The Swiss government is financing a real estate listing in 35 municipalities in Serbia as part of the “Property Tax Reform” program.
Currently, there are 36 real estate enumerators hired in 13 municipalities, and the other 22 municipalities will begin the census in March, announced Swiss program expert Jelena Holcinger.
The plan is to have the whole business completed by the end of this year and to have as many properties as possible in the tax records system.
“In the past three years, we have worked with 44 municipalities across Serbia to update the real estate database, and the top five have also been awarded with 1 million frances”, she said.
According to estimates, depending on the municipality, there are between 10 and 30 percent of real estate that is outside the tax records. All municipalities that have been in the Property Tax Reform program have increased their tax collection percentage and none have raised tax amounts, according to a statement from the Property Tax Reform Program.
In 2019, Vranje collected 2 million euros from property taxes, which is 36 percent more than in the previous year, while in Cuprija, 1.3 million euros was collected for this tax, which is an increase of 35 percent compared to 2018. Last year, property tax in Kraljevo brought 2.5 million euros, an increase of 12 percent compared to the year before, while in Topola they raised this tax by nine percent, or 600 thousand euros in total.
“In the first cycle, 321 enumerators worked in the field, and about 100,000 new properties were recorded”, says Jelena Holcinger.
According to the experience of the Swiss program, the biggest problems that municipalities face when it comes to property taxes are the failure to declare square footage and changes in ownership, such as sales or inheritance solutions, B92 reports.
