Other information

Other information

For sub-site of the NEPREMIČNINE SV, Tomaž Poredoš s.p. web site with the title "OTHER INFORMATION" is intended for everybody who wishes to find some other information concerning Slovenia or the NE part of Slovenia apart from estate/property market. Have a look, you may find something of your interest.

How to obtain property deeds for foreigner in Slovenia

OBTAINING THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS IN THE REAL ESTATE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Since 17 September 2017, the new Reciprocity Recognition Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 27/17, hereinafter: ZUVza-1) has been introduced, introducing some changes in the procedure for establishing the reciprocity (more on the new regulation under point 3 , The procedure for establishing reciprocity).

1. LEGAL BASIS

Aliens may acquire title to immovable property in the Republic of Slovenia at the end of Article 68 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia under the conditions laid down by law or an international treaty ratified by the National Assembly.

a) LEGISLATIVE FOR THE FOREIGN AFFAIRATION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS ON REAL ESTATE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA: 

Succession Act (ZD) 

Law on the Conditions for the Acquisition of the Ownership of Natural and Legal Persons of the Candidate Countries for Membership of the European Union (ZPPLPKEU) 

Law on relations between the Republic of Slovenia and Slovenians outside its borders (ZORSSZNM) 


b) INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS TO ENSURE THE FOREIGN AFFAIRATION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS ON REAL ESTATE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA: 

Agreement on succession issues - applies to citizens of the countries of the former republics of the SFRY and legal entities established in these countries 

Accession treaties with the EU 

Agreement on the European Economic Area

Convention on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 


2. RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS BY INDIVIDUAL STATES


Taking into account the aforementioned laws and international treaties, foreigners (foreign nationals and legal entities established abroad) can be classified into the following groups regarding the possibility of acquiring property rights in real estate in the Republic of Slovenia:

Aliens who do not need a decision establishing reciprocity to acquire title to immovable property:

citizens and legal entities of EU Member States,

citizens and legal entities of OECD Member States,

citizens and legal entities of EFTA States and

persons with the status of a Slovene without Slovenian citizenship.

When acquiring property rights on immovable property, the inheritance of a decision establishing reciprocity is not required by foreign legitimate heirs and foreign mercenaries who would be heirs after their legal inheritance.

In the initiated procedures for registering property rights on immovable property, foreigners from the former republics of the SFRY do not need a decision that fulfilled all the conditions for enrollment before 31 December 1990 (however, the entry was not realized or the procedure for entering the land register was not initiated).

Aliens who need a positive decision on establishing reciprocity for the acquisition of ownership of real estate:

citizens and legal entities of candidate countries for EU membership (the Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Albania).

Aliens who can not acquire title to immovable property or obtain it only on the basis of an inheritance:

citizens and legal entities from all other countries that do not belong to any of the above-mentioned groups (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Ukraine). 

3. PROCEDURE FOR RECOGNIZING 

The procedure starts at the request (application) of an alien seeking to acquire a property right on real estate in the Republic of Slovenia. The alien's application is submitted to the Ministry of Justice (hereinafter: the Ministry). An alien who does not live in the Republic of Slovenia is obliged to appoint a proxy in the Republic of Slovenia in accordance with Article 53 of the General Administrative Procedure Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 24/06 - official consolidated text, 105/06 - ZUS-1, 126/07, 65/08, 8/10 and 82/13).


The application for a finding of reciprocity should be enclosed under Article 9 of the ZUVza-1:

a certified copy of a personal document showing the following information: personal name, date of birth and nationality of a foreign natural person, or original or certified copy of the authentic instrument, showing the company's information and the registered office of a foreign legal entity (eg a certified copy of the passport - for natural persons, original or certified copy of the business register entry - for legal entities),

if the alien has dual nationality, also proof of the last permanent residence (in the form of a public document in the original or certified photocopies),

if the alien has no nationality of any country, a statement as to whether the law of the country of his birth or the country in which he is domiciled or the country in which the alien had his last domicile before obtaining a permanent residence permit should be taken into account in determining reciprocity in the Republic of Slovenia,

a document by which an alien demonstrates the right to establish reciprocity (eg a draft or copy of a sales contract).


When submitting the application, pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 5 of the Administrative Fees Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 106/10 - official consolidated text, 14/15 - ZUUJFO, 84/15 - ZZelP-J and 32/16; hereinafter: ZUT) to pay the administrative fee according to tariff headings 1 and 3 ZUT in the amount of EUR 22.60.


In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 8 of the ZUT, a taxpayer may pay the administrative fee (payment method):

personally - at the lodge at the headquarters of the ministry (on payment, the client submits a confirmation to the ministry) or

with a payment order - deposit to account: 01100-1000315637; reference SI 11 20303-7111002-2018, Ministry of Justice, Župančičeva 3, 1000 Ljubljana (on payment, the client sends a certificate to the ministry).

If upon receipt of the application (when such an obligation is incurred) the fee is not paid or paid in the prescribed amount, the ministry shall send a taxpayer to the taxable person, ordering him to pay a fee in 15 days.


On the basis of a complete application, the Ministry ex officio obtains data on the property, then 

check the information on the law of the foreign country and issue a decision with a summary explanation within 30 days of receipt of a complete application, provided that the following conditions are met simultaneously:

a foreigner acquires a property right on the basis of a legal transaction,

it is apparent from the evidence on the existence of reciprocity by country (see paragraph 4) that, with regard to the acquisition of a property right on a similar property, which is also located in the same area as the property on which the alien wants to acquire the property right, it has already been established that there is reciprocity,

it is apparent from the evidence on the existence of reciprocity across countries that the acquisition of a property right on the basis of a legal transaction that an alien shows in the application has already been found to be reciprocity,

the legal order published in the register of the existence of reciprocity by country has not changed since the last entry in the records or the provisions of the legal order to be applied in the specific case did not change.

obtain information on the legal order of a foreign country, make a comparison of the legal orders and issue a decision with a full explanation within 90 days of receiving a complete application in all cases where the abovementioned conditions for issuing the decision with a summary explanation are not met.


An appeal is not allowed against a decision, but an administrative dispute is possible. A lawsuit in an administrative dispute may also be filed by a state lawyer and a self-governing local community in whose territory the property is located.


If all parties, the state attorney and the local self-governing local community in whose territory the property is situated, after the delivery of the decision in writing or orally to the ministry's ministry, renounces the right to file a lawsuit in an administrative dispute, the decision becomes final on the day when the last of the beneficiaries of the filing the application fails to do so.


If all the beneficiaries do not waive the right to file a lawsuit in an administrative dispute, the ministry shall, after the expiration of 30 days (from the date on which the final notification of the decision was made), and when it receives an administrative court certificate that an administrative dispute has not been initiated (which means approximately another 10 days ), endorses the decision with a clause of res judicata or issues a certificate of final decision. Such a decision (which is valid for one year from the day it became final) is a credible document on the basis of which the ownership right can be entered in the land register for a specific real estate. The valid decision on establishing reciprocity must be attached to the land register by the alien since the verification of the signature on the land registry is not permitted without a valid decision. 


4. RECORD OF STATISTICS ON LACK OF RECRUITMENT

Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Serbia

Montenegro


5. RECORDS ON THE ISSUED DECISIONS


With ZUVza-1, the Government's obligation to submit to the National Assembly twice a year the list of decisions on the existence of reciprocity, as defined by the previous Recognition Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 9/99). Instead, ZUVza-1 set the obligation of the ministry to publish statistical data on issued decisions (a record of issued decisions) on its website every six months, thus providing public insight into the state of implementation of this law. 
Given that the last (twenty-seventh) report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Act, drawn up in accordance with the previous regime, included data on decisions issued by 31 December 2016, the first of the tables below contain information on decisions have been issued in the period since the last reporting until the beginning of the use of ZUVza-1, ie from 1 January 2017 to 16 September 2017.

Record (January 1, 2017 - September 16, 2017)

Records (September 17, 2017 - December 31, 2017)

Record (01.01.1988 - 30.6.2018)

Reports for the period up to 31 December 2016:

Eleventh Report on the Implementation of the Reciprocity Act and List of Decisions issued

Twelfth Report on the Implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Thirteenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Fourteenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Fifteen Report on the Implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Sixteenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Seventeenth Report on the Implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Eighteenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Nineteenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twentieth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twenty-fourth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twenty-second report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twenty-third report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twenty-fourth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Twenty-fifth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

The 24th Report on the Implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act

Seventeenth report on the implementation of the Reciprocity Recognition Act


6. USEFUL INFORMATION


Explanation of the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina


On 1 June 2015, the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into force, which represents one of the preliminary phases with which the potential candidate country is preparing to acquire the status of a candidate country for EU membership and for the country (in concrete terms the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina) does not mean acquiring the status of a candidate country for EU membership itself. The status of candidate for EU membership is granted by the EU Council on the basis of a European Commission recommendation. 

Given that the Law on the Conditions for the Acquisition of the Right to Property of Natural and Legal Persons of the Candidate Countries for Membership in the European Union binds legally guaranteed rights to the status of candidate country for EU membership that Bosnia and Herzegovina have not yet acquired for citizens and legal entities with its registered office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is still considered that they can not acquire title to immovable property in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia. The only exception is the acquisition of ownership of immovable property on the basis of inheritance on the condition of reciprocity. 
 

Source: Ministry of Justice of Republic Slovenia

EU citizens can buy properties in Slovenia without restrictions

Member states

Please click HERE if you want to find out which countries are in the EU association and their citizens are allowed to purchase properties in Slovenia without any restrictions.

Tomaž Poredoš

Citizens of OECD are allowed to buy properties in Slovenia without restrictions

Members of OECD

Please click HERE if you want to find out which countries are in the OECD association and their citizens are allowed to purchase properties in Slovenia without any restrictions.

Tomaž Poredoš

Citizens of EFTA mamber states can buy properties in Slovenia without any restrictions

EFTA members

Please click HERE if you want to find out which countries are in the EFTA association and their citizens are allowed to purchase properties in Slovenia without any restrictions.

Tomaž Poredoš

USA citizens can purcahse properties in Slovenia without restrictions

USA citizens

Republic Slovenia legally inherited obligations from the Trade Treaty signed between USA and Serbia signed more than 100 years ago (1881). In that treaty have the citizens of USA no restrictions to purchase properties in Slovenia as well as citizens of EU, OECD and EFTA members! So USA citizen can buy a property in Slovenia without and legal obstacles.

Real estate Agent in Republic Slovenia

Realtor/Broker

Real estate agent

A real estate agent is a natural person who performs trading for a real estate agency on the basis of an employment contract or any other legal basis and has a licence issued by the competent ministry, namely for the performance of real estate agency services, which is entered in the register of real estate agents at the competent ministry.

The competent ministry issues a licence to perform real estate trading services and also a real estate agent card to an individual who is entered in the register of real estate agents. Until the licence and card are issued, the individual can present the status of a real estate agent with a confirmation issued by the competent ministry.

A real estate agent is obliged to attend additional training every five years or when the regulations that need to be known within the scope of the professional examination for a real estate agent are modified.

Entry in the register of real estate agents

Real Estate Agencies Act

Rules on the certification examination, licences and the keeping of real-estate agents' register

Source: Slovenia Business Point, Republic Slovenia

TRUST THE REAL ESTATE AGENT AND AVOID PRIVATE PURCHASE BECAUSE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG COURT PROCEDURES CAN LAST FOREVER AND COST A LOT OF MONEY.

 

Property sale and purchase taxes in Slovenia

Taxes

Immovable Property Transfer Tax

  • If you want to sell a property, you will have to pay Immovable Property Transfer Tax which is the amount of 2 %.
  • It is due to be paid by the seller when the sales contract is signed and that is what the law says. The law also allows the seller to make an agreement with the buyer so that the buyer can take this tax but that does not often happen. The percentage is taken from the sales price written in the sales contract.

Capital Gains Tax

  • Its taxation is taxed by 0 to 27,5 percentage tax rate!
  • What amount of the tax it will be depends on a holding period of sold capital.

Property Tax or annual Council Tax in Slovenia does not exist at the moment. There is some sort of an inherited Yugoslav council tax but it is not expensive at all. It is not even close to the Western Europe Council taxes.

Copyright Nepremičnine SV

How to buy an agricultural or a farm land in Slovenia

Process how to buy a forest and an agricultural land

Legal Procedure of Trading in Accordance with the Law on Farmland:

1. PUBLIC OFFER OF THE SELLER

Notification on the notice board of the competent administrative unit and on the state portal of e-administration. The deadline for acceptance of the offer shall be 30 days from the date of notification.

2. DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFER

The buyer shall send an acceptance of the offer, with registered letter against receipt.

2. NOTIFICATION ON ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFER

The administrative unit shall notify all bidders about who accepted the offer.

3. CONCLUSION OF SALES CONTRACT

The seller shall by consideration of pre-emption conclude the contract with the buyer.

4. TAX RETURN

The owner of the immovable shall on the basis of the decision of the administrative unit on approval of the deed submit a tax return on sales of immovable to the competent tax office. The tax office issues the tax assessment.

5. NOTARIAL CERTIFICATION

The owner of the immovable shall have his signature on the contract certified by a notary. The notary shall also check the legality of the procedure and of the contract (in accordance with the Notary Act).

6. PROPOSAL FOR ENTERING INTO LAND REGISTRY

Based on the contract certified by a notary a proposal for entering of the owner shall be submitted to the competent land registry.