News
Lawmakers exempt homes from taxes
National Assembly deputies passed the Law on Non-Agricultural Land Use Taxes yesterday, June 17, with 86 per cent of them voting in favour of passage.NA raises monetary limit for national projects to $1.9 bil
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Under the new law, which will take effect on January 1, 2012, a wide range of taxes will be levied on different categories of land. However, the law exempts dwellings from taxes.
A report presented by Economic Affairs Committee chairman Phung Quoc Hien stated that a poll conducted by the National Assembly Standing Committee of 288 deputies found 256 would have voted to reject the law if it imposed the taxes on people’s residences. The report also said if the tax was levied on dwelling houses, it would cause a psychological problem among the people and impose a heavy financial burden on the majority of the people.
"Even in many developed countries, dwellings are not subject to property taxes," said Hien.
"One of the objectives in taxing homes would have been to prevent housing speculation," he said. "To prevent housing speculation, we need to introduce a series of measures, including personal and corporate income taxes."
The National Assembly yesterday also passed the Law on the Post Office, the Law on Energy Conservation and Efficiency, the Law on Disabilities, the Law on Adoption and the Law on Commercial Arbitration which will take effect on January 1, 2011.
Under the Law on Energy Conservation and Efficiency, the issuance and implementation of national programmes on using energy safely and efficiently fall within the responsibility of the Prime Minister.
Related to the Law on Disabilities, the NA Standing Committee (NASC) said that regulations on monitoring disable peoples’ health were necessary in order to create favourable conditions for them to enjoy medical treatment and examinations, and to prevent the worsening of their conditions.
The NASC noted that the Law on Adoption only regulated the rights and responsibilities of adopters, adoptees and the natural parents, all related directly to procedures on child adoption. But rights and responsibilities related to nurturing, caring for, educating and inheriting were covered by the Law on Marriage and Families, the Civil Law and other legal decisions.
Under the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgements, relatives or legal representatives of people condemned to the death sentence had the right to petition the court to allow family burial. The court makes a decision based on the individual case in these matters.
The Law on Execution of Criminal Judgements and the Law on Food Safety will come into force on July 1, 2011.
(Source: VietNamNet/Viet