Circular No. 59/2025/TT-BTC Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of Circulars on Agricultural Land Use Tax issued by the Minister of Finance

CIRCULAR

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF CIRCULARS ON AGRICULTURAL LAND USE TAX

ISSUED BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

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On the basis of Law on Legislative Decrees dated February 19, 2025;

On the basis of Law on Agricultural Land Use Tax dated July 10, 1993;

On the basis of Law on Local Administration Organization dated June 16, 2025;

Decree No. Decision No. 78/2025/NĐ-CP dated April 1, 2025 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures to organize guidance for implementation; Law on Legislative Decrees;

Decree No. 29/2025/NĐ-CP dated February 24, 2025 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Based on the proposal of the Director of the Department of Management and Supervision of Tax, Fee, and Charge Policies;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circulars on agricultural land use tax issued by the Minister of Finance.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain points and Sections of Circular No. 89-TC/TCT dated November 9, 1993 of the Minister of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 74/CP dated October 25, 1993 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Agricultural Land Use Tax

1. Amend and supplement Point 1 of Section II as follows:

"1. Organizations, households, and individuals using agricultural land shall declare taxes according to the laws on tax administration.

a) The taxable area of each paddy field or land plot is the actual area used, including the surrounding dikes directly serving production of the plot, but excluding parts of the dikes used for internal farm traffic or shared among one or more fields.

b) During the process of determining the taxable area of agricultural land, the Tax Team must work with the Village Tax Advisory Board to examine each case specifically. If the declaration is found to be inaccurate, they must request the household to resubmit the declaration and organize spot checks to accurately determine the taxable area of households whose declarations were inaccurate."

2. Amend and supplement Section III as follows:

"III. ESTABLISHING TAX REGISTERS AND ORGANIZING REVIEW OF TAX REGISTERS

1. Establishing tax registers

The principle is that land registered in the cadastral records of a locality should have its tax register established in that same locality, as provided for in Article 9 of Decree No. 74/CP.

According to Article 10 of Decree No. 74/CP, the establishment of tax registers proceeds as follows:

- The Tax Team compiles the results of collecting public opinions and individual taxpayers immediately after the announcement period ends and reports to the People's Committee of the commune. If there are significant disagreements regarding the taxable area or land classification, a recheck must be conducted before proceeding to establish the tax register for each village or residential area according to the model provided by the Ministry of Finance.

- The Village Tax Advisory Board assists the People's Committee of the commune in conjunction with the Tax Team to verify the tax bases of each taxpayer, ensuring consistency with the declarations and land classification results. In cases where the taxpayer does not agree with the Village Tax Advisory Board and the Tax Team on the tax base after the announcement period, and if the Village Tax Advisory Board and the Tax Team cannot resolve the issue, they must report to the People's Committee of the commune for a written opinion to the taxpayer, based on which the tax register will be completed and finalized.

- In cases of changes in the number of taxpayers, the Tax Team adjusts the tax amount.

2. Organizing review of tax registers

After completing the tax register, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune signs and forwards it to the Tax Team. The Tax Team and the Village Tax Advisory Board jointly review the taxable area and land classification for each commune.

Based on the tax registers established by the communes and the opinions of the Village Tax Advisory Boards, the Tax Team completes the review results and reports them to the provincial People's Committee and the District Tax Office.

The District Tax Office conducts reviews of the tax registers of the communes with the participation of relevant departments (Tax Advisory Boards). In cases of differing opinions, the provincial People's Committee issues a decision to re-establish the tax registers.

The Provincial Tax Department is responsible for regularly or periodically inspecting the agricultural land use tax registers of localities."

3. Amend and supplement Section IV as follows:

"IV. ORGANIZING TAX COLLECTION

1. Basis for tax collection: based on the crop season and harvest capacity, actual prices, and food requirements (if applicable). The District Tax Office submits proposals to the provincial People's Committee for decisions on matters stipulated in Articles 11 and 12 of Decree No. 74/CP.

2. Tax collection and payment shall be carried out in accordance with the laws on tax administration."

4. Amend and supplement Point 4 of Section V as follows:

"4. The procedure for considering and compiling applications for tax reduction and exemption at various levels is as follows:

a) Based on actual damage, confirmation records when natural disasters, enemy actions, pests... occur, and field inspection reports; based on the actual living conditions of policy beneficiaries eligible for tax reduction and exemption; The Tax Team and the Village Tax Advisory Board assist the People's Committee of the commune in preparing applications for tax reduction and exemption for the commune, listing households by affected area and degree (yield loss, requested tax reduction due to natural disasters, households requesting tax reduction and exemption under social policy beneficiaries according to the attached form of this Circular, to be posted for 20 days. The Tax Team collects public opinions, completes and compiles the list, reports to the People's Committee of the commune for approval, and then reports to the provincial People's Committee and the District Tax Office. b) Based on:

- Confirmation records of the extent and degree of damage caused by natural disasters;

- Statistical reports on the yield of crops, field inspection results, and actual harvest yields of damaged areas;

- Review records from the communes;

- Applications for tax reduction and exemption from taxpayers;

- Based on the living conditions of households under social policy beneficiaries.

The Tax Team proposes tax reduction and exemption applications for the communes and taxpayers for consideration by the Village Tax Advisory Board with the participation of relevant departments, and on this basis, compiles and reports to the provincial People's Committee and the District Tax Office.

c) The District Tax Office inspects and approves tax reductions and exemptions for the communes with the participation of the Village Tax Advisory Board (relevant departments), and on this basis, proposes to the provincial People's Committee for a decision. During inspections, the District Tax Office must:

- Compare the confirmed area damaged by natural disasters with the actual damaged area, the degree of damage, and the actual harvest yield assessment, comparing between communes within the province, and comparing with previous seasons;"

- Compare the confirmed area damaged by natural disasters with the actual damaged area, the degree of damage, and the actual harvest yield assessment, comparing between communes within the province, and comparing with previous seasons;

- Determine the correct production volume for the year of production in accordance with Article 17 of Decree No. 74/CP.

- When considering tax reductions or exemptions for social policy beneficiaries, confirmation from the internal affairs sector is required; at the same time, attention must be paid to the actual living conditions in local areas and between communes within the province or city.

5. Repeal Point 5 and Point 6 of Section V, Section VI, and Section VII.

6. Amend and supplement Point 2 of Section VIII as follows:

“2. In accordance with Article 29 of Decree No. 74/CP: Annually, the Tax Department is entitled to allocate 4.5% of the total land tax revenue from agricultural land to ensure funding for the Tax Team to collect taxes in communes and wards and to support the activities of the Commune/Ward Tax Advisory Council. This budget is funded by the central government, allocated monthly and quarterly to the Tax Department by the Ministry of Finance like other budgets, and settled annually based on the actual tax revenue collected.”

Article 2. Amend and supplement some points of Circular No. 82-TC/TCT dated October 7, 1994, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 84/CP dated August 8, 1994, of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Additional Tax for Households Using Agricultural Land Exceeding the Prescribed Area Limit.

1. Amend and supplement Point 1 of Section I as follows:

“1. For annual crop agricultural land:

- In the provinces of Dong Nai, An Giang, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Ca Mau, Vinh Long, Can Tho City, and Ho Chi Minh City, not exceeding 3 hectares.

- In other centrally governed cities and provinces, not exceeding 2 hectares.”

2. Repeal Section III and Section IV.

Article 3. Amend and supplement some points of Circular No. 60-TC/TCT dated July 14, 1994, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding additional reductions and exemptions of agricultural land use tax.

1. Replace the phrase "People's Committee of commune, ward, town" with "People's Committee of commune, ward" in Point b Clause 2 of Section I.

2. Replace the phrase "General Tax Department" with "Tax Department" and replace the phrase "Tax Department" with "District Tax Office" in Point b, Point c Clause 3 of Section I and Clause 2 of Section II.

3. Replace the phrase "Tax Department" with "District Tax Office", replace the phrase "People's Committee of district, county, city" with "People's Committee of commune", and replace the phrase "Tax Advisory Council" with "Commune/Ward Tax Advisory Council" in Point 1, Point 2 of Section III.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

Article 32. Responsibilities of Agencies

2. This Circular abolishes entirely Circular No. 21-TC/TCT dated March 18, 1994, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the Commune/Ward/Town Tax Advisory Council on the use of agricultural land.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and People's Committees of centrally governed cities and provinces shall be responsible for directing relevant agencies, organizations, and units to implement this Circular.

4. In cases where laws and regulations referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the amended, supplemented, or replacing regulations.

5. In cases where during the reorganization and restructuring of state administrative bodies, the names of competent authorities mentioned in this Circular change, they shall be implemented according to the new names of the receiving bodies with corresponding functions, tasks, and powers.

6. During the implementation process, if any difficulties arise, please promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for coordination and resolution.