Real estate professionals and consumers are in panic after receiving a letter two years later asking for payment of the fee for properties whose ownership has been transferred.
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The Land Reforms and Land Revenue Offices have been sending letters to both buyers and sellers asking them to settle the outstanding balance of real estate purchased and sold two years ago. The Office of the Auditor General has indicated the outstanding balance in its annual report and has asked them to collect the outstanding balance, so the Land Revenue Offices have sent letters to the buyers and sellers asking them to pay the insufficient amount for registration within seven days.
The letter asks the landowners to submit the amount due for registration fee of the property that was traded two years ago within seven days and settle the outstanding amount.
Point number 6 of the Land Reforms and Land Revenue Office's minimum valuation manual for the fiscal year 2081/82 states that the same minimum valuation will be established according to the original and previous plots in proportion to the area of the plots that will be passed or the existing plots. Based on this provision, the Accountant General had shown the outstanding amount.
Currently, the Land Revenue Offices have been demanding payment of the amount by showing the Auditor General's report. Real estate professionals and consumers are in panic after receiving letters saying that the fee amount is not enough for the property that was purchased and sold and the ownership was transferred two years ago. They say that the government (Land Revenue) has not taken the right decision by imposing a ghost tax.
The Land Revenue Office has sent a letter to settle the unclaimed property by paying the amount that will be reduced for registration fee, citing the report of the Auditor General's Office for the fiscal year 2080/81. The Nepal Real Estate and Housing Development Federation has stated that the letter from the Land Revenue Office has created instability in the real estate business.
'Land Revenue Offices have arbitrarily collected large amounts of unclaimed property, explaining that the value of land divided from the same large plot should be the same based on the audit, and have sent letters to businessmen warning them that the land will be seized if the amount is not paid,' the federation said in a statement. 'This has created unnecessary instability in the real estate business.'
According to the prevailing law, the value of developed land varies according to the facade, shape, location, transportation facilities, topography and infrastructure access, but the federation says that ignoring it in the audit is an inconsistent use of legal interpretation. ‘This is likely to harm not only thousands of businessmen but also millions of real estate consumers,’ the statement said. The federation demands that the government immediately suspend the implementation of the arbitrarily raised amounts and review the audit process with the same standards.
‘After the government cuts the letter of arbitrariness, we should be sure that no more revenue will be generated from real estate transactions,’ said Bishnu Ghimire, president of the federation, ‘The minimum land value of any place is Rs 500,000 per annum. But if an individual or company buys and sells the same land at Rs 200,000 per annum, they are showing arbitrariness as to why it is 1.5 million less.’
When the government passes the price set by the government at a price higher than the price set, the government should encourage it, but now it is sending letters to pay revenue by considering the higher price as the basis. He also said that they have been demanding that the current value of the land be used as the value of the arbitrariness. "If there is land worth Rs 10 million, let's keep the bag amount at Rs 10 million. But now the government has started sending letters asking why the land worth Rs 10 million was sold for Rs 1 million after looking at the past transactions," he said.
The federation also demands the implementation of clear, practical and business-friendly valuation guidelines for determining the price of land developed with planning permits based on prevailing legal standards. "We urge the government to take necessary steps to ensure that the irregularities currently being raised to discourage the private sector are reviewed and to find industry-friendly solutions while maintaining stability in the housing and urban development and economic sectors," he said.
