Land Registry in Slovenia
Land Registry in Slovenia
Updated on Thursday 30th May 2019based on 3 reviews.
The Land Register is owned and managed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia and keeps legal facts related to properties, such as mortgages, owners and easements. Public electronic access to the Land Register in Slovenia is available either online (in this case it is free of charge, but requires creating an account), either at all local courts, notaries and administrative units, where individuals may obtain a certified copy of an extract from the Land Register in Slovenia, in exchange for a fee.
Persons who are involved in the sale-purchase procedure can request legal assistance from our team of Slovenian lawyers, who can offer an extensive presentation on the legislation in the field, as well as on the provisions that have to be included in any sale-purchase contract.
The procedure of land registration in Slovenia
The seller receives an extract from the Land Registry in Slovenia. This extract is a proof of ownership of the seller and contains all the transactions regarding the respective property. This action should not take more than several days to be completed and our team of Slovenian lawyers can provide an in-depth presentation regarding this procedure.
The seller files a declaration to the Tax Authorities in Slovenia and the respective property is assessed. The seller will file the tax declaration within 15 days after the purchase and, from that point on, the Tax Authorities have 30 days to assess the land.
The next step is the payment of the Real Estate Transfer Tax and the value added tax (VAT) in Slovenia. The VAT is only mandatory for new real estate; otherwise the taxpayer will be responsible with the payment of the real estate transfer tax. This particular type of tax must be paid within 15 days since the date of the purchase.
From that moment, the Tax Authorities will assess the property within a 30 days period of time. The VAT rate for the transfer of property is 22%, except the transfer of apartments, residential and other buildings for permanent living, which request the payment of a tax available at 9.5%. The real estate transfer tax is applied at 2% from the value of the property.
In the case of Slovenian properties that are imposed with the lower VAT tax (of 9.5%), the tax is applicable as long as the property has a maximum surface of 120 square meters (for apartments) or a surface of 250 square meters – when selling houses.
After this, the next step refers to the certification of signature and the presentation of the proposal to the Land Registry in Slovenia. The owner of the real estate must submit an explicit and unconditional declaration to the Land Registry in Slovenia acknowledging that his /her right over the respective property is being transferred to the buyer, and will, from that moment on, be registered on the buyer’s name.
The Property Act states that the seller’s signature on the registration clause must be certified by a public notary. It is compulsory for all taxes to be paid before the signature is certified. Then, the property is being registered by the new owner at the Land Register in Slovenia.
What are the rules of law regarding Slovenian properties?
Who can acquire a property in Slovenia?
Who is involved in the real estate sale in Slovenia?
- • the real estate transaction between the seller of a Slovenian property and the buyer is concluded through a public notary;
- • this is a compulsory procedure, as specific sale documents have to be notarized;
- • the public notary in Slovenia has additional tasks during the sale of a property, such as drafting the sale contract;
- • in certain cases, a real estate agency can be involved, but its presence in the transaction is not legally necessary;
- • the real estate agency has limited powers in this case, such as finding a suitable buyer for a property;
- • the sale contracts can also be drafted by lawyers, not only public notaries, and this is the case especially when the buyers are represented by corporate entities.
What are the main real estate governmental entities in Slovenia?
The Local Land Registry Court initiates the registration process for the entry of title in the Land Register, on the basis of the Land Registry proposal. The submission should be electronically submitted to the Court and usually it requires the intermediary assistance of a public notary or lawyer and a real-estate agency acting on behalf of the applicant.
The proposal is sent to a central unit of the court which automatically assigns it to the least busy local court, which will register the property on the buyer’s name. For further details and personalized consultancy regarding property registration please contact our Slovenian law firm.