The government will impose a 3-fold tax increase on some categories of land in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, officials said on Thursday.
A senior official from the Ministry of Finance, Mr Khamphan Keomanivong, said the increase was the result of rapid economic growth. Taxes were also being raised to boost revenue.
Authorities will apply the increases principally to urban areas of Vientiane and in provinces that have fast-growing economies.
“For agricultural land, we will focus only on areas of high yields or commercial crop plantations such as coffee,” Mr Khamphan said.
“We will not impose higher land taxes in the country's 47 poorest districts as we don't want to cause additional hardship. But we must remember that, compared to other countries, land taxes in Laos are low.”
Figures issued by the Ministry of Finance show the changes in land tax from 2000 until the current fiscal year. Tax on land allocated for trade and services has risen from 100 to 300 kip per square metre in town centres, and tax on land in the suburbs has risen from 80 to 240 kip per sq m.
The tax on land designated for use by industry and for handicraft production has risen from 60 to 180 kip per sq m in town centres, and from 40 to 150 kip per sq m in the suburbs.
Tax on unused land has risen from 50 to 300 kip per sq m. “We've raised the tax on this type of land significantly because we want to encourage people to use this land for productive purposes,” Mr Khamphan said.
Land used for fruit tree plantations has seen taxes rise from 9,000 to 30,000 kip per hectare of flat land in town areas, and tax on flat land in town areas used for industrial trees and cash crops has risen from 13,000 to 45,000 kip per hectare.
The tax on flat land in towns used for animal farms has increased from 24,000 to 45,000 kip per hectare, while the tax on land used to grow medicinal plants has risen from 8,000 to 20,000 kip per hectare.
In town centres, the tax on land used for residential properties has risen from 10 to 80 kip per sq m.
A committee has been set up to bring together officials from the relevant sectors, including land officials, to identify the various land categories of land so that taxes can be allocated.
The Director General of the National Land Management Authority's Department of Land Policy and Land Use, Mr Nouphan Mahaphan, said the department had held several discussions with the Finance Ministry on this issue and agreed to regulate and standardise land taxes.
Village authorities have informed residents about the tax increases and the matter has become a major topic of discussion, with some people making complaints.
A Nongbuathong villager said that his wife used to pay only 6,000 kip in tax on 2 rai of land in Savannakhet province (one rai is 1,600 sq m), but she now has to pay 60,000 kip.
Land taxes collected nationwide by the government last year amounted to 35 billion kip, or 2 percent of the GDP.
the Goverment should tax the rich upper class people by now.. look @ all the nice and big village home in VTE . they can affort to pay more property tax ...they make alot $$$$ drive Merced Benz Hummer , land cruiser . just like in US they tax upper class peaple very high bracket . Lao should do the same
