Draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended): Clearly distinguish between speculation and hoarding and saving gold

The draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended) regulates the transfer of gold bars, aiming to control speculation and make the gold market transparent. However, according to delegates, this policy needs to be implemented with a clear distinction between speculative activities and people's hoarding activities so as not to affect people who buy gold only for saving purposes.

Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Can Tho City Nguyen Tuan Anh chaired the group discussion session.

Discussing the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended), National Assembly delegates of Group 11 (including the National Assembly Delegation of Can Tho City and Dien Bien Province) all expressed their agreement on amending the Law, however, they still had concerns about many specific contents of the draft Law.

Towards fairness in social income distribution

National Assembly Deputy Le Thi Thanh Lam (Can Tho) agreed to expand the scope of taxable income, not only to increase budget revenue but also to aim at fairness in social income distribution. In the context of the development of the digital economy , many new types of values ​​such as virtual assets, carbon credits or auctioned license plates have appeared. The delegate said that putting these incomes under regulation demonstrates the State's efforts in transparent management and adaptation to modern economic trends.

National Assembly Delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam (Can Tho) speaks

However, regarding the gold sector, the delegate said, this is a "very hot issue and voters are also very interested".

Specifically, the draft Law stipulates personal income tax rates for gold bar transfers, aiming to control speculation and make the gold market transparent. However, according to delegates, this policy needs to be implemented with a clear distinction between speculative activities and hoarding activities so as not to affect people who buy gold only for savings purposes. Because the psychology and habits of Vietnamese people are often when they have money, they save to buy gold for savings, to save for family living, not for speculative purposes.

"The regulation of the taxable gold bar value threshold will only be effective when the policy is implemented with a clear and transparent roadmap," the delegate emphasized.

Along with that, according to delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam, it is necessary to build a flexible declaration and deduction mechanism, allowing gold trading organizations or trading floors or commercial banks to deduct and pay taxes on behalf of traders, helping to reduce the procedural burden for individuals; at the same time, it is also necessary to integrate electronic tax declaration through the national tax data system to synchronize information, improve monitoring capabilities or increase transparency and efficiency in policy implementation.

Tax calculation should be based on actual income after deducting minimum living expenses.

An important issue of the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended) that National Assembly deputies focused on discussing was the family deduction level. Accordingly, the deduction level for the taxpayer himself/herself was adjusted from 11 million VND/month to 15.5 million VND/month, and the deduction level for each dependent was adjusted from 4.4 million VND/month to 6.2 million VND/month. Delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam proposed increasing the family deduction level to about 50% "which is appropriate" because with the current income level, most salaried workers can only ensure the minimum living needs. Increasing the family deduction level will help make the lives of workers less difficult.

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thanh Phuong (Can Tho) proposed that tax calculation should be based on actual income after deducting minimum living expenses, and must ensure that people "have enough to live on before considering taxes".

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong (Can Tho) speaks

The delegate cited budget revenue figures for 2023 and 2024, showing that personal income tax only accounts for 9-10% of total budget revenue. "Thus, personal income tax is not the main source of revenue. Therefore, if our philosophy is to help wage earners have a better life and become richer, then the tax rate will be appropriate. The main source of revenue for the state should come from production and business. When wage earners have a better life, they "have savings, at least have a place to live, raise children, and live a decent life", then "we do not hesitate to tax them".

The draft Law adjusts the current 7 tax rates to 5 tax rates. Delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong commented that "the new 5 tax rates are not very reasonable", especially the gap between the rates is too large, for example: "moving up to 11 million is subject to 15% tax, an increase of 10%".

The delegates proposed to "keep 7 levels" but adjust the percentages and income thresholds to be more reasonable. Specifically: under 10 million: 5%; 10 - 30 million VND: proposed 10%; 30 - 60 million: proposed 15%; 60 - 100 million VND: proposed 20%; 100 - 130 million VND: proposed 25%; 130 - 160 million VND: proposed 35%; over 160 million VND: pay 35%.

Delegates at the discussion session of Group 11

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Phuong also proposed to include tax incentives for scientists in the law. Currently, scientists "receiving salaries or wages for scientific research activities from the budget" do not have to pay taxes, but this regulation is in the National Assembly Resolution and the Government Decree. "Should we now legislate it? Can we include a clause or article in this Law?"

Regarding the tax basis for new assets stipulated in Point d, Clause 10, Article 3 and Article 20, National Assembly Deputy Dao Chi Nghia (Can Tho) proposed to amend the tax basis for income from the transfer of gold bars and digital assets from the transfer price to income from price differences. "Because currently, personal income tax is applied based on the actual benefits obtained. Calculating tax on the transfer price will risk taxing the capital as well. This will violate the principle of fairness when applying taxes," Deputy Dao Chi Nghia noted.

Regarding the time of calculating income tax from capital transfer as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 13, delegate Dao Chi Nghia proposed to add clearer regulations for dividends in shares and bonus shares. According to the delegate, tax should only be applied on the transfer price when transferring those securities to avoid causing financial difficulties for businesses and investors when there is no actual cash flow. "This is also a content that I find very necessary in the stock market," the delegate said.

Regarding the tax exemption for business owners stipulated in Article 4, delegate Dao Chi Nghia proposed to add tax exemption for the income after paying personal income tax for business owners who pay tax according to the 17% tax declaration method. This provision will ensure fairness in taxation and avoid double taxation on the same source of profit for individual business forms.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/du-an-luat-thue-thu-nhap-ca-nhan-sua-doi-phan-biet-ro-rang-giua-dau-co-va-tich-tru-tiet-kiem-vang-10394490.html