Many major real estate developers in Nghe An province owe land use fees.

(Baonghean.vn) - Despite tax authorities urging payment through various means, issuing notices of outstanding land use fees and late payment penalties, some businesses still fail to pay into the state budget.

To date, in Vinh City, there are 24 projects (including 4 social housing projects exempt from land use fees) for which the tax authorities have established land use fee records, with a total amount of 307.6 billion VND as notified according to Decision 80/2014/QD-UBND. The amount of land use fees already paid into the state budget is 197 billion VND.

Thus, the amount of land use fees not yet paid into the state budget is 110 billion VND. Of this, 3 projects have completed all procedures and exceeded the deadline as announced, but the businesses have not yet paid the land use fees to the state budget, with a total debt of over 75 billion VND. These are: BMC Construction and Trading Co., Ltd., investing in a project in Quan Bau Ward, Vinh City, owing 33 billion VND; late payment penalties as of April 8, 2016, amount to over 7.5 billion VND. Dong A Joint Stock Company branch, with a commercial and service housing project in Hung Binh Ward, Vinh City, owing nearly 26 billion VND; late payment penalties as of March 31, 2016, amount to nearly 1.2 billion VND. Construction Investment Joint Stock Company 492, with a commercial and service area project including housing and office buildings in Le Loi Ward, Vinh City, owes over 9.6 billion VND, along with over 100 million VND in late payment penalties as of March 31, 2016.

BMC Trading and Construction Materials Co., Ltd., an investor in a project in Quan Bau Ward, Vinh City, has a debt of 33 billion VND.

A representative from the Real Estate Project Management Board of BMC Construction and Trading Co., Ltd. stated: The project began land compensation and clearance in 2008, but to date, Mr. Minh Hong's household has yet to complete the compensation process.

The company offered 9.3 billion VND in compensation, but the family has not accepted it, leading to the company currently facing difficulties regarding the aforementioned land area. The company commits to paying the full land use fee once the land clearance is completed.

The reality is that some developers are delaying the land allocation procedures as stipulated in Decision 80/2014/QD-UBND, thus delaying the payment of land use fees. Businesses that owe land use fees may leave buyers of properties in these projects with their rights potentially suspended.

Therefore, there are currently 18 projects for which the tax authorities lack sufficient data to issue notices for land use fee payments according to Decision No. 80/2014/QD-UBND. Of these, 8 projects do not yet have land allocation decisions or land price decisions from the Provincial People's Committee; 6 projects have land allocation decisions but lack land price decisions from the Provincial People's Committee; and 4 projects have land price decisions but lack land allocation decisions from the Provincial People's Committee.

The branch of Dong A Joint Stock Company, which has a commercial and service housing project in Hung Binh ward, Vinh City, owes nearly 26 billion VND.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Head of the Vinh City Tax Department, stated: Regarding businesses owing land use fees, the Tax Department has repeatedly urged payment by making phone calls and issuing notices of outstanding land use fees and late payment penalties. The Department has also directly worked with each business, issuing written requests to those with overdue payments to immediately pay the outstanding land use fees and late payment penalties to the State budget, and requesting a written commitment to pay the land use fees. However, to date, some businesses still have not paid the money to the State budget.

For businesses that lack sufficient data for the tax authorities to issue a notice, the Sub-Department has sent official letters to these businesses, and also recorded meetings requesting them to directly work with and provide project documents to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and other relevant agencies. This is to facilitate the prompt submission of a proposal to the Provincial People's Committee to simultaneously issue a Decision on land prices and a Decision on land allocation for the project, in accordance with the 2013 Land Law.

Recently, in Conclusion Notice No. 225/TB-UBND dated April 20, 2016, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the collection of budget revenue from urban real estate projects. Accordingly, land use fees will be collected from urban real estate projects that meet the conditions for paying land use fees but have not yet paid or still owe land use fees, and from projects that are required to pay land use fees.

Regarding the BMC Vinh Plaza project in Quan Bau ward, invested by BMC Construction and Trading Co., Ltd., the Tax Department is tasked with collecting land use fees for the allocated land area and coordinating with the Department of Finance to review and resolve the company's requests. For projects that have not yet fulfilled their financial obligations due to difficulties in settling land use fee payments, the Tax Department is responsible for resolving these issues. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested that this work be completed no later than May 15, 2016.

Thu Huyen