Enterprise Income Tax Evasion from Real Estate Transfer Activities in Vietnam and Recommendations

Abstract

The current laws on land, investment, business, real estate, taxation and other relevant laws in Vietnam are still not tight and inappropriate, and also contain many loopholes. As a result, many businesses have real estate transfer activities, but tax evasion in many forms and ways causes great loss to the state budget, affecting the business environment and bad impacts on the current socio-economic-political situation in Vietnam. From the author’s study on Vietnam's legal regulations, based on analysis, comparison, aggregation from statistical data, specific studies of some hypothetical cases are made to see the legal loopholes that businesses Vietnam takes advantage to avoid tax. It is common to observe that the methods used by many businesses including: performing tricks to minimize taxable income directly from real estate transfers, making fraudulent transactions that conceal real estate transfer contracts, taking advantage of the law on reorganization of enterprises and tax policies to separate enterprises for real estate transfer,  transferring of shares to avoid tax, or colluding with competent state agencies on the investment, environmental resources, and tax to avoid corporate income tax. From there, the author proposes the recommendations to improve the law on land, taxes and other relevant legal documents.

Keywords: law, real estate transfer, corporate income tax, tax evasion

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/95-04

Publication date:March 31^st 2020