Al Watan, 3 November 2024: A workshop titled “Real Estate Transactions Tax” organised by the Real Estate Committee at the Ahsa Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, has determined that it would take 5 minutes on average to register a property on the electronic Real Estate Transactions Tax platform.

The platform aims to facilitate the process for users, enabling them to register their properties for taxation, pay the applicable tax on non-exempt cases, and complete this essential step before finalising the property transfer or contract documentation.

The platform’s services include tracking application status, viewing invoices, and modifying or canceling applications.

The workshop has emphasised the importance of considering the fair market value, which is the amount due for the property (in exchange for similar and concurrent goods or services provided flexibly between unrelated parties).

The Real Estate Transactions Tax is an indirect tax on all transactions that result in a legal effect, involving the transfer of property ownership or possession for the purpose of ownership or usufruct from one person to another.

The transaction may be contingent on a subsequent action by the parties involved, such as a sale, or based on the unilateral will of the transferor, such as a bequest.

It includes gifts, exchanges, barters, financial leases, Islamic leases ending in ownership transfer, transfer of shares in real estate companies, and long-term usufruct contracts exceeding 50 years.

The tax applies only once in cases where the parties, property, and value remain the same.

The Real Estate Transactions Tax exempts certain transactions, such as those involving inheritance division, transfers without consideration to family members or charitable associations, and forced transfers due to expropriation for public benefit.

Other exempted transactions include documented gifts to spouses or third-degree relatives (under specific conditions), transfers based on a legal will, temporary transfers as security for financing or credit (unless permanently transferred), transactions before the regulations’ effective date related to lease-to-own or financial leases, temporary transfers between a fund and a custodian, and contributions of property as in-kind shares in a company established in the Kingdom.

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