Why were two auctioned land lots in Tan Trao commune (Thanh Mien) not granted land use right certificates?

Overdue

Hai Duong Newspaper received a complaint from Ms. Vu Thi Huong in Thai Minh Commune (Binh Giang) regarding 2 plots of land that she won the auction for at the New Residential Area Project in An Xa Village, Tan Trao Commune (Thanh Mien), but was not granted a land use right certificate.

This project is auctioned to create funds to build welfare facilities for the commune. The project is nearly 11,653 m2 wide.², land area 5,660 m², divided into 63 lots. In phase 1, the project auctioned 42 residential land lots with a total area of ​​3,770 m²In 2022, Thanh Mien District People's Committee organized an auction, but only 3 lots were won.

According to information provided by Ms. Huong, around August 2024, she, her husband, Mr. Nhu Van Tan, and Mr. Nhu Van Chien (Mr. Tan's brother) learned about the above project.

On September 22, 2024, Thanh Mien District People's Committee organized the second auction for the remaining 39 land lots. At this time, Ms. Huong, Mr. Tan, and Mr. Chien all participated in the auction. All 39 lots had winners, of which Ms. Huong alone won the auction for 2 lots LK3-62 and LK3-63.

After the land auction results were approved, the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department sent a notice to Ms. Huong to pay the house and land registration fee according to regulations. This notice was dated October 7, 2024. By February 7, 2025, Ms. Huong had fulfilled her financial obligations for the above 2 land lots, including tax and land auction winnings.

After fulfilling her financial obligations, Ms. Huong submitted her application to the “one-stop” department of Thanh Mien district. However, this department contacted her to return the application with the reason “overdue for 120 days”.

This "overdue 120 days" is due to comparison with Clause c, Article 9 of Decree 102/2024/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the 2024 Land Law.

If the auction winner does not pay or does not pay in full the auction winning money for land use rights as notified by the tax authority, then after 120 days from the date of approval of the auction winning results for land use rights, the tax authority shall be responsible for notifying the competent land management agency to submit to the competent People's Committee to cancel the decision recognizing the auction winning results, the auction winner shall not receive the deposit back.

According to Articles 147 and 148 of the 2015 Civil Code, the 120-day period stated in Decree 102 includes New Year and Lunar New Year holidays 2025.

Therefore, in the document dated February 7 of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thanh Mien district, if the date of approval of the auction results by the People's Committee of Thanh Mien district is taken as the benchmark, from September 26, 2024 to February 7, 2025 is 134 days. If the benchmark is taken as the date stated on the tax notice (October 7, 2024) to February 7, 2025 is 123 days.

As the person authorized by Ms. Huong in this case, Mr. Nhu Van Chien said: “I know the regulation about the 120-day time limit to fulfill financial obligations for the auctioned lots. However, because I was subjective, I thought that 120 days means 4 months, that is, from October 7, 2024, the deadline is February 7, 2025. Therefore, on February 5, I went to the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department to pay for the 2 lots LK3-62 and LK3-63, but was refused because it was overdue.”

Understanding the “120-day” milestone

Mr. Chien said that on February 5, when he asked about the decision to cancel the auction results of the two land lots, the Ninh Thanh Tax Department replied that they had not received the decision yet. He continued to go to the Thanh Mien District Department of Natural Resources and Environment to ask, but also received a response that there was no decision to cancel the auction results.

Therefore, on the afternoon of February 6, Mr. Chien returned to the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department and was instructed on how to calculate the late payment amount according to regulations. On the morning of February 7, Mr. Chien fully paid the tax and late payment for Ms. Huong's 2 plots of land.

According to Mr. Chien, the notice from the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department was the only document received after winning the auction. “Therefore, we were completely unaware of the date of approval of the auction results. Both Ms. Huong and I only had in mind the milestone of October 7, 2024, which was the date written on the tax notice,” he said.

To listen and find a satisfactory solution, on the morning of February 24, Thanh Mien District People's Committee had a meeting with Mr. Chien on this issue. Here, Chairman of Thanh Mien District People's Committee Nguyen The Tai emphasized the point of view: "We always create favorable conditions for the people, for the common goal of socio-economic development, but must comply with the provisions of the law".

Decree 102 states that “the auction winner must pay the land use fee within the time limit as notified by the tax authority”. The notice of land use fee payment dated October 7, 2024 of the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department clearly states that “no later than 30 days from the date of issuance of the notice, the land user must pay 50% of the land use fee”, “no later than 90 days from the date of issuance of the notice, the land user must pay the remaining 50% of the land use fee”.

That is, by November 6, 2024, Ms. Huong must pay 50% of the land use fee for the lots she won the auction; by January 5, 2025, she must pay the remaining 50% of the land use fee. If Ms. Huong does not pay or does not pay enough within this period, she will be considered to have violated the regulations on payment deadlines.

According to lawyer Nguyen Kieu Dong, Head of A Dong Law Office (Hai Duong City), based on Decree 102, the 120-day period is the total time for all work related to the auction results to be completed, including the time for the tax authority to issue a notice of land use fee payment and the time for the auction winner to pay land use fee..

This is also the milestone to determine the responsibility of the tax authority. If Ms. Huong does not pay or does not pay enough financial obligations within the notified time limit, after 120 days from the date the competent authority approves the auction results, the tax authority must notify the competent land management agency to submit to the People's Committee of Thanh Mien district to cancel the decision to recognize the auction results..

"By January 5, the deadline for Ms. Huong to pay the land use fee, but she has not paid or has not paid in full, even though the 120-day deadline has not expired, Ms. Huong is still in violation of the payment deadline according to the tax authority's notice," added lawyer Dong..

Comparing the provisions of Decree 102 and the notice from the Ninh Thanh Regional Tax Department, Mr. Chien and Ms. Huong have been 32 days late in paying their financial obligations. If the Thanh Mien District People's Committee cancels the decision to recognize Ms. Huong's auction winning result, it is legal.