Land Transfer

[DanBlack]

We just bought a house and agreed with the previous owner that we would pay half the transfer fees. The actual owner was not present at the land transfer office, so her friend with a P of A took care of it. What I find unusual is the clerks behind the counter said we had to pay an extra 20+thousdand, because the actual owner was not there. Anyway when we got home and my wife was explaining some of the other charges on the land transfer, there was a charge of 22,000 for personal income tax. Does this also fall under the "pay half' catagory?

[lannarebirth]

We just bought a house and agreed with the previous owner that we would pay half the transfer fees. The actual owner was not present at the land transfer office, so her friend with a P of A took care of it. What I find unusual is the clerks behind the counter said we had to pay an extra 20+thousdand, because the actual owner was not there. Anyway when we got home and my wife was explaining some of the other charges on the land transfer, there was a charge of 22,000 for personal income tax. Does this also fall under the "pay half' catagory?

It depends on whether or not you ended up paying 1/2 of the sellers personal income tax obligation or all of it. The tax the seller pays for his income gain from sale is the main tax at transfer. Usually the seller tries to misrepresent the sales price lower, in order to have a lower tax assesssed.

[Irene]

Normally, it should not. The 'pay half' is restricted to the transfer fee of 2% only and not personal income tax and specific business tax of the seller. Sometimes this happens if there is no definite agreement at the beginning of what taxes involved. Arguments and disputes happen often at the land department on a seller's personal taxes passing on to a buyer.

Also the 20,000 baht does not make sense for the cost of not having the actual owner there. It should not be the concern of a buyer.

[tattoodrob]

something funny going on...looks like you paid there tax payable on profit of house/land sale.....i would of taken this out of money to be given for the house/land ie purchase price.dont know how u paid but if it was cash on the day then should have give owners friend 20k less.if not i wouldnt have bought the house/land that day...its a buyers market! and you should not have any charges for the owner not being there...thats there problem not yours.you have been shafted but i think its probably too late to do anything about it as you paid it at the time.i think your wife should have spoke up at the time and found out what the <deleted> was going on or at least consulted lawyer type across the road for advice.

[yorkman]

To the original question "Land Transfer, did I get ripped off".... in a word...Yes

[DragonQuest]

agreed.

[dotcom]

We just bought a house and agreed with the previous owner that we would pay half the transfer fees. The actual owner was not present at the land transfer office, so her friend with a P of A took care of it. What I find unusual is the clerks behind the counter said we had to pay an extra 20+thousdand, because the actual owner was not there. Anyway when we got home and my wife was explaining some of the other charges on the land transfer, there was a charge of 22,000 for personal income tax. Does this also fall under the "pay half' catagory?

It depends on whether or not you ended up paying 1/2 of the sellers personal income tax obligation or all of it. The tax the seller pays for his income gain from sale is the main tax at transfer. Usually the seller tries to misrepresent the sales price lower, in order to have a lower tax assesssed.

Doesn't matter. The land office has their own number (valuation). You can declare any number you like. And then you pay their assessment.

Thanks to Irene. I thought it was 3%. She says 2%. I'll believe her.

And yeah you got hosed. You should have paid 1/2 of the transfer fee. Caveat Emptor.

What does the land office have to do with some Thais income tax? Good lesson for newbs to do your homework. The land office is open 8 hours a day & they will be glad to talk to you.

Another good name for Thailand could be "Scamland".

Edited January 6, 2008 by dotcom

[DanBlack]

I paid half of 20 thou because the owner was not there, and half of 22 thou for their personal income tax. I guess lawyers sometimes have their place

[tracer5050]

live and learn

[donx]

We just bought a house and agreed with the previous owner that we would pay half the transfer fees. The actual owner was not present at the land transfer office, so her friend with a P of A took care of it. What I find unusual is the clerks behind the counter said we had to pay an extra 20+thousdand, because the actual owner was not there. Anyway when we got home and my wife was explaining some of the other charges on the land transfer, there was a charge of 22,000 for personal income tax. Does this also fall under the "pay half' catagory?

It depends on whether or not you ended up paying 1/2 of the sellers personal income tax obligation or all of it. The tax the seller pays for his income gain from sale is the main tax at transfer. Usually the seller tries to misrepresent the sales price lower, in order to have a lower tax assesssed.

Doesn't matter. The land office has their own number (valuation). You can declare any number you like. And then you pay their assessment.

Thanks to Irene. I thought it was 3%. She says 2%. I'll believe her.

And yeah you got hosed. You should have paid 1/2 of the transfer fee. Caveat Emptor.

What does the land office have to do with some Thais income tax? Good lesson for newbs to do your homework. The land office is open 8 hours a day & they will be glad to talk to you.

Another good name for Thailand could be "Scamland".

Maybe it doesn't matter any more but when my wife bought land in Tha Sala in NST in June 2007, the seller declared a substancially lower price for the land and the land office used their declared price (750,000 BHT vs 1,957,500). By the way, the seller paid all of the transfer fees. My wife didn't pay any fees at all. She just paid the seller the amount that was agreed to.

Since the transfer fees are based upon the value of the land and don't take into account the price that was paid previously, I suppose it shouldn't matter to us in the future that the reported price we paid was significantly lower than the actual cost. In the US, the price you paid for a property is subtracted from the price you sell a property for when calculating the capital gains. Perhaps this is what is being referred to by the OP when he mentions "personal income tax"?

[tattoodrob]

I paid half of 20 thou because the owner was not there, and half of 22 thou for their personal income tax. I guess lawyers sometimes have their place

i wasnt there either.......... can i have some money...........5k will do.....just put it in my bank as im not here

[Beardog]

I paid half of 20 thou because the owner was not there, and half of 22 thou for their personal income tax. I guess lawyers sometimes have their place

Sometimes you get even more hosed by the lawyer, unless you speak & understand Thai language & Thai law fluently or your Thai girl-boyfriend knows& is really savvy in real estate & Thai law as well & how the premade taxes work.

They assessed my taxes without a real estate agent- even with my lawyers documentation of actual payment for the property & receipts from the bank of transfered funds 25% higher. You lose nothing you can do but opt to back out & possibly(or most likely get the same shaft next round.)

The Thai lawyers seem to favor the sellers (even though your buying & paying them)

Irene is right about the income tax on the sale is not your responsibility-however the price goes up substantially if you once agreed on 50-50.

They do like to play hide the salami on the owner isn't with you(as if it really matters anyway!) When we filed for a adress to our new bungalow we sent the contractors wife (also very good friends with one of the top government employees in our area.

They asked where is the owner & our representive told her she was busy, but if there was a problem she could call the govn. office & have a heart to heart with the gov. the planning office apparently has 2 prices Thai & Farang(go figure) the price we paid was 600 baht & if Alisa & myself filed it was 1400 baht -maybe more pending on if they wanted extra for whiskey & gin kow!

It does sound like they nailed you on the owner not being present.

live & learn....The school of hard knocks!