Regarding the increase in property tax in the Tax Increase Ordinance (OG 16/2022), there is some chaos in the sense that there are problems with application. Some town halls would send questions to the Ministry of Finance, Adrian Vascu says on his website. Also, the city halls requested to provide information to taxpayers who are owners of non-residential buildings.

* Adrian Vascu is a senior partner at Veridio and former president of ANEVAR

“Since the last analysis on this topic, there has been no official position yet on how the property tax process will continue and whether there will be any changes to the provisions of OG16/2022. I remain of the opinion that the way the regulatory act on this topic is currently written cannot remain as it is,” Vasku says.

What information or discussions have arisen in the meantime, according to Adrian Vascu:

1. Some municipalities have asked the Ministry of Finance about how to implement the provisions of OG 16 and have not yet received an answer. The time in which they have to submit tax rulings is running out fast and it is still unclear what needs to be done.

2. However, in order to do something, some municipalities have asked taxpayers who own non-residential buildings to provide them with information.

Taxpayers have no legal obligation to provide this information, and their role and relevance are extremely unclear.

Most likely, the municipalities that sent this document intended to somehow include the buildings in the notary market research, although simply knowing the above information will not be enough. So it’s an effort that taxpayers don’t have to make.

3. The idea that the notary market research currently in use will be used for recruitment. I think this is a misunderstanding. These studies were conducted in 2021 with information valid in 2021 to be used by notaries in 2022.

According to the way of work until now, these studies are carried out in the last half of the current year and are effective from next year. In other words, they must be produced with information related to 2022 that will be used in 2023.

If this is not the case and the existing ones will be used, I make the following mentions:

a) in 2023 they will be based on information from 2021

b) there is no statutory presumption of value from the studies of authorized valuers. A simple reading of them by anyone willing will confirm the fact that they were made on the basis of Article 111 of the Fiscal Code without amendment last December. Therefore, if they will be used, it is necessary to first or at the same time know who is responsible for these values: the Ministry of Finance, notaries, etc.

• Notaries claim that they do not have the authority to determine the taxable value of buildings and land plots

4. Market studies for 2023 will be conducted by authorized appraisers in accordance with the law. In this sense, ANEVAR, which has the role of establishing the rules on the basis of which authorized appraisers carry out their professional activities, issued a document containing the rules for the development of market studies provided for in Article 111 of the Fiscal Code, which was dedicated to the transparency of decision-making on the website www. anevar.ro

The new rules, which are binding on licensed appraisers, outline what can and can’t be done professionally in these studies.

Therefore, I recommend that those who believe that these documents will be used for property taxation in the future (I still hope for the public good that this will not happen) not to make simulations based on previous studies, because significant changes will be created by special professional requirements , which are contained in the new set of rules.

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