The HCM City Tax Department has reduced land and water area rents from 2022 for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the decision, organisations, units, businesses, households, and individuals that lease land and water areas from the State in the city will enjoy a 30 per cent reduction in rent. This regulation does not apply for land and water area rents owed in the years before 2022.

Land and water area tenants can submit applications to reduce land and water area rents to the tax department or the management board of economic zones or high tech parks online, in person or by post.

The deadline for submitting an application for a reduction in land rent is March 31.

To those who are entitled to the cut but have already paid their 2022 land rent, they will have their rent for the following period or year reduced. Those who don’t have a following period to pay land rent will have their payment refunded in conformity with legal regulations on tax management and relevant rules.

In the context of a difficult market, many real estate businesses have fallen into trouble, and the policy of reducing land rent by 30 per cent is expected to be a supportive initiative to help businesses revive.

Do Phuoc Tong, chairman of the Duy Khanh Mechanical Engineering Company, said his business had rented more than 5,000 square meters of land for 50 years. The reduction of land rent would help reduce the financial costs of enterprises.

Su Ngoc Khuong, senior director of investment, Savills Viet Nam, said the 30 per cent reduction in land rent would be a great support for businesses investing in real estate. This would remove difficulties for businesses in the industrial real estate sector as well as manufacturing factories. — VNS