The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has just sent a document with comments to the Ministry of Finance on the Draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP regulating land use fees, land rents and Decree 104/2024/ND-CP on the Land Development Fund.

Based on the synthesis of opinions from the business community, VCCI expressed some concerns and proposed improvements to ensure fairness, transparency, and reduce legal risks for businesses. One of the important contents of the Draft is to amend Article 50 of Decree 103/2024/ND-CP - regulations on financial mechanisms in the transition period between the 2013 Land Law and the 2024 Land Law. However, according to VCCI, some of the amendments are not really reasonable, easily leading to losses for businesses.

Firstly, the Draft requires enterprises to pay the additional difference and late payment fee (5.4%/year), even when they have fully fulfilled their financial obligations as notified by the state agency. This is not only unfair but also has signs of unfavorable retroactivity, contrary to the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

Secondly, the Draft continues to stipulate that enterprises must pay late payment fees even in cases where the delay is due to the fault of the state agency, such as delay in approving documents, delay in signing consulting contracts or failure to issue technical instructions. Requiring enterprises to pay late payment fees invisibly requires enterprises to take responsibility for the fault of the state agency, causing damage to the enterprise.

Thirdly, the provisions in Article 50 (amended) are still unclear about “recalculating land use fees”. Separating this recalculation into a separate item without clearly defining the basis, statute of limitations or conditions of application may create legal loopholes, causing enterprises to face the risk of abusing the regulations to unexpectedly increase financial obligations.

In order to resolve the above shortcomings, VCCI recommends that the drafting agency remove the regulation on recalculating land use fees in cases where enterprises have fulfilled their financial obligations (Point b.b1, Clause 1, Article 50 - amended). Merge the content at Point b (b2) into Point a, Article 50.1 (amended) to avoid misunderstandings about applicable cases. Clearly supplement specific cases where land use fees are allowed to be recalculated, and clearly stipulate the statute of limitations for application.

Amend the regulation on calculating late payment fees in Article 50.2.a2 (amended) to only calculate within the time after deducting the actual time spent by state agencies performing related procedures. The proposed amendment is similar to Article 3.19 of the Draft.

VCCI emphasized that in the context of Vietnam's efforts to build a stable, transparent and fair investment and business environment, the completion of legal regulations on land must prioritize the reasonable interests of both the state and enterprises. If these shortcomings are not adjusted promptly, they will hinder investment activities, create insecurity and legal risks for the business community