Surprised by the tax received on real estate, the man is convinced: his property was overvalued: the debt “hangs” in the thousands

Linas, who wrote for Delfi, tells of his problem: the State Tax Inspectorate (STI) has calculated the real estate tax (RE) that will be paid to him, although the man is convinced that the value of his house is less than 150 thousand. from where the tax is applied. What’s more, you have a spouse, but the STI does not take him into account. The man believes that this problem may also be relevant to others: older houses are overrated by mass valuation and the property tax is applied in the absence of “logical fact-based situations.”

“We have an old house, the price of which is significantly lower than the minimum taxable value. Due to the massive appraisal of the Registry Center (RC), the price of the property in the statement of account is double, although neither the appraisal nor anything else can logically justify it, ”says Linas.

He maintains that it is impossible to solve this situation in a way that does not cost much financially.

“Changing the RC rating costs more than 2000 euros, so defending your rights is too expensive. There is another way: when the property belongs to both spouses, the amount of property is divided between 2 people. But the STI again requires the Center of Records to register both people as owners. Since the house was bought with a bank loan from one person, to save the second owner, a lot of money is needed again, to redo all the loan documents and, most importantly, the bank permit, where we found the problem again. ”Says the man.

He asked people to help find a way out of this situation: that no one can defend the rights of taxpayers against the CTI.

“When the STI wants to get money out of something, then it can interpret the law according to itself, and when you state the facts, you explain the situation, we say, we assume that the property belongs to a person. Diablo Civil Code, devil common property of the spouses, ”said Linas.

STI: to be paid by the registered owner

The STI confirms that the property tax paid by the owner of the real estate object is calculated for each resident separately for all their property or part of the property. The tax-free value also applies to each person individually.

“Real estate is considered to be the joint property of the spouses when the legal fact – the joint property of the spouses is registered in the real estate registry. If the joint property of the spouses is not registered, the real property is considered to belong to one of the spouses and the property tax is calculated only for that person, that is, the value of the real property will not be divided into equal parts. between spouses, ”says Stasė Aliukonytė – Šnirienė, Director of the Tax Liability Department at CTI.

He advises spouses who wish to adjust the individual tax-free value of real estate to apply to the territorial unit of the Registry Center to register the joint property of the spouses.

“For real estate subject to property taxes or acquired by family members under the right of personal property, joint and / or partial property, each of the spouses files a separate declaration for their part, as it applies the tax-free value of EUR 150,000 to each individual “, explains the STI representative.

For people raising three or more children, as well as those raising a disabled child, the real estate tax-free limit is up to 200,000. euros.

If you disagree with the value, an individual assessment is required within three months.

If a resident disagrees with the mass-calculated property tax value, there are few options.

“The real estate appraisal is done by a property appraiser, the Center of Records. Typically, the average market value of a real estate property is determined by conducting a massive real estate appraisal every five years. Note that the report for each real estate unit / object is not prepared, that is, each object is not evaluated separately. For this reason, after conducting a massive real estate valuation and determining the value of objects only in a certain area, in some cases the average market value may differ from the market (or sale) price of a particular object. ”Admits Stasė Aliukonytė – Šnirienė.

If, after the massive appraisal of the property, the resident does not agree with the established tax value of the property, within three months of determining the value, he or she may request the Registry Center and file a complaint, explains the STI representative. In addition, after the end of the tax period (the first three months of the period), a resident has the right to submit a request to the Registry Center for the tax value determined during the individual appraisal to be considered the tax value of the real estate.

If the real estate tax return needs to be revised, for example, at the initiative of the resident or the STI due to existing errors or changed data, the resident can adjust the already filed return before the filing expires; The tax can be calculated or recalculated for the current calendar year and the previous three years.

“If an individual appraisal has been carried out after the filing deadline and the newly determined property tax value is recorded in the ‘Registration Center’, the taxpayer can specify the already filed declaration,” suggests Stasė Aliukonytė – Šnirienė.

Bailiff: If the debt is to be recovered, then the house can be considered joint property

Whenever the STI requires an entry into the Center of Records, the joint property would be treated in a completely different way if the debt had to be recovered from the property.

Sheriff Arminas Naujokaitis explained that even without joint property registration, creditors of one spouse can claim property registered in the name of the other spouse.

“There are certain nuances. If only one of the spouses is registered, for what reasons? If the joint property is not registered, but the property was acquired during the marriage, it is immediately presumed to be joint property, according to the law. Then the bailiff has the right to seize said property and offer the parties to determine the parties to which they belong, ”explained A. Naujokaitis.

This could also lead to a curious situation: if the property tax calculated for a person, if the debt was not paid, the bailiff could recover it from both spouses, although the property tax would not even arise if the property was registered in the name of both of them.

“If a bailiff already has a debt, for example to recover from Peter, he would no longer have the right to question the legality of the decision, my hands are tied. Then he would recover both from a spouse, and if there are not enough assets, from the joint ownership, ”explained the bailiff.

However, it was incomprehensible to him why someone was having trouble registering joint ownership.

“In this case, nothing prevents you from requesting and registering joint property. This legal fact can be established by a person at any time, no one restricts it,” evaluated the bailiff.

Although it had to be paid before December 15th. – Thousands of debtors

The real estate tax return must be filed and the tax must be paid before December 15 of each year.

The STI estimates that 17.6 thousand people filed these declarations last year. population and declared 5.7 million. tax amount.

However, 2.4 thousand. Residents, although required, have yet to file real estate tax returns. Its “pending” debt is 648.5 thousand. 270.2 euros on average.

Even the oldest debts are also in debt: 328 residents, who had to pay property tax for 2019, have not filed property tax returns and have not paid 184.7 thousand. 563 euros on average).

In that year 220 thousand were taxed. The value of personal real estate that exceeds the threshold of 5.2 thousand euros has been settled with the State Tax Inspection. residents who paid 2.5 million. euros.

The STI promises that due to the pandemic, the inactive population, which is experiencing financial difficulties and was unable to pay the property tax on time, will have until 2021. October 31 will not charge late payment interest, will not take recovery measures

In addition, if the latter cannot pay the tax, they are entitled until August 31. apply to the STI and conclude an interest-free tax loan contract, that is, organize the payment at a convenient time ”, recalls S. Aliukonytė – Šnirienė.

What real estate tax must be paid?

Currently, as of 2020, resident real estate, whose value exceeds 150 thousand, is taxed in Lithuania. euros.

The value of real estate, which ranges from 150 to 300 thousand. it is taxed at a rate of 0.5%. Tax rate.

If the value is even higher, the part that exceeds 300 thousand. EUR, up to 500 thousand. 1% is taxed. tariff.

500 thousand. The tax value of real estate that exceeds one million euros is taxed at a tax rate of 2 percent.

These thresholds are higher when people are raising three or more children, or a disabled child. Then 0.5 percent. the rate applies to the value of 200 to 390 thousand. EUR, 1% fee – from 390 to 650 thousand. and 2%. fee – more than 650 thousand. euros.

Residential, garden, garage, farm, greenhouse, farm, auxiliary farm, scientific, religious, recreational buildings or premises, fishing buildings, engineering structures are subject to tax.

“Generally speaking, the progressive rate of the property tax is applied to the total value of the mentioned real property that is owned by the resident,” says S. Aliukonytė – Šnirienė.

Real estate used by a resident for social assistance and welfare, income (income) from agricultural activities, educational work such as creative workshop (studio) for individual creative activity (when the resident has the status of artist), as well as estate real estate (or part of it) located on the territory of the cemetery. In addition, the real estate tax does not apply to the resident’s property, which the resident leases to the company.

If the tax value of the assets held has changed during the year, the tax is calculated by adding the tax amounts calculated separately for 12 months.

2020 for the tax period, the tax value determined during the bulk valuation from 01.01.2016 to 12.31.2020 is valid.

The tax value of real estate can be consulted on the website of the Registry Center, here. Without knowing the unique object number, you can find it by address here.