Decision 79/2024, which amends and supplements Decision 02/2020 of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, sets out extremely high land prices. In addition, the percentage rate for converting land use purposes in Decree No. 103/2024 is also high.
As a result, within the residential land quota, land users are required to pay 30% when recognizing land beyond the quota, and in some cases, up to 80% of the land price. If calculated according to this regulation, many people have to pay several billion VND more for a plot of land over 100m2 in Ho Chi Minh City to convert it for residential use. This is no different from forcing people to buy their land twice.
According to Lawyer Tran Dinh Dung, experts predict that the land prices to be issued soon and applied from January 1, 2026, will be higher than the current prices due to market increases. As a result, the amount of money for converting agricultural land to residential land will increase, and many land users in Ho Chi Minh City will have to bear a significant burden. This poses a tremendous challenge for the people. Therefore, the government should promptly amend and supplement Decree 103/2024 to reduce the percentage rate for converting land use purposes.
Notably, there was a debate at the seminar about the timing of the application of the price table according to Decision 79. According to legal experts, for cases of land-use conversion applications, the calculation should be based on the time of valid dossier submission by the people, rather than the time of the decision on land-use conversion as applied by localities today.
Meanwhile, Clause 3, Article 155 of the 2024 Land Law clearly states that for cases where the State allocates land and permits land-use conversion, the time point is when the State issues a decision permitting land-use conversion.
However, Article 3 of Decision 79 stipulates that in cases where state agencies have received the land user’s dossier before this Decision takes effect, the land price for calculating financial obligations and land taxes shall continue to be implemented according to the regulations at the time of dossier submission. This regulation is only suitable for recognizing land use rights but not for converting land use purposes.
Lawyer Dang Dinh Thinh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Legal Consulting Center, shared, “To enable competent authorities to calculate land use fees in accordance with the Law on Land, we will propose to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee to issue a decision amending and supplementing Article 3 of Decision 79.”
Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, proposed that the competent authorities consider calculating land use fees according to the new land price table. With the current method of calculating land use fees and land taxes, many people will not be able to pay and will choose to withdraw their dossiers. Withdrawing the dossier for land-use conversion means that many people accept handwritten sales, which is very disadvantageous.”
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