land expropriation

This case is a typical case in which the administrative reconsideration authority corrects the mechanical law enforcement of administrative agencies and protects the rights and interests of enterprises.

The core dispute is how to determine the "date of commencement of construction and development". The respondent only determined that the company's land was idle based on the time stipulated in the original contract and levied a fee of nearly 12 million yuan. However, the land involved in the case cannot be developed because it is included in ecological planning, which is a typical "government reason" that leads to it being idle.

Key points for reconsideration:According to the "Measures for the Disposal of Idle Land", if the land is idle due to government reasons and the date has not been re-scheduled, the calculation shall start from the date of actual delivery after the restrictions are removed. In this case, planning restrictions were lifted in September 2019, and the construction start date should be postponed to September 2020. By the time the penalty is imposed in February 2021, it will not be considered idle for less than one year.

Typical meaning:Lawyer Ying Ting believed that the reconsideration authority insisted on "correcting any mistakes" and revoked the tax collection decision if the facts were unclear. This case warns the administrative agencies that law enforcement must identify the true cause of idleness, distinguish the attribution of responsibilities, and strictly prohibit the mechanical application of clauses; at the same time, it demonstrates the protection of the legal property rights of enterprises, and optimizes the legal business environment by standardizing enterprise-related law enforcement. If you also encounter similar legal problems, you can contact lawyer Ying Ting for help in analysis.

Administrative review revoked, land idle, development start date, mistakes must be corrected

In March 2013, the applicant company was unable to apply for a planning permit and a construction permit because the state-owned construction land it had been transferred was within the scope of the "Ecological Planning of a Certain Place", and it was also unable to start construction within the contracted development time (before March 8, 2014). On August 27, 2019, the transferred parcel was adjusted out of the "Ecological Planning of a Certain Place", and the applicant was notified on September 24 of the same year, after which the applicant prepared to submit a planning and construction report. On October 12, 2020, the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of a certain city issued a "Determination of Idle Land" and determined that the parcel of land transferred by the applicant was idle land on the grounds that it had not been developed for more than one year beyond the start date of development stipulated in the contract. On February 1, 2021, the respondent, the People's Government of a certain city in Hunan Province approved the "Request for Instructions on the Collection of Idle Land Fees of a Company" reported by the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau. On February 4, 2021, the Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning issued a "Decision on Collection and Payment of Idle Land Fees" to the applicant, deciding to collect and pay an idle land fee of 11.976 million yuan. The applicant was dissatisfied and applied for administrative reconsideration to the Provincial People's Government.

The former Ministry of Land and Resources' "Measures for the Disposal of Idle Land" stipulates that if state-owned construction land has not been developed for one year after the date of commencement of development, the municipal or county land and resources department shall, after approval by the people's government at the same level, levy an idle land fee of 20% of the land transfer or allocation price. Therefore, the focus of the dispute in this case is how to establish the date of commencement of development of the parcel involved in the case. The "Measures for the Disposal of Idle Land" stipulates that if land becomes idle due to government reasons, the municipal and county land and resources authorities shall negotiate with the holders of state-owned construction land use rights and choose the following disposal methods: (1) Extend the construction and development period... (4) Agreement to recover the state-owned construction land use rights for a fee... Except for the paid resumption of the right to use state-owned construction land through an agreement, the time for the start of development shall be calculated based on the newly agreed and prescribed time; due to special circumstances, if the date for the start of development is not agreed or stipulated, or the agreement or regulations are unclear, one year from the date of actual delivery of the land shall be the date for the start of development. In this case, the land parcel transferred to the applicant was left idle due to government reasons, and since the two parties did not agree on a new date for the start of development, the date for the start of development should be one year from the date of actual delivery of the land. Although the parcel of land involved in the case was delivered to the applicant after the contract was signed, the impact of the land involved in the case being idle due to government reasons was not eliminated until September 24, 2019. Therefore, the actual date of delivery of the parcel of land should be determined as September 24, 2019, and the date of commencement of development is September 24, 2020. It will be one year since September 24, 2021, when development has not started. The respondent approved the "Decision on Collection of Idle Land Fees" on February 1, 2021, and determined that the applicant had not started construction and development for one year, which was an unclear fact. Accordingly, the administrative review authority decided to revoke the "Decision on Collection of Idle Land Fees" approved by the respondent.

The state-owned land use rights legally obtained by enterprises shall be protected in accordance with the law, and enterprises shall actively utilize the acquired land and shall not leave it idle. The collection of idle land fees is a legal means for the government to strengthen macro-control of land, which is conducive to standardizing land market behavior and promoting economical and intensive land use. When enforcing the law on idle land, administrative agencies should strictly abide by, accurately understand and apply the "Measures for the Disposal of Idle Land" regarding the identification, disposal, approval procedures and other provisions of idle land. In this case, the natural resources authorities mechanically enforced the legal provisions without considering the real reasons for the idle land, nor did they determine the actual date of land delivery in accordance with the law. Instead, they simply used the start of development time stipulated in the contract as the start of development date, and based this on the company's determination that the company had committed illegal acts on idle land, resulting in inaccurate identification of idle land. After the administrative review authority found out the facts of the case, it insisted on "correcting any mistakes" and revoked the decision on the collection of idle land fees approved by the respondent in accordance with the law. It effectively safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise, further standardized enterprise-related law enforcement behavior, and created a good external environment for the healthy development of the enterprise.