Regarding the penalty for late payment of land auction winning bids in Cua Lo: Citizens' complaints are well-founded.
The case of a citizen complaining that the Tax Department of Bac Vinh area was improperly penalizing the late payment of land use fees for land acquired through auction was reported by Nghe An Newspaper on June 13, 2024. The matter has been clarified, and the citizen's complaint is deemed justified.
Summary of the incident
As reported by Nghe An Newspaper in the article "What can be seen from citizens' complaints about penalties for late payment of land use fees for auctioned land," Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, residing in Block 10, Le Loi Ward (Vinh City), was the winning bidder for 3 land plots in the cold storage planning area, Nghi Tan Ward, Cua Lo Town, with a total amount exceeding 5 billion VND.
When going through the procedures to obtain a land use right certificate, he was fined for late payment of land use fees, even though he had previously paid the full amount of the winning bid to the State budget.
Requesting clarification, on May 14, 2024, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh was met with representatives from the Taxpayer Support Information Team (North Vinh Regional Tax Office) in coordination with the Cua Lo Town Post Office. During this meeting, the citizen was informed that on January 8, 2024, the North Vinh Regional Tax Office issued a notice regarding the payment of land use fees and registration fees for the auctioned land belonging to Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh; on the same day, tax officials handed over the notice to the Cua Lo Town Post Office.
The Cua Lo Town Post Office confirmed that on January 8, 2024, it received the notification from the tax authority and handed it over to the Nghi Tan Ward Post Office staff on the same day. The unit also confirmed that Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh received the notification to pay land use fees and auction land fees on February 15, 2024, delivered by the Nghi Tan Ward Post Office staff.
At the same time, by comparing the time Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh paid the land use fees for each plot of land into the State budget with the payment deadlines stated in the notice, it was concluded that the total amount of overdue land use fees for auctioned land is 33,066,851 VND.
From this, it is determined that the Nghi Tan Ward Post Office employee is responsible for the overdue tax payment of 4,669,601 VND; Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh is responsible for paying the overdue tax payment of 28,397,250 VND; and it is requested that the Nghi Tan Ward Post Office employee cooperate with Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh to pay the 4,669,601 VND, and Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh pay the 28,397,250 VND before May 15, 2024.
However, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh disagreed because "The notice from the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Office was not delivered to him; the Nghi Tan Ward Post Office employee delivered the notice late, and delivered it to another person who won the land auction, but this person did not deliver it to him…". Mr. Dinh stated in the minutes: "I disagree with the content of this document, I do not agree to pay the late payment penalty…". Subsequently, Mr. Dinh filed a complaint with several provincial-level agencies, the Tax Department, and the Nghe An Newspaper.
In his complaint, Mr. Dinh cited Article 13 of Circular 14/2015/TTLT-BTNMT-BTP, which stipulates the responsibility of tax authorities in issuing notices for land use fee payments; the responsibility of tax officials in charge in sending tax notices and guiding the winning bidder to comply with the regulations in the tax notice… Through this, Mr. Dinh argued that the penalty for late payment of land use fees imposed by the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Office on him was contrary to the law and requested: “The Bac Vinh Regional Tax Office must bear full responsibility for the delay in processing my land title application, causing economic damage and harming my legitimate rights and interests. Therefore, I am writing this letter to respectfully request that your agency investigate, handle, and resolve this matter definitively so that the Cua Lo Town People's Committee can issue me a land use right certificate…”
The complaint is "partially valid".
Working with the Northern Vinh Regional Tax Office on June 11, 2024, we were informed that the unit was conducting an inspection and review to handle the complaint. Specifically, Deputy Head of the Tax Office Pham Thi Hong Van stated: “We have worked with the person authorized by Mr. Dinh; on the same day, we also arranged to work with the Cua Lo Town Post Office. Because the complainant also complained about the attitude of the tax officials, we will also verify the information. Afterwards, we will organize a meeting with all relevant parties to resolve the issue definitively and provide a response to the press…”
Therefore, in the article "What can be seen from citizens' complaints about penalties for late payment of land use fees for auctioned land," Nghe An Newspaper only mentioned the content of the complaint, and also pointed out that the Tax Sub-Department of Bac Vinh area issued the tax payment notice on January 8, 2024, while the Taxpayer Support Information Team determined that Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh only received the notice on February 15, 2024, to conclude that the Nghi Tan ward Post Office staff were negligent; while the relevant tax officials lacked attention to checking, guiding, and urging the land auction winners to fulfill their obligations to the State.
According to Deputy Head of the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Department Pham Thi Hong Van, the Department has completed the resolution of Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint in Decision No. 1605/QD-CCT dated July 5, 2024. Accordingly, the verification team of the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Department has compiled, checked, and reviewed documents and worked with relevant parties to conclude: "Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint regarding the calculation of late payment penalties and the refusal to pay late payment penalties from February 7, 2024, onwards for the notices of land and house registration fees and land use fees issued on January 8, 2024, by the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Department is well-founded."
In addition, based on Government Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020, the responsibilities of the relevant parties regarding the late payment penalty for land use fees applied to Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh were reviewed and clarified.
This is the basis for the North Vinh Regional Tax Office's conclusion: "Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint regarding the calculation of late payment penalties and his refusal to pay late payment penalties from February 7, 2024, is well-founded. The North Vinh Regional Tax Office acknowledges that Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint is partially correct. Therefore, it is decided: "To partially acknowledge the content of Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint, address: Block 10, Le Loi Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An Province, as stated in the complaint accompanied by the transfer slip from the Nghe An Provincial Tax Department dated May 22, 2024. Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh is responsible for paying the late payment penalties for registration fees and land use fees, totaling 9,061,848 VND."
After being informed by the North Vinh Regional Tax Office about the resolution of the complaint, we contacted the person authorized by Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh (Mr. Ho Sy Dung), and were provided with two "Payment Receipts for State Budget." One receipt showed that a tax officer "paid on behalf" of Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh the amount of 19,335,402 VND; the other showed that a postal worker "paid on behalf" of Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh the amount of 4,669,601 VND.
According to Mr. Ho Sy Dung, despite a significant reduction in the fine, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh is still not entirely satisfied with the resolution of his complaint by the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Office, as the basis for requiring him to pay 9,061,848 VND remains unclear. However, in order to obtain land use right certificates from the authorities for the three plots of land he won in the auction, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh has already paid the full amount.
The officials have been held accountable.
Speaking with Nghe An Newspaper on July 25, 2024, Pham Thi Hong Van, Deputy Head of the Bac Vinh Regional Tax Department, said that after resolving Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh's complaint, the Department conducted a review of responsibilities and took disciplinary action against the relevant tax officials.
