Government resubmits second property tax proposal to lawmakers

The proposal also states that a tax should be imposed based on how long the owner sells a property after acquiring it.

It also says that property transactions in central business areas should be taxed higher to reduce speculation.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has been tasked with coming up with a specific rate for the proposals.

Observers say that the proposal is similar to Singapore, one of several countries that are imposing these taxes.

It charges a 7% tax on the transaction of the second property and 10% on a third.

An owner who sells their property in the first year after buying it will have to pay a 16% tax. The tax decreases to 12% in the second year, 8% in the third year and zero starting from the fourth year.

The Vietnamese government first proposed taxing second properties in Ho Chi Minh City six years ago, but the suggestion was not approved by the National Assembly.

HCMC itself last year proposed the same tax, but scrapped it in March this year as many lawmakers and industry insiders were against it, saying it was "unfair in many situations."