Can it really get any worse?

[Mick]

12 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

BTW  this may well be why we see so many unfinished House here as in Spain, If not complete only land Tax is paid to the City, once the Dwelling is up it becomes a viable issue for rate and things  with the  BIR they now use this assessment to measure your wealth ( So to speak, which may be more beneficial to our Better halves) The Total capital gains is quicker to find if it is kept on a running Total each year, when we pass on, our wives will be quicker off the Ground to carry one as the Taxes can be dealt with much quicker these days.

Around 12 years ago when I bought a house in Spain, I was told there was a legal loop hole there. You submitted plans for a 2 or 3 story house, once approved, you only built the ground floor level, and left columns and rebar sticking out of the roof, then you did not have to pay the dues as it was not complete, even though the ground floor was done and occupied, I think they have now stopped this. But it was going on since time began. 

[Jack Peterson]

 A Result

Much to my utter amazement The BIR & the City have both confirmed that as the Occupation Certificate was never issued ( and have 1/2 admitted they are at fault, there can be only one decision, No tax to pay But and of course there is always a but as from january 1st 2019 our Lot and House will be  assessed at the 2019 Zoning values so there will be a higher Bill in Jan we will have no back tax Bill or  Delinquency marks.

So my Friends lets all get it right   

Edited September 25, 2018 by Jack Peterson
must get a new spell check LOL

[hk blues]

Just out of interest, from what I can see from my bills from the last 2 years, the House element is about 10x more than the Land element for the annual payment.  Obviously, that will vary from case to case but it's an indication.

[bastonjock]

Looks like I've got all that to come 

[hk blues]

32 minutes ago, bastonjock said:

Looks like I've got all that to come 

Indeed.  For me, it's not so much what has to be done as not knowing what has to be done because everything is so haphazard and loose.  It's difficult to pin down a definitive list of things that should/must be done and you often don't discover things until much, much later with the resultant mess of trying to retrace steps etc etc.  Even asking the locals isn't that effective because many don't follows the rules/know the rules either. 

[Gary D]

On 9/25/2018 at 2:32 AM, Mick said:

Around 12 years ago when I bought a house in Spain, I was told there was a legal loop hole there. You submitted plans for a 2 or 3 story house, once approved, you only built the ground floor level, and left columns and rebar sticking out of the roof, then you did not have to pay the dues as it was not complete, even though the ground floor was done and occupied, I think they have now stopped this. But it was going on since time began. 

I'm currently in Lima Peru. They have the same system here as well and I've been driven through whole cities that are nothing more than building sites for this exact reason. We went though one place called Juliaca and it was like dowtown Beirut with rubble in the streets.