The real estate market is currently in a sensitive phase, where any proposed policy could have unintended consequences. “We must proceed with utmost caution. Taxation on real estate must be based on a unified, consistent, and fair principle for all ownership groups,” said lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, director of ANVI Law Firm, in an interview with The Saigon Times. NOT A NEW MOVE Recently, the Ministry of Finance stated that while revising the Personal Income Tax Law, it is considering two methods for taxing real estate transfers: a 20% tax on profits from the transaction (after deducting related costs), or a 2% tax on the total transaction value. What is your take on this? – Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc: This is not a new initiative. Essentially, regulators are revisiting previously proposed provisions that could not be practically implemented. Under Article 14 of the 2007 Personal Income Tax Law, taxable income from real estate transfers was defined as the transfer price minus the purchase price and related costs. The applicable tax rate in that case was 25%. If the purchase price and associated costs could not be determined, the taxable income was instead based on the transfer price and taxed at […]