HCMC collected only VND7.6 trillion in revenue from land use fees in 2020, the lowest since 2015, according to a report by the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA).

A corner of HCMC. The city collected only VND7.6 trillion in revenue from the land use fees in 2020, the lowest since 2015 - PHOTO: VNA

HoREA cited statistics from the HCMC Tax Department to state that the revenue from the land use fees was only higher than the VND6 trillion in 2014 and much lower than that of other years in the past decade, news site VnExpress reported.

The revenue was equal to a third of the figure in 2017 and half of that of 2019 although the market was experiencing a slowdown in 2019.

From 2015-2018, the real estate market recovered strongly after a recession period with abundant supply and the land use fee revenue hit VND15.7-21.7 trillion.

HoREA attributed the decline in the land use fee revenue in 2020 to the plunge in housing supplies and the Covid-19 pandemic, which hindered the development of new projects.

HoREA Chairman Le Hoang Chau said the revenue from the real estate market and land use fees reflected the developments of the local property market over the past decade.

The total land use fee revenue from 2011 to 2020 reached VND125.27 trillion, accounting for only 4.26% of the city’s budget revenue. The land use fee revenue plummeted in the 2011-2014 period as a consequence of the market’s recession in previous years.

From 2014, the market recovered, so the land use fee revenue increased, hitting over VND16 trillion in 2015, up 2.66 times over that of 2014.

Source The Saigon Times