dong Ha City and was given preferential treatment of not collecting land use fees and allocating land for a long period of time. When the 2013 Land Law came into effect, cases like Trung Vuong School were required to switch to land leasing and apply for land rent exemption.
Because the school did not know, and local authorities did not disseminate, urge, or provide any guidance, it led to a debt of more than 4.5 billion VND in land rent and an estimated additional 2 billion VND in late payment fines. With the amount to be paid of more than 6.5 billion VND, Trung Vuong School could not afford to pay and was at risk of being forced to pay.
