Excessive land, home ownership subject to high taxation

A Party Central Committee resolution requires higher tax to be levied on excessive possession of land and housing.

The newly-released Resolution 18 specifies further reforms to institutions and policies and improvements to efficiency in land management and utility as driving forces of Vietnam’s course to become a high-income, developed country.

It requires land and houses, apart from those for people’s actual residential use, to be subject to higher tax. Higher tax will also be applied to land lying idle or open for speculation.

Levying higher tax on excessive possession of land and houses, and land aimed at speculation has been a controversial issue in Vietnam for long. Supporters of such a rule said a higher tax would help curb speculation, provide more supply to the market, and ensure social fairness.

However, policy makers have further researched the idea after seeking public opinions from a divided society.

The new resolution would pave the way for a new breakthrough policy relating to land taxation.

The resolution added that land must be used in an efficient and sustainable manner, ensuring social fairness and preventing land deterioration, damage, waste, and corruption. Land policies must guarantee harmonisation of the interests of the state, users and investors.

Laws and regulations relating to the real estate market, including commercialization of land use rights, will be completed. The data system for the real estate market, including data on land, will be built.

The resolution requires an adequate legal framework and increased execution of non-cash payment in real estate transactions, ensuring the healthy, safe and sustainable development of the real estate market, while preventing land speculation.

It requires state agencies to outline mechanism and methods to determine land prices in line with market mechanisms. The central government will develop criteria and inspection processes, and supervise cities and provinces in drawing up land price tables.

There will be new regulations to ensure transparency like making public land prices, transactions to be made via trading floors, payment via banks, and non-cash payment.

The resolution orders amendments to the Land Law 2013 and related laws be completed in 2023.