Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

Bert knows about a lady notaris in Singaraja

Hi, Try Kantor Kita at Sanur, it's a legal office and notary services, they also run visa services and one of respectable legal office in Bali, also try Eddy Nyoman Winarta notary at Kuta, last time we bought land we use his services and it's really good and honest. For Land tax thats extremly high and sounds fishy, You only need to pay tax every year and it's ussually around Rp, 100,000 more or less depend how big your property.

I use Ulce Irithrina, she's in Kuta near Gallaria Mall.
0361 767561

DCC wrote:I use Ulce Irithrina, she's in Kuta near Gallaria Mall.
0361 767561

Recommended.

And she looks good too.

Dewi......In here NOW

have found lawyer peter johnson in kuta. had local bali aussie have a look at document. it seems that the house has been revalued and that is what the charge is for. won't be absolutely sure until we get confirmation tomorrow. seems a bit unfair though. the house had been vacant for a few years when we bought it. timbers and doors etc rotted, the pool not working,water tanks have had to be replaced , cracked tiles, cracks in walls, hot water system non/existent, water pump not working, and all the usual problems with a house not maintained in the tropics.

it seems that the house has been revalued and that is what the charge is for

There is no tax based on the value of the house. Property tax is based on land value. Why don't you ask them to fax you the document and put it online?

hi, allan will put document on line as soon as i receive legible copy. have asked manajer to scan for me. hopefully can post online tomorrow.

Jimbo wrote:Dewi......In here NOW

Dewi also thinks she looks good

Wowwww.. cool down fisherman. I know how you feel. First, that tax bill should be readjust. its a house rite? most tax ppl assume the house is a villa/ for rents.. in ur case is not ? or is it? tax officials in bali is outrageous as they always push the villa/house owner with their bills, my friend in umalas also got his 400 million tax bills and got it negotiated and solved for 80 million. its kind a hectic itself in the tax office when i company my friend to negotiate with the tax ppl. Its all standard in indonesia, you need to have a friend or name drop a familiar balinese/local friend in Kantor Pajak (tax office) to help you with this case. if i were you, i push my managers to find his way to nego with the tax ppl.
Or do consult with a notaris, i have one, maybe his english skills is up to standard, but he knows his way around with things, i used him alot for all my transactions in bali.
His name is, Mr. Liang Budiarta, 0361 766521 (office)

There really is not much clarity in Bali is there? I just bought land and built a villa in Sanur. I used a Notary in Sanur called Rainy Hendriany and can recommend her. Rainy is married to a retired British CEO from a Multi-national Company who is also an OBE. Rainy speks fluent English and gave me very detailed and reliable advice regarding the options for investing in property here. Even after I decided to use a nominee structure she would not help recommend a nominee because this could represent a conflict of interests. After thinking about this for a while, I did understand this and very comfortable. I can recommend Rainy as being a person of total integrity and honesty with whom I (As a Canadian ) could very easily communicate on all levels.
Regarding the Villa tax, this Notary did do a full due diligence as part of the sale and purchase process. She did discover that the land tax on the land I purchased had not been paid for several years and this was offset in the purchase price.
Other than that, there was a 5% final tax on the taxable value of the land to be paid by both the purchaser and the seller. As it was explained to me by the Notary, thereafter, there is only an annual tax to be paid on the taxable value of the property. After a villa has been constructed, the tax is paid on the taxable value of the land AND BUILDINGS, but this remains only a very small proprtion of the market value of the property and is nothing to be concerned about. This does, however, conflict with earlier posts which state that the annual tax is payable only on the LAND value. I did look into this in considerable detail and I believe that the advice from this Notary was correct.

Welcome Sanur Girl !

Thanks for the information SanurGirl. Good to have you in the forum!

BTW its seems that you are correct, property tax is calculated on the capital value of land AND buildings.

From http://www.rti.org/newsletters/witw/2002oct/property_tax_Indo.pdf

Property Valuation and Assessment of Tax Liability

Since 1986, the basis for property appraisal has been capital value. Valuations are conducted by regional tax offices and are to be carried out every three years, except in cases of rapid development where they may be undertaken on an annual basis. Both mass and individual appraisal techniques are employed, with the former the dominate means in urban and rural sectors.

Mass appraisal methods are based on a system whereby all individual land parcels and structures are first (and separately) categorized2 according to, among other things, their location or zone and their age and building materials used in construction, respectively. The capital or “sales” value of the tax object (nilai jual objek pajak--NJOP) is then determined by the application of class-specific unit values (i.e. rupiah amounts per square meter) to individual land parcel and building floor area.

Identification of Taxable Properties

The identification of taxable properties is based on “self-discovery” principles. Taxpayers are legally responsible for providing all relevant data regarding properties to the tax office. The official mechanism for providing such information is Tax Object Information Letter (Surat Pemberitahuan Objek Pajak—SPOP.) Such information would include, among other things, the taxpayer’s name and address, location of tax object, taxable area of land and building, and recent purchase price, where applicable. Third parties such as notaries (i.e. for sales transactions), issuers of building permits (the local department of public works), and others are also required to provide relevant information to tax offices.

The intent of the above described property discovery system, is, of course, to identify taxable land and buildings and ultimately to assess property tax liability.

Statutory Tax Rate

As noted above, the property tax rate has been fixed at 0.5 percent since 1985. Up until fiscal year 2001, the assessment ratio (NJKP) was 20 percent for all sectors. These two figures together result in a statutory tax rate of 0.1 percent. As discussed, the NJKP has recently been increased across the board for estates and forestry sectors and for higher value properties only in the urban and rural sectors. The current statutory tax rate would therefore fall somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. Data are not yet available to make a precise estimate of the current effective statutory rate.

Enforcement: Administrative and Criminal Sanctions

Administrative sanctions may be applied if a taxpayer (1) fails to provide relevant information to the tax authorities, (2) provides false or incomplete information leading to an underestimation of tax liability, or (3) does not pay tax liability in full or on time. Penalties for the above are: (1) 25 percent of tax payments due, (2) 25 percent of the difference between real tax liability and taxes paid, and (3) 2 percent per month (of taxes owed) for a maximum period of 24 months. After the two year period has elapsed, the government has the right to seize the property in question if payments have still not been made.
Criminal penalties may also pertain, according to the law. A taxpayer may be jailed for a period of up to 6 months and fined a sum that equals two times taxes owned if he/she fails to provide the SPOP to tax authorities. If the courts determine that this failure was intentional, the jail term may be up to 2 years and the fine equal to five times tax liability. Should certain third parties fail to provide relevant information to the tax authorities, jail terms of up to one year and penalties of up to Rp 2 million may apply.
Both administrative and criminal sanctions are apparently routinely ignored in practice.

According to the article (2002) the effectiveness of the Indonesian goverment's collection of property taxes is about 40% of potential but is increasing.

The practice of undervaluing properties for tax purposes seems to be widespread and largely ignored by the government. Obviously that could change at any time and tough penalties could be applied.

Given that the statutory tax rate applying to the average villa is more or less only 0.2% it would seem sensible to declare the actual capital value of the property and pay the appropriate tax.

Given:

"s noted above, the property tax rate has been fixed at 0.5 percent since 1985. Up until fiscal year 2001, the assessment ratio (NJKP) was 20 percent for all sectors. These two figures together result in a statutory tax rate of 0.1 percent. As discussed, the NJKP has recently been increased across the board for estates and forestry sectors and for higher value properties only in the urban and rural sectors. The current statutory tax rate would therefore fall somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. Data are not yet available to make a precise estimate of the current effective statutory rate."

That suggests the max tax payable on even a $1m USD villa would be $2k - that's fair (well it actually seems very low).. and there's probably not too many people living in $1m+ villas..

ct

Me thinks you're are perhaps refering to the 4% (owner build) or 10% (contract build), of value, 1-time tax for new contruction. If you purchased a property and this tax had not been paid then it would remain due and as owner you.....can guess the rest.

Ouch!