Government advisers want gold transactions taxed

Advisers to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have proposed taxing gold transactions to prevent speculation and price manipulation.

“Taxing gold will reduce the demand of some buyers, especially those who buy to speculate and to manipulate price”, said Nguyen Thi Mui, a member of the Financial Policy Advisory Council, at a meeting with the SBV on Sunday.

She added that taxing gold buyers will urge them to invest in other assets and eventually lower gold prices, which will also ensure fairness with non-gold investors.

Le Xuan Nghia, former deputy chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee, said that taxing is the most efficient measure to prevent smuggling.

“It is sometimes even more effective than administrative policies in preventing smuggling”.

Gold has been the most profitable asset this year, with a 22% gain in five months that exceeds that of bank deposits, stocks, and bonds.

Analysts have said that the lack of safe-haven assets have urged people to buy gold while property recovery is slow and stocks have yet to be popular among the majority of the population.

Gold prices have been since last week as the central bank began selling gold bars through four state-owned lenders at prices lower than market rates to narrow the gap between domestic and global rates.

Gold is now at VND76.98 million ($3,028.32) per tael, unchanged since Friday.