Text file: 4155.txt
author: jbozicek
downvotes: 6
end consideration date: 2013-01-26
id: '4155'
number comments: 14
number views: 3186
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Finance\nThe current legislation on the taxation\
  \ of the holding of immovable property in Slovenia includes a tax on the property\
  \ of natural persons and a tax on immovable property of a higher value. There are\
  \ several other levies in the current legal system which are intended to act as\
  \ property taxes or to complement the existing tax system. These are the compensation\
  \ for the use of building land and the fee for the maintenance of forest roads.\n\
  The property tax in the Republic of Slovenia is levied on immovable property of\
  \ natural persons. Property tax is payable by natural persons who own buildings,\
  \ parts of buildings, dwellings and garages, and rest or recreational premises.\
  \ The tax is payable by the owners or occupiers of the property, whether they use\
  \ it themselves or rent it out. The basis for the property tax is the value of the\
  \ building or rest and recreation area. The value is determined on the basis of\
  \ criteria laid down by the administrative authority responsible for housing and\
  \ in the manner laid down by the municipality. The property tax system gives the\
  \ taxpayer a substantial relief, namely a reduction in the tax base corresponding\
  \ to the value of 160 m\xB2 of living space, determined on the basis of a tax base\
  \ calculation, provided that the owner or members of his family permanently reside\
  \ in the residential premises in the year preceding the year in respect of which\
  \ the tax is levied. The reduction does not apply to rest or recreation premises.\
  \ The property tax on the possession of buildings is not payable on agricultural\
  \ outbuildings, on business premises used by the owner or occupier for the pursuit\
  \ of a trade, on residential buildings of agricultural taxpayers who are themselves\
  \ or their family members insured for retirement and invalidity benefits on the\
  \ basis of their agricultural income, on buildings declared a cultural or historical\
  \ monument and on buildings which for objective reasons cannot be used. First-time\
  \ owners of new dwelling houses or flats and garages and owners of repaired and\
  \ renovated dwelling houses or flats and garages are also temporarily (for 10 years)\
  \ exempted from property tax if the repair or renovation has increased the value\
  \ of these buildings by more than 50 %. The exemption does not apply to rest or\
  \ recreation rooms, nor to business premises, even if they are an integral part\
  \ of a residential building. The law also provides for a special relief for large\
  \ families, whereby a taxpayer with more than 3 family members living with him in\
  \ his own dwelling house or apartment has the tax assessed reduced by 10% for the\
  \ fourth and each additional family member. The tax rates are progressive and vary\
  \ according to the purpose of use. For residential buildings, the tax rate ranges\
  \ from 0.10% to 1%, depending on their value, for leisure and recreational premises\
  \ the rate ranges from 0.20% to 1.50%, while for business premises the tax rate\
  \ is set at 0.15% to 1.25%. For business premises not used for business purposes\
  \ and not rented out, the tax rate is increased by 50%.\nThe tax on higher value\
  \ immovable property additionally taxes higher value immovable property owned by\
  \ the same owner and not in a business function. The legal threshold for the definition\
  \ of high value assets is defined as immovable property owned by a single owner\
  \ with a total value of at least EUR 500,000. The tax is introduced as a temporary\
  \ measure and will therefore be levied up to and including 2014. The generalised\
  \ market value from the real estate register is taken into account to determine\
  \ the value of the property. All commercial and industrial real estate and real\
  \ estate used for public purposes are generally exempted from taxation. The tax\
  \ rate depends on the total value of the immovable property of each owner and is\
  \ progressive. The building-use tax is payable on building land in towns and urban\
  \ settlements, in areas designated for housing and other complex construction, in\
  \ areas for which a spatial implementation plan has been adopted and in other areas\
  \ equipped with water and electricity supply. The areas for which compensation is\
  \ payable and the amount of the compensation shall be determined by the municipality.\
  \ The undeveloped building land use charge is payable on the area of undeveloped\
  \ building land designated for construction under the spatial implementation plan\
  \ or for which the competent authority has issued a location permit. However, the\
  \ fee for the use of built-up building land shall be paid on the residential or\
  \ commercial area of the building. No land use tax shall be payable on land used\
  \ for the purposes of national defence, on buildings of foreign countries used by\
  \ foreign diplomatic and consular missions or occupied by their staff, on buildings\
  \ of international and intergovernmental organisations used by such organisations\
  \ or occupied by their staff, unless otherwise provided for in an international\
  \ agreement, and on buildings used by religious communities for their religious\
  \ activities. A citizen who has purchased a new dwelling as an individual part of\
  \ a building or has built, added to or extended a family dwelling house is exempt\
  \ from the compensation for a period of 5 years at his own request, provided that\
  \ the price of the dwelling or dwelling house or the direct costs of the improvement\
  \ of the building plot are included in the price of the dwelling or dwelling house.\
  \ Exemption or partial exemption shall also apply to low-income citizens or citizens\
  \ who have invested social resources in the construction of communal facilities\
  \ in an organised manner, if so provided by the municipality. The person liable\
  \ to pay the compensation is the direct user of the land or building or part of\
  \ a building (holder of the right of disposal or owner, tenant of the dwelling or\
  \ business premises, holder of the right of occupancy).\nThe forest road maintenance\
  \ charge is a direct earmarked revenue from the local budget to cover the costs\
  \ of maintaining forest roads as part of the municipal road infrastructure. It is\
  \ paid by forest owners in areas open to forest roads according to the Forest Service.\
  \ The obliged persons are natural and legal persons who are registered as owners\
  \ in the land cadastre, i.e. formal holders of the right of disposal over the land.\
  \ The fee is based on the cadastral income of the land and the rate is 9,4 % of\
  \ the base, except for the Fund of Agricultural Land and Forests of the Republic\
  \ of Slovenia, for which the rate is higher, 12,8 %, and is also levied on the cadastral\
  \ income.\nToday, therefore, owner-occupied residential property is treated differently\
  \ for the purposes of the various levies. For property tax purposes, they are exempted\
  \ from taxation, while for the purposes of the building land use allowance, they\
  \ are fully taxed, regardless of the purpose for which the dwelling is used and\
  \ regardless of whether the dwelling is occupied. The new tax legislation, which\
  \ is still under preparation, aims at a more uniform and fairer system of property\
  \ taxation and follows the concept of an anti-crisis tax, as it aims, in principle,\
  \ to tax all properties according to their value. One of the main reasons for introducing\
  \ a property tax is to unify the property tax system by taxing all real estate,\
  \ regardless of its use and type of ownership. Among the proposals are several solutions,\
  \ including the introduction of a lower tax rate for properties where the owner\
  \ resides permanently or rents them out on the basis of a contract registered in\
  \ the real estate market register. Your proposal for a lower taxation of permanently\
  \ occupied immovable property is therefore already one of the possible solutions,\
  \ but there are no final decisions on the taxation of immovable property yet, so\
  \ we cannot give you a more concrete answer to your initiative at this point in\
  \ time.\n "
response date: 2013-02-15
response due date: null
sent date: 2012-12-28
title: Taxation of immovable property
upvotes: 23
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/4155
