Financial policy helps strengthen state management of land

Legal policies on land finance have helped strengthen state management of land, contributing to encouraging organizations and individuals to use land economically and effectively. Photo: Internet

Timely remove difficulties in land management and use

In addition to the general policies on exemption and reduction of land use fees and land rents in the Government's decrees guiding the Land Law, Housing Law, etc, recently, in the face of the severe impact of Covid-19 epidemic, businesses have suffered heavy losses, including businesses operating in the real estate and housing business. To support businesses and people to cope with the negative effects of the Covid-19 epidemic and promote production and business development, the Ministry of Finance has submitted support policies to the Government and Prime Minister such as: Reduce land rent for 2020 and 2021; Reduce land rent and water surface rent in 2022; Reduce land rent in 2023 for subjects affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to the Ministry of Finance, in recent times, the policy and legal systems issued by the Ministry of Finance such as taxes, fees, and charges for real estate, policies on issuing stocks, corporate bonds, and financial land policies like collecting fees of land use, land rent... basically covers all revenues related to real estate arising in all 3 stages: establishing ownership rights, rights to use real estate; use and exploitation of real estate; real estate transfer. The implementation of these policies in recent times has contributed to strengthening state management of land, encouraging organizations and individuals to use land economically and effectively, creating a stable source of income for the state budget.

In particular, tax policies and tax policy systems for real estate in recent years have been built and basically completed synchronously, and promptly removed obstacles and difficulties in reasonable land use and management, ensuring harmony between the interests of the State, people and investors, creating resources for socio-economic development. The revised and supplemented policies contribute to removing difficulties and obstacles, simplifying procedures and creating open conditions for real estate investment and business activities, promoting the safe, healthy and sustainable development of the real estate market.

For example, regarding non-agricultural land use tax, the current Non-Agricultural Land Use Tax Law stipulates progressive taxes on residential land (including land plots, land for building villas, townhouses, and subdivided houses) to impose high taxes on cases with many houses and land as follows: 0.03% for the area within the limit , 0.07% for the area exceeding no more than 3 times the limit  and 0.15 % for the area exceeding 3 times the limit . In case there are multiple plots of land within a province or municipal city, the total area of ​​taxable residential land plots must be added to determine according to the partially progressive tax schedule above for the excess land area limit . The above regulations have contributed to strengthening state management of land, encouraging organizations and individuals to use land economically and effectively, limit ing land speculation, and encouraging the real estate market to develop transparently, sustainably.

Institutionalize the collection of land use fees and land rent according to market principles

For policies on land use fee collection and land rent collection, the policy objective is to ensure harmony of interests of the State, land users and investors; have a reasonable and effective regulatory mechanism for revenue from land use fees and land rent between the central and local levels; Research and develop policies to regulate land rent differences, ensuring publicity and transparency.

Over the past time, along with land finance policy in general, the policy of collecting land use fees, land rent, and water surface rent has gradually been institutionalized according to market principles, transparency, and equality between economic sectors; contributing to encouraging economical and effective use of land, gradually limit ing speculation, limit ing wasteful land use, contributing to orienting and encouraging the real estate market to develop; State budget revenue from land use fees and land rents has grown over the years. The shortcomings and limit ations of the policy of collecting land use fees, land rent, and water surface rent have been basically overcome after the National Assembly promulgated the Land Law in 2013 and the Government issued Decree No. 45/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 on land use fee collection, Decree No. 46/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 regulating the collection of land rent and water surface rent. At the same time, through the actual policy of collecting land use fees and land rent in the period after the 2013 Land Law was promulgated, the Ministry of Finance has researched the problems and obstacles that need to be resolved.

In addition, through the management and synthesis of feedback from localities, organizations, households, and individuals, it has been shown that some contents of land use fee collection and land rent collection policies need to be regulated. Additional regulations to have a basis for implementation, therefore, the Ministry of Finance has continued to submit to the Government to promulgate Decree No. 135/2016/ND-CP dated September 9, 2016 (amending and supplementing Decree No. 45 /2014/ND-CP on collection of land use fees, Decree No. 46/2014/ND-CP on collection of land rent and water surface rent) and Decree No. 123/2017/ND-CP, Decree No. 35/ 2017/ND-CP of the Government regulating the collection of land use fees, land rent, and water surface rent in economic zones and high-tech zones. Accordingly, there are specific regulations on exemption and reduction of land use fees and land rents to implement housing and residential land policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution who are exempt from land use fees according to regulations of the law on people with meritorious services, poor households, and ethnic minority households in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions, border areas, and islands; Use land to build social housing in accordance with the law on housing; Rent land to build accommodation for industrial park workers.

To guide the above decrees, the Ministry of Finance has issued under its authority 6 circulars guiding a number of articles of Decree No. 35/2017/ND-CP regulating the collection of land use fee, land rent fee and water surface rent fee in economic zones and high-tech zones.