IPT Refunds and Disputes

Do you have a problem getting your Title Deeds?
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Pete G
Posts: 6
Joined: 25 Jun 2013 19:43

IPT Refunds and Disputes

Post by Pete G »

I am now one of the fortunate people who have been told that my title deeds are ready for collection, upon payment of outstanding IPT and and 'administration fee' to the developer. There does seem to be a few weird things [only a few, I hear you say] which I did wonder if anyone had previous experience of.

Firstly, I have been told by my solicitor that, although the amount of IPT the developer is claiming looks about right, I will only be able to claim back about 25% of the difference between what the developers bill was, and what my actual IPT liability would have been over the same period [actually zero in my case]. Has anyone actually been able to claim the full amount back, and if so what is your secret?

Is there any way I can settle the developers bill, and pay my transfer tax at the same time, and perform some arbitrage between the two?

Finally, I have heard rumours that the 'reforms' to the Title deed system may give me a way of actually obtaining my deeds without paying the 'administration fee' and other forms of extortion from the developer [since I presume there is no formal 'dispute' procedure]. Does anyone know if this actually exists [yet?] or is such fair treatment just a pipe-dream on my part.
Nigel Howarth
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007 14:38
Location: Erimi, Limassol, Cyprus
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Re: IPT Refunds and Disputes

Post by Nigel Howarth »

Hi Pete G

I think we all now that many of the developers and lawyers are sharks (or vermin as Hermes Solomon called them recently).

The problem is that your vermin of a developer has you over a barrel and he knows it!! He will try to extract as much money from you as he can and I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to charge you penalty payments imposed on his company for delaying IPT payments as well as these ridiculous 'administration fees'.

Providing your vermin supplies you with records of the amount paid as Immovable Property Tax (IPT) and a certificate showing the rate of IPT applicable to the property, you should be able to submit a claim to the Inland Revenue to recover any legitimate overpayments.

Of course you could dispute the bill and take the vermin to court, but the cost of doing so will outweigh the amount he is trying to extort from you.

Assuming the 1980 value of your property is less than €120,000 (or €240,000 if you bought in joint names) you should be able to recover all the IPT paid for years up to and including 2012 - and most of the payments for years 2013 and 2014.

The only way the government can reform the system is to put a few of these vermin in jail and throw away the key.

Regards,
Nigel Howarth
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