Can I sell land if I owe business taxes?
I previously owned a food service business, a restaurant. Two years later, I ceased operations and notified the local tax authority. Now I am signing a transfer contract to sell a plot of land. However, I have just received a notice from the authorities processing my land registration application stating that I still owe personal income tax and value-added tax from the business activities of the household business I previously operated.
They require me to fulfill my outstanding business tax obligations before they will process my land purchase application. So, I would like to ask, is this correct or incorrect? This is a question from Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang (Kim Lien commune, Nghe An province).
Reply:According to Clause 1, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law, land users are entitled to transfer, convert, lease, sublease, inherit, and donate land use rights when they meet the following conditions:
a. Possessing a Certificate of Land Use Rights or a Certificate of Ownership of Housing and Land Use Rights or a Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Housing and Other Assets Attached to Land or a Certificate of Land Use Rights and Ownership of Assets Attached to Land, except in cases of inheritance of land use rights, conversion of agricultural land during land consolidation and exchange, donation of land use rights to the State, the community, and cases stipulated in Clause 7, Article 124 and Point a, Clause 4, Article 127 of this Law;
b. The land is free from disputes, or any disputes have been resolved by competent state authorities, court judgments or decisions, or arbitration awards that have become legally effective;
c. Land use rights are not subject to seizure or other measures to ensure the enforcement of judgments as prescribed by the law on civil judgment enforcement;
d. During the land use period;
d. Land use rights are not subject to temporary emergency measures as prescribed by law.
Furthermore, according to Clause 5, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law, "In cases where land users are allowed to delay or defer payment of financial obligations, they must fulfill these obligations before exercising the rights to convert, transfer, lease, sublease, donate land use rights, mortgage, or contribute land use rights as capital."
Therefore, if you are overdue or have outstanding financial obligations related to land, you must fulfill these obligations before selling (transferring) the land. If you have not fulfilled your financial obligations, you will not be eligible to transfer the land use rights.
Financial obligations here include amounts such as land use fees, land rent, taxes, fees, and charges related to land. Personal income tax or value-added tax debts of a business you previously owned, which are unrelated to your land plot, will not be considered a reason to deny you the right to sell the land.