Current land price list, financial obligations up to several hundred million VND
Lao Dong Newspaper has just published an article "Land use fees are too high, people have to give up applying for red books", reflecting the inadequacies in the land use fee collection policy when the land price list in many localities is built high, making it difficult for people to change the purpose to residential land.
For example, in Hanoi, the land price list has been approved with the highest price of more than 702 million VND/m2 on some central streets, an increase of about 2% compared to the current price, while many suburban areas are expected to increase by 25-26%.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc (Quang Ngai province) said that the high land price list has a significant impact on people, especially households with real needs. In particular, procedures related to land division and land use purpose conversion are making it difficult for many households due to sharp increase in financial obligations according to land prices.
"My family's case in Quang Ngai province is the clearest example. In 1997 and 2005, my parents gave each of my younger siblings and my younger siblings a piece of garden land, an area of about 100m2 in the same plot of land as my parents to build a house when they moved out to live separately. This is garden land, not yet converted and has not been granted a red book. The families have built houses and lived stably for nearly 30 years.
Now the house is degraded, relatives want to repair and make a certificate of land use rights for the given land. However, to do this, parents and siblings must complete the donation procedure, then change the purpose of use and separate the plot according to regulations.
With the current land price list, financial obligations are up to several hundred million VND, far beyond the means of my family in the countryside. If the new land price list increases, the legitimate needs of my parents and siblings will be almost impossible to meet," said Mr. Duoc.
According to Mr. Duoc, the development of a new land price list is necessary to make the market transparent. However, the K coefficient needs to be flexibly adjusted to ensure the rights of people with legitimate needs.
"In my opinion, for cases where people have settled down for a long time on garden land left by their parents, have a need to separate plots, change land use purposes without disputes, the price list applied should be flexible at 20-30% of the current residential land price list or have a suitable K coefficient adjustment mechanism. For disadvantaged households, they can consider exempting, reducing or extending financial obligations.
The application of the land price list needs to ensure the harmony of interests between the State and the practical needs of the people. This is also a factor that demonstrates the humanity in land policy, avoiding people falling into difficult situations right on their ancestral land and in their homes just because financial obligations exceed their ability to pay," Mr. Duoc expressed.
Need for fundamental solutions
Commenting on this issue, Mr. Nguyen Tien Thoa - Chairman of the Vietnam Valuation Association said that, implemented according to the market principle, it is necessary to be consistent so that prices accurately reflect market prices under the impact of supply - demand, not adding social policy factors to land prices.
However, the State must have a synchronous policy system to curb the impacts of land prices according to market principles. One of the proposed solutions is the "reducing shock" policy through reasonable adjustment of the collection rate compared to the current one, helping to improve land access for organizations and individuals.
It is possible to consider reducing the rate of land use conversion fee collection (not including 100% of the price in the land price list, but with a lower percentage), reducing income tax collection from land use right conversion in necessary cases appropriately... to create room for an adaptive economy.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Dinh - real estate legal expert said that an important solution that management agencies need to consider is to adjust the system of legal documents related to tax, fee, charge, land use fee, land rent.
For example, for income tax from land use rights transfer of households and individuals, the current Law on Personal Income Tax stipulates a tax rate of 2% and is calculated according to the land price list. With the assumption of an increase in the land price list, the 2% tax rate needs to be studied to adjust down so as not to increase the tax burden for entities.
According to the lawyer, in fact, this solution has begun to be applied by the State. For example, according to Decree No. 103/2024 on land rent collection, in case of land lease with annual payment, the annual land rental price is calculated as a percentage multiplied by the land price for calculating land rent.
Decree 103 stipulates a percentage ranging from 0.25% to 3% (this rate was previously from 1% to 3%). Thus, Decree 103 has reserved that in case of 4 times increase in land prices, people's land rent will remain stable.
To ensure fairness and policy consistency, National Assembly Delegate Hoang Van Cuong (Hanoi delegation) said that cases of initial granting of certificates also need to be applied with the land use fee collection mechanism as when changing the purpose.
Within the residential land limit, only 30% of the difference must be paid; 50% of the excess limit is paid once; 100% of the excess limit is paid twice.
