The Chamber of Deputies approved a legal provision amendment that will allow exempting from real estate acquisition tax also the first acquisition of an apartment unit in a detached house against payment, not just in an apartment building.
At present, exemption from real estate acquisition tax applies to the first acquisition against payment of ownership title to the construction of a detached house, to a plot of land or the right to construction including the construction of a detached house, and to a unit including an apartment and a garage, cellar or storeroom used together, which are found in an apartment building.
However, there are an increasing number of cases where apartment units are delimited in detached houses as well. This occurs for various reasons, for example, because certain areas allow only the construction of detached houses. The first acquisition of such an apartment unit against payment is currently not exempt from real estate acquisition tax.
Financial administration vs. taxpayers
Although certain tax administrators have admitted the exemption from tax even for apartment units in detached houses in the past, the Financial Administration[1] objected against such treatment and emphasised that the legislative objective was indeed to exempt only apartment units in apartment buildings, whether to prevent the construction of “horizontal panel buildings” or due to stricter regulation of apartment buildings. However, taxpayers disagreed with this interpretation as they perceived this exemption as a motivational element for the acquisition of a new apartment regardless of whether it was found in a detached house or an apartment building.
Deputies agreed with taxpayers
The Chamber of Deputies has granted the requests of taxpayers who pointed out the discrepancy in the exemption from real estate acquisition tax in the case of a new apartment unit in a detached house, and it approved an amendment to Senate Ordinance No. 340/2013 Coll., on Real Estate Acquisition Tax, within the terms of Act No. 254/2016 Coll. The amendment will also allow the exemption of the first acquisition of an apartment unit in a detached house against payment.
The amendment will come into force on the first day of the calendar month following its publication in the Collection of Laws. The exemption will apply only to apartment units in detached houses acquired after the effective date of the amendment.
The article is part of dReport – April 2019, Tax news; Grants and investment Incentives.
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