Penalties for tax evasion in real estate transfer in Vietnam

Depending on the severity of the violation, those who declare low prices to evade tax may be administratively sanctioned or penalized, specifically:

Violators may be examined for penal liability in the cases specified in Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Vietnam as follows:

"Article 200. Tax evasion

1. A person who commits any of the following acts of tax evasion with an amount of from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 or under VND 100,000,000 even though he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for tax evasion or has an unspent conviction for any of the offences specified in Article 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 202, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 304, 305, 306, 309 and 311 hereof shall be liable to a fine of from VND 100,000,000 to VND 500,000,000 or face a penalty of 03 - 24 months' imprisonment:

...

2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a fine of from VND 500,000,000 to VND 1,500,000,000 or a penalty of 01 - 03 years' imprisonment:

a) The offence is committed by an organized group;

b) The amount of tax evaded is from VND 300,000,000 to under VND 1,000,000,000;

c) The offence involves the abuse of the offender's position or power;

d) The offence has been committed more than once;

dd) Dangerous recidivism.

3. If the evaded tax is ≥ VND 1,000,000,000, the offender shall be liable to a fine of from VND 1,500,000,000 to VND 4,500,000,000 or face a penalty of 02 - 07 years' imprisonment.

4. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, be prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain works for 01 - 05 years, or have all or part of his/her property confiscated."

When violators are not subject to criminal penalties as prescribed above, they will be administratively sanctioned according to the provisions of Article 17 of Decree No.125/2020/NĐ-CP on taxes or invoices related to violation

“Article 17. Sanctions for tax evasion

1. The fine which equals the amount of evaded tax shall be imposed on the taxpayer committing any of the following violations under at least a mitigating circumstance:

...

dd) Illegal use of vouchers; illegal use of vouchers; using vouchers and documents that do not reflect the true nature of the transaction or the actual transaction value to incorrectly determine the payable tax amount, the exempted or reduced tax amount, or the refundable tax amount; making procedures and dossiers for the destruction of supplies and goods which are not true, which reduces the payable tax amount or increases the tax amount to be refunded, exempted or reduced;

2. A fine of 1.5 times the evaded tax amount shall be imposed on taxpayers who commit one of the acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article without aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

3. A fine twice the evaded tax amount shall be imposed on the taxpayer who commits one of the acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article with an aggravating circumstance.

4. A fine of 2.5 times the evaded tax amount shall be imposed on taxpayers who commit one of the acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article with two aggravating circumstances.

5. A fine of 3 times the evaded tax amount shall be imposed on the taxpayer who commits one of the acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article with three or more aggravating circumstances.

6. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible payment of the full amount of tax evaded into the state budget, for violations specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of this Article.

..."

Thus, the act of making false declarations by stating the land transfer price on paper is lower than the actual transfer price to evade tax, the declarant may be sentenced to up to 7 years in prison. I think that each person when transferring land should write down the price on the contract honestly both to protect themselves when there is a dispute with the other party and not to be punished by the law.

In addition, you can refer to the Judgment on tax evasion No. 56/2021/HS-ST

Quoting the content: “Due to the need to receive the transfer of land use rights for investment, B, A, and T jointly contributed money to receive the land transfer of Mr. V and Mrs. T. The defendants agreed to record reduce the real value of the land with an area of ​​68,933 m2, belonging to land plot number 17, map sheet 06, located in commune M, district D, Binh Duong province from the amount of VND 15,165,000,000 (personal income tax) the personal income tax payable is 303,300,000 VND to 700,000,000 VND, but the Ben Cat Tax Sub-Department determined the value of land plot No. 17 to be 4,365,640,000 VND as a basis for determining personal income tax (tax money) payable personal income is VND 87,312,800 to enjoy the difference tax amount of VND 215,987,200.”

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