Aug. 20 – Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has released a circular clarifying the exemptions on personal income tax and taxes on gifts, inheritance and transfers of real property.

Circular 160/2009/TT-BTC outlines that individuals and non-resident individuals receiving income from capital gains and royalties are exempt from personal income tax in the first half of this year.

For income and capital gains from the transfer of real property, the tax rate is pegged at 25 percent. According to VietnamNet, should costs and expenses used as a basis for determining taxable gains are unidentifiable, or the real property is transferred at a price lower than the land values stipulated by the provincial government, gains shall be taxed at a rate of 2 percent of the values set by the committees.