On the transfer of immovable property right and the taxes to be calculated

The General Directorate of Taxes would like to inform all taxpayers that in the Official Journal No. 125, a joint instruction No. 29, dated 30/07/2018 “On the taxation of transferring the right of immovable property ownership” has been published, abolishing the instruction No. 9, dated 26/02/2008 “On the taxation of transferring the immovable property right”, as amended.

This instruction is more complete in the manner how it handles such an issue and includes almost all the hypothetical cases of transactions to transfer the property, by illustrating with concrete examples the manner of calculating the tax to transfer the property and the taxation to transfer the right of ownership that is calculated as a tax on the capital gains.

The novelties brought about by this instruction mainly relate to some clarifications, which are:

• The investors in the construction business, that are registered in the tax authorities as legal persons (trade companies) with object in construction and sale of immovable properties, shall not be subject to “tax” on personal income due to transfer of the right of ownership on immovable properties. They shall only pay the local tax on the transfer of the right of ownership for immovable properties;
• The investors in the construction business, that are registered in the tax authorities as entities with the status of a “natural trade person”, shall be subject to “tax” on personal income due to transfer of the right of ownership on immovable properties. They shall also pay the local tax on the transfer of the right of ownership for immovable properties;
• A more complete and comprehensive handling of the transactions of immovable properties obtained from heritage and judicial verdicts, as well as for those properties undergoing re-evaluation processes, by ensuring a righteous handling with regards to calculating the tax on property right transfer.

Regarding the value of sale of the immovable property, it shall be defined in the notary contract of sale, which has been endorsed by the parties (seller and buyer).

We would like to remind you that: when the immovable property ownership is transferred for the second time and on, for purposes of calculating the capital gain carried out, the difference between the last value of sale and the value of purchase determined in the preceding contract of this property shall be taken into consideration.

Thus, at the moment of a sale and purchase transaction for an immovable property the following shall be applied:

• The tax on transferring the immovable property right
• The tax on personal income from the transfer of immovable property right

The agent in charge of collecting the tax and taxation on the immovable property right transfer shall be the Immovable Property Registration Office, which shall transfer all the revenues collected, in favour of the local government and Tax Administration within the deadlines set forth in the law.