Council tax

jokers2theright


Joined: 18/02/2008
Posts: 174

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 14:59

I have been informed that unless the kocan is in your name the Council cannot demand payment of council tax, however I think the Council have taken the piss out of us english and we are paying because 1 silly english bugger did and so they tried it on with all of us .. How many paying out there ?

paul90


Joined: 07/11/2007
Posts: 350

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 15:47

Does it really matter if it is only £25 per year compared to £2000 in the UK?

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 15:54

Hi j2tr

Until our house was on the Kocan we only paid a nominal amount per year. Once the house is registered on the land then you have to pay a larger charge each year but it is nothing like the cost of what they charge in the UK.

Personally I think the services we get in Esentepe far outweigh what we actually pay. We get two rubbish collections per week, if we have a problem we walk into the office and someone is there sorting out the problem within a few hours. Brilliant service.

In the UK what do we have, rubbish at your door for two weeks. If you happen to put the wrong stuff in the wrong coloured bin they don't collect it at all so you have to travel to the nearest local amenity site. I know which I'd prefer.

Karen

TimothyCadman


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 1040

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 17:17

I agree with Karen.



We pay 183YTL a year; in fact paid it this morning. In England we paid the equivalant of 250YTL A MONTH for 10 MONTHS.



We too get our bins emptied twice a week. Any problems we have (fly tipping, burst mains etc.) we goto one office and it's sorted very quickly.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 18:14

Hold on a sec. Rubbish Collection, Lighting and Health Care are billed with the water bill. The yearly payment is the Property tax and it is due when you start living there or when the electricity and water is connected to the mains. Whoever has the Kocan in his name has to pay this but bear in mind that transfer of title deeds cannot take place until these fees are paid with late penalty. Guess who is going to foot the bill at the end of the day!! I say you better pay up now.

ismet

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 19:31

Hi Elko

We pay our "rates" to the Beledysi once a year. The charge is normally added to the bottom of the water bill. Isn't this the same charge? We haven't paid any other annual bill (our name is on the Kocan).

Karen

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 20:47

The ones added to the water bill are as I stated above. The property tax comes with an A4 paper with explanations like title deed no., meter squares etc. I suggest you enquire abot the property tax.

ismet

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 20:52

Elko

am I misunderstanding you here. Are you saying that this property tax has to be paid annually or just a one off. We paid money to the tax office at the same time as we paid money to the land registry many many moons ago (this was when the vendor had to attend the land registry with us and bring the title deeds in order for them to be passed to us) or have we just got our wires crossed.

Karen

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 22:49

Karen,

At the time of the transfer of title deeds, you pay 1% of the transfer duty, thus 1% of 3% makes 0.03% of the value of the property just for onece. I am talking about the other property tax (Emlak Vergisi) paid annually to the municipalty in two installments if you like, one end of April and I think the second installment end of November. It is reasonably small so I always pay it in one go.

ismet

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
14/04/2008 23:07

Ismet

Thank you for explaining. I now understand.

Karen

jokers2theright


Joined: 18/02/2008
Posts: 174

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 11:47

elko 2



Yes thats the tax I was referring to at the beginning of this topic - presented on an A4 sheet with title number. Although we are living in the house the kocan was never handed over or parcellation done. We have no electric and the places are detiorating and pools rotting. However low and behold the Municipality have the cheek to send the bill to our name when the land is still in the name of the landowner and also in Court over disputes.



Also comments from others like 'Does it really matter if it is only bla bla bla compared to bla bla bla in the UK?' should zip it because its due to these comments being made in Cyprus why increases are made and why we are asked to pay things that we should not be paying.



The local municipality would never ask a local to pay if no kocan.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 12:22

Elco we paid an enviromental tax last year and a property tax is this right ? we have an apartment on a complex of 162 quite a lot of money in tax with not yet any deeds ?

jokers2theright


Joined: 18/02/2008
Posts: 174

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 12:31

elko 2

but having made comment on message 11 of 12 I agree with you our arms are held behind our backs cos its us who will pay the late penalty fee !

TimothyCadman


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 1040

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 14:06

J2R,



If the municipality know that you are living there they must have been told that you had accepted possession of the property. This is usually done by the installation of a water meter. Regardless of any disputes that you have with your builder, or that a kocan is not in place, they see that you are the legal owner of the property and thus charge you the annual taxes due on that property.



You should NOT have accepted possession until everything was in place to your statisfaction. Acceptance of substandard goods becomes the responsibilty of the new owner, unless of course problems were not made apparent when you bought/accepted possession of the goods.



If you don't want to pay the tax then have your water meter removed, then a bill will not be produced. I live on an estate of 7 homes. 2 have no water or electric meters. They don't the get "council tax" demands.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 15:05

According to 50/1995 Property Tax Law, paragraph 5, it is the responsibility of the "owner" to pay this tax, thus whoever owns the title deeds, it is his responsibility. However the Councils are never in a hurry to go to court over it because they are small sums and when the time comes to transfer the title deeds, Tapu wants a certificate from the Council showing that all taxes are paid. So you can guess who is going to pay for it with late penalty when the time comes.

ismet

TimothyCadman


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 1040

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 16:29

Ismet,



If it how you say "the title deed owner's responsibility", how come the bills we receive are in our personal names, when none of us have any type of title deed?



If we refuse to pay it then as the bill is in our name then the local council can take us to court. But by us quoting to them "50/1995 Property Tax Law, paragraph 5" to them or in a court of law then we would surely win.



But, if this is the law, why are councils even considering issuing bills when they are aware, surely, of the law? Or do they just treat us just as "a case of the people who live in these villas and are ignorant of the law and they will pay automatically as it's an official document, and as such fill our coffers nicely and get the government out of spending black hole."

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 17:34

Timothy, They are just being practical. My mother inb law had bought a house from a developer and I got the Property tax in my name and started paying it before getting the title deeds simply because I knew that I was going to pay it eventually. However, if the title deeds is not in your name, you can ignore it or even better tell the council that you do not have the deeds. They will never prosecute you but if they do by chance, you can win hands down in court. Is it wise not to pay? If you are hoping to get the title deeds eventually, I suggest that you start paying, otherwise the vendor can be bloody minded and use it as an excuse not to transfer the title deeds. Not worth the aggro.

ismet

Newboy


Joined: 21/02/2008
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 22:29

Ismet

If you do not have title deeds, is it then necessary to go to the builder to see if he has been paying the Council Tax and if he has then that is all right. If the builder has not been paying the Tax where do you go to enquire about it, just thinking of being confronted by a large bill. Any guidance would be well appreciated in this matter.



Ray

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 22:49

Newboy,

The property tax cost very little in the past but recently they have been putting it up to noticable levels.

Famagusta Municipality will let anybody register it in his name and collect the tax. It is in no way proof of ownership. However we had reports that some municipalities refuse to register it in any name except the title deed owner. However anybody can pay it. The trouble is, what happens if your builder owns a few houses and you want to pay for a particular house only? I don't know the answer and probably there is no universal answer for that for TRNC. I bet each Council mange in their own ways.

ismet

Newboy


Joined: 21/02/2008
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
15/04/2008 23:10

Ismet

Thanks very much, I shall look into it when I am over in May.



Ray

jokers2theright


Joined: 18/02/2008
Posts: 174

Message Posted:
16/04/2008 13:03

bring to the top important topic

EssexOB


Joined: 29/06/2007
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
08/09/2008 22:26

Question for Elko 2.

We got our Kocan in November last year, but to date have not seen any request for Property Tax. ( We visited our apartment in Feb and June this year ) I am out again in October, how can I check if we owe money for this tax ? Where can I go to ask ? Would the builder still be paying ?

Apartment is in Girne and we pay water / lighting / rubbish collection etc as per the monthly bills at the Belediyesi.

jfoggy


Joined: 23/12/2006
Posts: 260

Message Posted:
08/09/2008 23:24

Hi, message for Ray,

Good questions! Did you look into it in May...if so what did you discover? Be very interested to know for obvious reasons.....

See you soon

Julie

fire starter


Joined: 19/06/2008
Posts: 3401

Message Posted:
09/09/2008 09:18

we get letters sent to us when this needs paying.

EssexOB


Joined: 29/06/2007
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
09/09/2008 10:54

Our post is not that reliable. As we are only there a few times a year, letters go missing. Just would like to know where I could check if we owe anything. Don't want the end up with large bill that hasn't been paid. I guess we should have had a request in April, but have seen nothing.

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 2880

Message Posted:
09/09/2008 11:34

I found out about the tax whilst queing to register my property lin March of this year. I think I paid £60 pounds to Lapta municipality. I had to take a copy of my contract together with an architechts plan. I forget what they call this now, but it is the one that I registered with my solicitor. From this info the council guy worked out my cost.



I was really pleased because I received a lovely booklet telling me all about Lapta for paying my council tax

Laptalocal


Joined: 28/02/2008
Posts: 99

Message Posted:
09/09/2008 14:06

Having recently moved here, I only found out about the property tax in March this year and was advised that it had to be paid in April. Despite buying the property in 2004, the Kocan is still not in my name. I did however still have to pay the tax as according to Lapta Beledeyesi, it was my responsibility once I purchased the property. The amount I had to pay in April was over 900 ytl as they had added fines for non-payment the previous years (2004 - 2008). The tax apparently is based on the m2 of your property. I'm not sure whether legally I should pay it or not (as I dont have the Kocan), but rather than avoid continued fines etc, I think that this is the best option. At the end of the day, I do live in the house and do wish for it to be recognised as mine, so I think its my responsibility to pay the charges relating to it.

EssexOB


Joined: 29/06/2007
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
17/09/2008 18:04

Ref. my msg 22.

Could someone advise where I go to enquire about this property tax ? Is it at the Girne Belediyesi (where you pay water etc) or the Tax Office ( near the fountain roundabout ).



Thanks.

cooper


Joined: 23/10/2007
Posts: 3386

Message Posted:
17/09/2008 22:04

Hi Essex0B you may find this link useful - http://www.hbpg-trnc.net/documents/Tax_property.html



Cooper