"Proposal" to increase usage fee collection

Total new revenue reached nearly 50% of estimate

Information from the Quang Binh Provincial Land Development Fund shows that the total land use fee revenue in the first 10 months of the year in the province reached 1,476 billion VND, equal to 49.2% of the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council, equal to 45.5% of the target assigned by the Provincial People's Committee and equal to 30.8% over the same period (4,792 billion VND). The above revenue includes land revenue in 2022 transferred to this year's revenue and revenue from land division and conversion of land use purposes, revenue from mixed residential land and mixed residential land, which is 837 billion VND. The remaining amount is the actual land use fee revenue through auctions and land allocation at projects, reaching only 639.2 billion VND, equal to 13.3% over the same period.

Deputy Director of the Quang Binh Provincial Land Development Fund Pham Ngoc Tinh said that in the first 10 months of 2023, the real estate market situation in the country in general and Quang Binh province in particular was extremely quiet. The whole province organized 95 land fund auctions at projects, of which 36 had no participants; the average winning rate of lots was 21% compared to the number of lots put up for auction, the difference between the auction price and the starting price was low at an average of 6.6%.

Total land use fee revenue in the first 10 months of the year in the province reached 1,476 billion VND, equal to 49.2% of the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council. Photo: Thanh Tung

“In particular, in Dong Hoi city, the Dong Hoi City Project Management Board for Construction Investment and National Defense and the Land Fund Development Center under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment have put land funds in projects up for auction, but the amount of land funds is very small, mainly land remaining from previous years, but most of them have no participants, and have had to be put up for auction a second time but still have no results. In districts and towns in areas that previously experienced land fever, there are now no participants or very few participants in the auction,” Mr. Pham Ngoc Tinh informed.

The reason for the above situation, according to Mr. Pham Ngoc Tinh, is that the starting price is too high compared to the transaction price on the market, combined with the sharp decrease in people's demand for land due to the impact of economic recession, tightening credit and bond policies, as well as legal problems that have not been thoroughly resolved, has negatively affected investors' confidence and demand. In addition, urging investors to pay land use fees for commercial housing and urban area projects is also difficult because the projects are facing problems related to investment procedures, site clearance compensation, land allocation procedures, and land valuation, leading to enterprises not paying land use fees to the State budget.

Urgently put eligible projects up for auction

The low land use fee collection results in the first 10 months of the year have greatly affected the province's socio-economic development in 2023, especially the task of balancing state budget revenue and expenditure.

Proposing solutions to increase land use fees, the Quang Binh Provincial Land Development Fund said that for land fund development projects invested by the State, investors need to urgently put the land fund of land fund development projects that are eligible for auction in the remaining months of the year to generate revenue in 2023, starting in 2024. Focus on directing the completion of infrastructure for projects with on-site construction volume reaching over 70%, to soon be eligible to put the land fund up for auction.

For large-scale projects, it is necessary to invest in completing each area to auction in a rolling manner. Only localities and units that organize auctions with revenue and pay back to the Land Development Fund will be able to reallocate and disburse capital for further construction. In cases where projects have organized auctions and allocated land without participants, the relevant departments and branches will soon provide guidance so that units and localities have a basis to adjust the starting price down, ensuring that the price level is close to the current market price, meeting the real needs of people participating in land auctions, and mobilizing land use fees for the State budget in a timely manner.

The estimated land use fee collection in 2023 assigned by the People's Council of Quang Binh province is 3,000 billion VND, accounting for 42.8% of the total budget revenue in the area. Implementing the Resolution, the People's Committee of Quang Binh province organized a thematic conference on the development of auctioned land funds and assigned the target of land use fee collection in 2023 to be 3,240 billion VND, an increase of 8% compared to the estimate assigned by the Provincial People's Council.

In addition, according to Mr. Pham Ngoc Tinh, for projects facing difficulties and obstacles in construction implementation, the Provincial People's Committee is requested to direct and request relevant departments, branches and localities to focus on resolving existing problems in site clearance and other problems to complete the projects in 2023, especially projects with the potential to generate large revenues and expected to have high success in auctions such as Tay Huu Nghi project, Duc Ninh Dong Ward Administrative Center, Le Ky Riverside, Sa Dong...

For urban area and commercial housing projects, according to the plan in 2023, some projects will pay 857 billion VND, but after 10 months, they have only paid 10.8 billion VND, equivalent to 1.3% of the estimated target. Therefore, relevant departments and branches need to actively coordinate to resolve difficulties and obstacles for investors and urge investors to promptly fulfill their obligations to pay land use fees to the State budget. Resolutely handle cases of deliberate procrastination and failure to fulfill financial obligations as prescribed.

Quang Binh Provincial Land Development Fund also assessed that the land fund for inter-residential, inter-divided, subdivided, and purpose-changed land among the people is a channel to create a stable source of land use fee revenue. The characteristic of this land fund is that it does not require infrastructure investment, only costs little for planning and site clearance, can be auctioned, allocated land for land use fee collection, and is suitable for the tastes because it meets the real need to buy land for housing of the people. Therefore, the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities should focus on promoting maximum exploitation to both resolve the legitimate aspirations of the people and increase revenue for the State budget.

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