Taxing gold bars: Finance Minister says 'there is no such thing as double tax'

Many National Assembly deputies debated the application of tax on gold bars to avoid double taxation but also to combat speculation.

Delegate Trinh Xuan An ( Dong Nai ) - Photo: GIA HAN

On the afternoon of November 19, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law on Tax Administration (amended) and the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended).

The draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended) stipulates that tax collection on gold bars is a new issue when according to international practice, no country has collected tax on gold bars, but delegate Trinh Xuan An (Dong Nai) said that imposing this tax is suitable with the characteristics and peculiarities of Vietnam.

Especially when it is very difficult to distinguish between speculation, investment and savings, even though there are many policies to manage and handle speculation in the market.

"We agree that taxing gold bars is a suitable policy, contributing to proper market regulation. It cannot be said that saving money means staying up all night, staying up from 3am to register to buy gold bars, and then not being able to buy gold bars, buying rings in blister packs. It is not possible to save money like that, speculation appears, so there must be appropriate and comprehensive management policies" - delegate An said.

At the same time, this policy only applies to gold bars, not gold rings. The Government is responsible for specifying the threshold and determining the timing.

Accordingly, the delegate said that it is necessary to determine the threshold value of gold bar transactions, not the threshold of gold bars. For example, the transaction value is up to 200 million/transaction or 1 billion VND in transactions in a year.

Determining the time of tax collection for the gold market is assigned to the Government to adjust, according to delegate An, in the context of no gold exchange, there needs to be specific regulations to immediately implement this tax collection. This tax rate should also be assigned to the National Assembly Standing Committee to adjust, which will be more appropriate without worrying about tax duplication and affecting people's savings.

Contrary to this opinion, previously, delegate Tran Kim Yen (HCMC) raised concerns about double tax in the taxation of gold bar transfers. Because most people consider gold as an asset accumulated from savings, scrimping on daily living expenses, saving up assets for emergencies in life such as funerals, weddings, illnesses, etc.

Not to mention, gold bought from savings has been deducted from income tax, but then sold, the gold continues to be taxed, so the delegate asked the question: "Is this a tax on tax?" and said that taxing people's gold savings does not have humane meaning, social meaning of economic management.

Meanwhile, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap) agreed with the proposal, stating that for speculative activities that are profitable or speculative for profit, it is necessary to tax at the proposed rate of 0.1% to limit speculation, which affects the stability of the gold market.

However, for families who save and buy gold, use gold as an asset for their children or for the family to use when there is a problem and then sell it on the market, not for business purposes, it should be considered and should not be taxed.

Explaining this content, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang said that the tax collection on gold bar transfers has been carefully reviewed and researched based on the synthesis of opinions from ministries, branches and audit opinions.

According to Mr. Thang, the draft law assigns the Government to base on the gold market management situation, regulate the time of applying value thresholds, tax thresholds, and adjust tax rates to suit gold market management.

On the other hand, personal income tax on gold bars has a tax rate of 0.1% on the value of each transfer. The main objective of this tax is to regulate gold buying and selling behavior to avoid speculation, putting pressure on the gold market, related to the foreign exchange market.

"This content is one of many solutions for us to stabilize the gold market. The Government will consider the time. We have researched, there is no such thing as double tax," Mr. Thang said.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/danh-thue-vang-mieng-bo-truong-tai-chinh-noi-khong-co-chuyen-thue-chong-thue-20251119160629306.htm