In its latest report to the Government Office, the Ministry of Construction (MOC) proposed taxing those who own more than one property and leave the properties unoccupied. 

The goal is to restrict speculation, or buying in order to resell within a short time to make profits.

The proposal has been applauded by economists, who point out that land prices are galloping. While many people don’t have houses of their own after many years of saving, many others have houses left idle. 

“The proposal is worthy of attention. MOF completely agrees with it. We will study financial policies on land and real estate to create a transparent, stable and developed market,” Chi said at the regular third-quarter press conference in late September.

However, Chi pointed out that there must be comprehensive thinking to be able to build a market in a transparent and sustainable way.

“Taxation alone won’t satisfy the requirements. There must be other policies implemented comprehensively, such as policies on land and planning,” he said. “If the solutions are not comprehensive, when we obtain one goal, we will miss others, and the ultimate goal would be unattainable,” he explained.

Many experts have proposed policies that tax second and subsequent houses owned by the same individuals to discourage land speculation, said Phan Duc Hieu, a permanent member of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee. 

He said that if Vietnam doesn’t tax multiple properties, it won’t be able to solve land and real estate problems.

At the conference, Nguyen Tan Thinh, director of the Public Asset Management Department, said that MOF has submitted to the government a draft policy on cutting land tax in 2024, with two options – either a 15 percent or 30 percent land tax reduction.

At first, the ministry designed the 15 percent reduction, the same as applied in 2020, when Covid-19 was raging. However, it has raised the proposed reduction to 30 percent because of the severe damage caused by typhoon Yagi.

Dang Ngoc Minh, deputy general director of the General Department of Taxation (GDT), said the agency is proposing amending the VAT Law, and the new law is expected to get approval in October.

The National Assembly's Finance Committee plans two options to raise the taxation threshold, to VND200 million or VND300 million per annum.

Binh Minh