On September 23, at the Department of Reception and Return of the People’s Committee of Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, Ms. N.T.H came to submit the procedure for changing the land use purpose.
People Breathe a Sigh of Relief
Ms. H. said she had 200 m2 of land for long-term tree planting in Xuan Thoi Thuong commune, Hoc Mon district. The day before, she read in the newspaper that the city was applying the old land price table, so she hurried to change the land use purpose.
“I went immediately because I was worried that with the new regulations, I wouldn’t be able to afford the land use fee. Although I don’t know how high the new land price table will be when applied, I’m very happy that it hasn’t been implemented yet,” shared Ms. H.
During the day, observations at the land procedure counters of the Department of Reception and Return of results of Go Vap district, Thu Duc City Center for Public Administration… showed that the working atmosphere was not too busy. Near the end of the afternoon, Mr. T.H.K. (Tam Phu ward, Thu Duc City) came to the Thu Duc City Center for Public Administration to carry out the procedure for changing the land use purpose. Mr. K. said that his family has agricultural land, and due to the need to build a house, he had previously registered in the annual land use plan of the locality. After the land use plan of Thu Duc City was issued, he proceeded with the procedure for changing the land use purpose. However, at that time (after August 1) there was news that the tax agency temporarily suspended the handling of dossiers waiting for guidance on the performance of financial obligations, including cases of changing land use purposes, so he had to stop.
Mr. K. happily said that at the end of last week, he knew that the city was applying the old land price table to handle financial procedures for land dossiers that had been pending since August 1, so he hurried to carry out the procedure for changing the land use purpose. Mr. K. commented that the application of the old price table creates favorable conditions for people to change the land use purpose to meet housing needs.
“Release” of thousands of dossiers
Previously, at the end of July 2024, in many suburban districts such as Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Thu Duc City… many people rushed to submit dossiers for changing land use purposes and recognizing land use rights to be eligible for land prices according to Decision 02/2020 of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. However, when transferred to the tax agency to calculate land tax and land use levy, the dossiers were “stalled” waiting for guidance from competent authorities.
Facing this situation, Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has a report proposing to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee to solve financial obligations and land taxes from August 1. In addition, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also proposed to solve this problem. Up to September 20, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has had a report requesting the opinion of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on the direction of solving.
Following that, implementing the unanimous opinion at the meeting of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on September 21 and the contents of the report of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee sent to the Prime Minister, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee by Document No. 5635 decided to approve the use of the land price table issued under the 2013 Land Law as implemented before August 1 to solve financial obligations and land taxes in the period from August 1 to the time of issuance of the decision amending and supplementing Decision No. 02/2020.
Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee assigned the city Tax Department to urgently coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Finance and relevant units to deploy the implementation of solving the backlog of land dossiers since August 1.
People do procedures at the branch of Thu Duc City Land Registration Office. Photo: QUOC ANH
Increase working time, rush to handle
On September 23, talking to Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, an official of District 3 Tax Department said that after 50 days of suspending land tax calculation and waiting for instructions from higher levels, there was a backlog of a large number of land dossiers. Now that Ho Chi Minh City has approved the application of the old land price, the tax calculation department must concentrate all forces to handle it.
Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Head of District 3 Tax Department, confirmed that the Department has 300 backlogged land dossiers, so in addition to 10 specialized officers, the Department has to mobilize officers who used to work in tax calculation to increase the force. It is expected that the tax calculation for the stalled dossiers will be completed within 7 to 10 days.
Similarly, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, Deputy Head of Binh Tan District Tax Department, tax officials are facing a “mountain of work” with more than 1,000 backlogged land dossiers. “Not only working on Saturdays and Sundays, tax officials have extended the working time to 20:00 every day to be able to complete the tax calculation as soon as possible,” said Mr. Duc.
To soon complete the tax calculation, the leader of District 12 – Hoc Mon Tax Department also mobilized more than 20 officers to perform this task…
Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, said that as of the end of September 21, there were 15,800 backlogged land dossiers in the whole city. By September 22, the tax agency had handled 1,800 dossiers. The remaining 14,000 dossiers will be resolved as soon as possible.
“On September 23, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department had a meeting with the district tax departments to direct the calculation of taxes in the direction that the earlier the dossier is submitted, the sooner it will be resolved,” said Mr. Dung.Â
When asked, many officials in charge of handling dossiers said that because the regulations are new, people have not yet fully understood. In the coming days, more people will go to do the procedure for changing the land use purpose and recognizing the land use right.
No more obstacles
Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, said that the association highly appreciates the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for issuing Document No. 5635/UBND-DT dated September 21, 2024, on solving financial obligations and land taxes in the city.
The tax calculation department of Binh Tan District Tax Department extends the working time to 20:00 every day. Photo: THY THO
Mr. Chau believes that this document solves thousands of dossiers that individuals and households have submitted to the tax agency in Ho Chi Minh City since August 1 and from now until the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issues a new land price table as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 257 of the 2024 Land Law.
Anxious to Unblock Real Estate Files: A Frustrating Wait
The Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department has stated that by applying the old land price table, they will focus on clearing the backlog of property paperwork and unblocking the current bottleneck.
“Addressing the Backlog: Streamlining the Process for 9,000 Pending Land Price Adjustment Cases in Ho Chi Minh City”
At a recent meeting convened by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, delegates unanimously agreed to address the nearly 9,000 pending land-related cases in Ho Chi Minh City due to the absence of an adjusted pricing framework.
Unlocking Opportunities: Navigating the New Land Price Regulations
As per the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Minh Ngan, to address the challenges in implementing the Land Price Table as per the Land Law 2024, local authorities must focus on finalizing documents within their jurisdiction. They should also assess the impact of the draft land price table on the applicable subjects, among other crucial considerations.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment: Ho Chi Minh City Should Consider Adjusting Land Prices to Match the Actual Market Rates
“Ho Chi Minh City urgently needs to construct and promulgate an adjusted land price framework. This process of creating a new pricing table must consider and evaluate the local price landscape to ensure accuracy and fairness in the market.”
