Proposed regulations to adjust family deduction levels

Continuing the 4th session of the 13th National Assembly, on the afternoon of November 5, delegates discussed in groups the draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax and the draft Law on grassroots mediation.

National Assembly delegate of Yen Bai province Phung Quoc Hien speaks at the group.
(Photo: Nguyen Dan/VNA)

Need to amend the Personal Income Tax Law

Most delegates agreed that after 3 years of implementation, the Law on Personal Income Tax and the current Decree of the Law have revealed some limitations, especially in terms of scope, taxable subjects; family deductions for taxpayers... Many opinions agreed with the amendment and supplementation of a number of articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax to ensure the consistency of the legal system and stability.

Through discussion, most delegates expressed their agreement with the draft Law on Personal Income Tax, which stipulates increasing the family deduction for the taxpayer from 4 million VND/month to 9 million VND/month; the deduction for each dependent from 1.6 million VND/month to 3.6 million VND/month; and adding a provision that when market prices fluctuate by more than 20%, the Government will submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee an adjustment to the family deduction.

Delegate Nguyen Van Minh (Ho Chi Minh City) said that the deduction for dependents is still low and suggested that the family deduction should be increased to 4.5 million; at the same time, it is necessary to reduce family deductions for those with incurable diseases (cancer...), the deduction for these cases should be doubled to 7.2 million VND and no income tax should be paid.

Agreeing with the opinion of delegate Nguyen Van Minh, delegate Truong Trong Nghia (Ho Chi Minh City) said that in cases of sudden onset of incurable diseases that can be proven, a request can be made to the Tax Department for consideration for exemption.

Delegate Truong Trong Nghia raised the issue that the 9 million/month level is mainly for low-income and middle-income people, but the delegate was concerned that it does not cover all of each person's income.

Delegate Nguyen Van Minh recommended that the State should take measures to strengthen the management of loss of personal income tax for high-income earners.

According to delegate Thach Thi Dan (Tra Vinh), the Law needs to adjust the allowances and subsidies according to regulations for people with meritorious services. Currently, in addition to preferential allowances for people with meritorious services, the Government also needs to stipulate that some sectors are entitled to preferential allowances, such as education, health, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to add preferential allowances for some other sectors as well as tax deductions. The delegate said that this regulation shows the State's preferential treatment for officials and civil servants in some sectors that are facing difficulties.

Delegate Tran Thanh Hai (Ho Chi Minh City) assessed that the draft Law on Personal Income Tax still calculates tax on maternity and toxic allowances, which is inappropriate.

Delegate Tran Tien Dung (Ha Tinh) said that it is difficult to reduce family circumstances for taxpayers at 9 million VND/month; therefore, it is necessary to regulate according to a better salary coefficient.

According to delegate Huynh Thanh Lap (Ho Chi Minh City), the draft law does not specify the number of dependents, so there are cases where a person can declare many dependents and get confirmation from the government quite easily, causing tax losses for the state. The delegate suggested that the Law on Personal Income Tax should add a regulation on the number of dependents.

Regarding the implementation time of the Personal Income Tax Law, according to many delegates, the draft Law was proposed in July 2013, the new Law will take effect, but after being passed by the National Assembly, the Personal Income Tax Law needs to be implemented immediately from January 1, 2013.

Timely resolve conflicts and disputes in residential areas

The majority of delegates agreed with the need to promulgate the Law on grassroots mediation after 13 years of implementing the Ordinance on the organization and operation of grassroots mediation. The promulgation of the Law aims to strengthen the legal basis for more effective organization and operation of grassroots mediation, create a support mechanism for people, contribute to stabilizing social order, strengthen solidarity in the community, in accordance with national cultural traditions, and reduce unnecessary cases that need to be brought to state administrative agencies or courts for settlement.

Delegates said that the issuance of a higher legal framework to regulate mediation activities at the grassroots level will promote people's choice, participation as well as a coordination mechanism for many parties involved in the mediation process, especially the core role of the Fatherland Front, ensuring flexibility and adaptability, contributing to the timely resolution of conflicts and disputes in residential areas, saving time and money for the State and people.

According to the provisions of the draft law, the scope of “mediation at the grassroots level” is to resolve conflicts, law violations and minor disputes among the people. This provision is specified in Article 3 of the draft law, including matters within the scope of mediation and cases that are not subject to mediation.

Through discussion, many delegates agreed with the Drafting Committee on the scope of mediation in the draft law because it is consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, inherits the provisions of the current Ordinance and is consistent with the actual requirements as well as the current team of mediation workers at the grassroots level. However, there were also concerns about the difficulty in distinguishing between the scope of conflicts, small disputes and violations of the law. In fact, this boundary is very difficult to "quantify."

Delegate Pham Van Tan (Nghe An) was again confused about the regulation on mediation at the grassroots level for criminal law violations where the victim did not request or withdrew the request to initiate criminal proceedings, the prosecution agency did not initiate proceedings or suspended the criminal case according to the provisions of the law as stipulated in the draft law. According to the delegate, criminal law violations are not the responsibility of the mediation team but must be the "job" of the People's Committee of the commune.

Regarding the regulations on electing and recognizing mediators, delegate Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa (Bac Ninh) said that the draft law should stipulate that mediators should not be elected but only selected, introduced and recognized because this is a voluntary and socialized job. The delegate also suggested that the draft law should have separate regulations on gender equality and domestic violence. The delegate analyzed: mediating relationships between neighbors and relationships between family members are very different.

In reality, current reconciliation related to domestic violence often tends to advise and encourage victims of domestic violence (mostly women) to accept concessions and resignation for a peaceful family... Delegates suggested that the draft law needs to ensure the principle of gender equality and ensure women's rights.

Delegates also spent a lot of time discussing the selection, introduction and recognition of mediators; the responsibilities of agencies and organizations in mediation activities at the grassroots level.../.

According to (TTXVN) - LT