Tax rating of the real estates will raise with 20 up to 30 %.
Finance and Taxes
Bulgarian property taxes ‘to rise 20 per cent’00:00 Mon 10 Oct 2005 - Business Staff TAX valuations of real estate in Bulgaria will rise by at least 20 per cent in 2006, which would also push up property taxes, refuse fees, and notary charges for transferring property, Deputy Finance Minister Georgi Kadiev said on September 29. All these taxes and fees are based on a property’s tax appraisal. The tax value of each property would still significantly differ from its market price, which in the cases of some real estates in Sofia has increased by 200 to 300 per cent over the past two to three years. The reason for the evaluation update was the International Monetary Fund’s requirement, accepted by the previous cabinet, for an increase in real estate taxes. The increase would be determined on the basis of an urban cost analysis from the past three years, Kadiev said. Currently, property tax is 1.5 per cent of the tax value of the property. The last time that real estate evaluations increased was in 2002. At the time, the cabinet changed calculation methods, which led to a 60 per cent increase. In the past year, a number of organisations have demanded different methods for real estate tax calculation. Kadiev said the National Statistical Institute was still expected to contribute its data to the calculation of the new values and taxes, but he was certain the increase would be no less than 20 per cent. The need for new real estate valuations was shown in the latest report on housing prices in Bulgaria by independent analytical company Industry Watch. These prices rose by about 44 per cent on an annual basis by the end of the second quarter of 2005, compared to 55 per cent by the end of the first quarter, Industry Watch said on September 30. Unlike the first quarter, the rate of price increases was considerably weaker, with only the four largest cities, namely Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas, registering growth of more than 15 per cent, compared to the first quarter, when there was a more than 30 per cent rise in three cities. Source: http://www.sofiaecho.com/(27.10.2005)