Land Deals and Tax

Bulgaria Makes Bank Payment Mandatory for Real Estate Deals

Properties
Draft amendments to the Notaries Public Act are going to make bank payment mandatory for all real estate property deals in Bulgaria starting January 1, 2010.
The news has been announced by the government press service, which points out that this move is intended to curb money laundering by paying in cash for the purchase of property, and to counter real estate fraud.
The legislative changes will require that both the vendor and the vendee specify their bank accounts for conducting a property deal. Alternatively, they could use the account of their notary public.
The conditions for depositing money into bank accounts as part of the deal will be specified by the respective sides in written agreements.
These legislative changes are seen as the first step to an all-out regulation of payment in purchase deals through a special law to be called Deposit Account Act.

Uncle's comment:It is difficult to know how this will pan out but it basically means more tax as the correct value goes on the title deeds.It will also mean that the statistics for real estate may actually have some meaning.The flip side is that the party is over for tax avoidance.