Overcoming difficulties for forestry

Currently, taking advantage of the dry weather, many forest owners have begun harvesting their planted forests, both to generate income at the beginning of the year and to prepare the land for planting a new forest crop. However, the process of settling payments for the purchase and sale of timber from these planted forests is facing considerable difficulties.

People in Ba Chẽ harvest timber from planted forests.

According to Decree 320/2025/ND-CP, which details some provisions and measures for organizing and guiding the implementation of the Corporate Income Tax Law, issued on December 15, 2025 and effective immediately after signing, the purchase of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products from direct producers with a value of 5 million VND or more must be paid using non-cash methods. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Toan, a specialist in purchasing timber from planted forests in Ba Che commune, said: "Many people own forests but lack the manpower to harvest them, as well as the means of transport and chainsaws, so they often don't harvest them themselves to sell to factories but instead sell to purchasing groups like ours. With the current purchase price of acacia wood at over 12 million VND/m3, almost all payments must be made via bank transfer to comply with the new regulations. However, we cannot transfer money to all forest owners, either because they do not have bank accounts or they do not want to pay by bank transfer."

Currently, Ty Long Wood Production and Trading Company Limited is utilizing its existing wood reserves for production.

Ky Thuong commune has a large area of ​​planted forests, and residents engage in many transactions buying and selling timber after each harvesting season, including currently. However, since the end of 2025, the buying and selling of timber in Ky Thuong has slowed down considerably. Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Director of the commune's Public Service Center, said: "According to our observations, many people want to sell timber to buy seedlings, fertilizer, and hire laborers to dig holes for planting trees. However, the majority of the people here are ethnic minorities with limited education levels. Many of them rarely use smartphones, have not opened bank accounts, or do not know how to use bank accounts, so making payments via bank transfer is quite difficult. Households located at the foot of hills and in valleys have almost no phone signal or internet access, so they still mainly use cash." On the other hand, regulations stipulate that payments must be transferred to the correct forest owner. However, in this area, the forest owners are often elderly grandparents or fathers who later divided the forest land among their children and grandchildren for reforestation. In many cases, the ownership is not transferred, and the plots are not re-measured... therefore, the people directly involved in reforestation today are not the actual forest owners.

Currently, the processing of timber from planted forests is providing jobs and income for many workers in the province.

The current regulations requiring bank transfers for transactions involving plantation timber are causing difficulties for both forest owners and businesses involved in processing and exporting plantation timber. Mr. Vu Van Tuyen, Director of Ty Long Wood Production and Trading Company Limited, explained: "For businesses like ours, the consequence is that we cannot purchase timber, leading to shortages or lack of raw materials for operations. Currently, we are using raw material reserves purchased before December 15, 2025, for production; however, these reserves will only last until the end of March, after which we may have to stop." Mr. Nguyen Duc Quang, Deputy General Director of VijaChip Paper Raw Materials Production Company Limited, added: "Our company has contracts to export wood chips to Japan and China, so we always have to deliver on time; otherwise, we face penalties." However, if we use cash to purchase raw materials, we also face tax risks, because those cash payments are not deductible expenses when determining corporate income tax. It is known that currently, wood chip exporting businesses in Quang Ninh are exporting approximately 8 million tons of goods per year, of which about one-fifth comes from locally sourced raw materials within Quang Ninh province.

In reality, the regulation requiring bank transfers when purchasing plantation timber worth 5 million VND or more contributes to tracing the origin of goods, increasing transparency in cash flow, strengthening management, and combating tax fraud. However, this needs to be implemented gradually and requires genuine and decisive guidance and support from relevant agencies.

Viet Hoa

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/go-kho-cho-nghe-rung-3399685.html