Abdulhamid Al-Hammad, head of the Unregistered Land Fees Sector at the Ministry of Housing, confirmed that the ministry has begun contacting the Ministries of Justice and Municipal and Rural Affairs to register unregistered land subject to the land fees program on a mandatory basis, on behalf of owners who have failed to do so, in preparation for imposing the fees.

Al-Hammad said that, according to the implementing regulations, the Land Fees Program has the right to register the land on behalf of the taxpayer and impose the fee on it, unless the taxpayer registers it directly.

He explained that the maximum penalties will be imposed on owners of unregistered land who have failed to register their land in the program, as their failure to do so to date is considered a disregard for the Land Fees System.

He added that for unregistered land registered during the second Land Tax cycle after the owners’ delay in registration, three bills will be issued: a retroactive bill for the first year’s tax, a fee bill for the current year, and a fine estimated at 2.5 % of the land’s value.

Al-Hammad noted that these three charges will also apply to those who refuse to register, with the land’s value assessed at the upper limit if its boundaries are unknown.

He explained that penalties will also be imposed on landowners who intentionally provide false information regarding the location and boundaries of their land. He noted that the Ministry plans to implement the following procedure in the near future: the Ministry will contact the owner to grant him a specific period to register his land himself; if he insists on not registering his land in the land fee system, his land will be registered in the fee program and penalties will be imposed.