Property title problems

[Mauricio]

Hello all,

A few months ago I mentioned on this board a problem of a lawyer that stole the money I gave him (via an real estate agent) to deposit my tax payment for making the property transfer of the appartment I bought in 2002. (I gave him this money early 2003, after first trying to get a loan with an asociacion but later deciding to better pay the tax than paying the interest of that loan).

Finally, after a lot of hassle I got back a part of the money I gave this thief by holding responsible the real estate agent that sold me the appartment. While because of the Fiscal reform the amount to be paid went down from 50,000 to about 37,000 pesos, I accepted that last amount as a first payment for me to at least being able to make the property transfer.

When another lawyer last week wanted to make the deposit the following problem arose:

At the Jurisdiccion de Tierras they told the lawyer that the declared amount of the appartment (stated on the IVSS of january 2004) of around 1,000,000 pesos was outdated and not correct. The current value of the appartment according to them is 2,500,000 pesos. This ment that instead of around 37,000 pesos I would have to pay 100,000 pesos of tax.

In my opinion I should pay the amount of tax aplicable to the value of the appartment at the moment of the sale. In my case the reason that I did not deposit earlier is that the money was stolen by the first lawyer, though I know this is my problem and not of JT. But in this case I have this IVSS paper that states the value of my appartment as of january 2004 being around 1000,000 pesos. It seems JT is stating that the first lawyer paid someone to have this amount remained unchanged in the beginning of 2004.

Is the procedure of JT correct, charging more than 100,000 pesos for an appartment that by market value will hardly reach 2,500,000? Shouldn't the official value be a much more conservative value, and are they at all in their rights to apply today's values instead of the value at sales date?

I hope someone knows about this. Thanks in advance!

M.

[Criss Colon]

I paid 1,400,000 pesos for the house.we made the "bill of sale" for 950,000 so I would pay less "taxes".They sent me a letter saying that the "value" was 1,500,000 pesos.I couild pay those taxes,or they would come to my house and do a "new" evaluation.I paid the taxes!
The only way you can beat a Dominican,is with a big stick!!!

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Transfer taxes are paid based on the price of purchase stated in the Contract of Sale or on a minimum of 70% of the market value of the property as determined by the tax authorities, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER (Regulation #2-98 of the Dirección General de Impuestos Internos).

You may appeal the appraisal done by Impuestos Internos if you are not happy with it. The catch is that the legal costs of the appeal(s) may very well be more than the reduction requested. Also, pending the appeal(s), the property will still be recorded in the seller’s name.