Owning a property, a parcel of land, a condominium unit or a residential house requires a complex web of registration with the Land Office, which can be part of the legal services Phuket law firms offer. All ownerships will be legally transferred by a written registration at the local Land Office. Along with such registration are fees and taxes that are needed to be paid upon registration of the property which is the subject of change of ownership. Fees and taxes include transfer fee, income tax payable as withholding tax, stamp duty or specific business tax or local development tax.The registration process as handled by real estate lawyers in Phuket, requires that the transfer fee and the seller’s income withholding tax are to be deducted and paid to the authorities upon transfer. These fees and taxes are calculated based on the Land Office’s valuation of the property.
On the other hand, the stamp duty or specific business tax or local development tax will also be deducted and paid to the authorities upon transfer. Both stamp duty and tax are calculated based on the Official Value of the property or the actual transaction value of the property, whichever is higher.
Thus, because the Land Office’s appraised value of the property is one of the key elements used for the calculation of the fee and taxes applicable to and payable upon the registration of ownership of immovable property, you might wish to know more about this Official Value.
For this purpose the Official Value – an assessed or appraised value for an immovable property is periodically generated by the Valuation Committee pursuant to Section 105 of the Land Code or LC. And since the Official Value becomes the basis for the calculation of the various fees and taxes paid to the authorities upon transfer of ownership of the property, it is important to know how the property’s official value is measured or generated.
Phuket lawyers will have to explain to their clients that pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Valuation Committee’s Regulations for Determining the Criteria and Procedures for Valuating Immovable Properties for the Purposes of Levying Fees for the Registration of Rights and Juristic Acts (1992) (and as amended in 1998) issued under the Land Code, the criteria taken into account by the Valuation Committee in determining the Official Value of an immovable property are:
- Cost of construction materials
- Salaries and wages of the construction workers involved in the construction of the property
- Administration costs for local construction
- Type or purpose of the building.
Official Value for non-condominium buildings in each province in Thailand varies. Once the Official Values in any particular area or province are announced, they are applicable to all such buildings regardless of the property’s location. The appraised value per square meter of a property in Patong will be the same even for the most undeveloped part of Phuket. In general, the appraised value must be re-evaluated every four years.
