The The Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing today, Thursday, invited the public to share their opinions on the draft amendment to the fee regulation for unregistered land and its implementing regulations, via a survey platform, until March 24.

The Ministry stated that its aim in proposing the draft amendment to the regulation and its implementing regulations is to impose a fee at a rate higher than (2.5%) of the land’s value, reduce the registration period, and clarify the type of decision communicated to the landowner.

The Ministry also aims, through this amendment, to comprehensively define the concepts of residential and residential-commercial uses, granting the Minister the authority to amend the implementing regulations based on a proposal from the ministerial committee formed pursuant to Article 14 of the law; adding new definitions to Article 1 of the implementing regulations; and establishing a single phase for imposing the fee.

According to the draft amendment to the Land Fees Law on Unused Land and its implementing regulations, Article 3 of the law stipulates that an annual fee shall be imposed on vacant land—not directly owned by the state—whose ownership belongs to one or more natural persons or legal entities, based on the area specified by the Minister, provided that it is not less than 5,000 square meters, and at a rate of not less than 2.5% of the appraised value of the land, and the committee formed pursuant to Article 14 of the Regulation may impose it at a rate of up to 10 % of the appraised value of the land within a specific scope in accordance with criteria established by the Ministry, including the location of the land and its uses, building regulations, the availability of services, access to utilities, population density, and the level of supply and demand—taking into account economic and social factors—and these criteria shall be approved by the committee formed pursuant to Article 14 of this Regulation.

Article 5, as amended, stipulates that owners of land declared to be subject to the fee; submit to the Ministry the documents and data pertaining to their land within the period specified by the Ministry, which shall not exceed 3 months from the date of the announcement.

It further stipulates that owners of land announced as subject to the fee; submit to the Ministry the documents and data related to their land within a period not exceeding 6 months from the date of the announcement, and the landowner shall be notified of the amount of the fee due in accordance with the notification mechanisms specified in the regulations.

Meanwhile, Article 6 of the Executive Regulations stipulates that the fee shall be applied to land subject to the fee based on developed and undeveloped land, in accordance with the areas approved in the announcement within the approved scope determined by the Ministry, and the total area of developed land belonging to a single owner, based on the areas approved in the announcement within the approved scope determined by the Ministry.

It further states that if a particular phase does not apply to any of the cities, or if the land within a particular phase is insufficient to achieve the required balance between supply and demand, it is permissible —by decision of the Minister—to bypass that phase and move to another phase, provided that this does not affect the application of the fee to the preceding phases.

To view the draft amendment to the Vacant Land Fees Regulation and its implementing regulations Click here