Under the new decision, the withholding rate on the sale price of a property is reduced to 5%, down from the previous 50%, for tax debts that are currently under a collection suspension, provided the debtor offers adequate security to cover the outstanding amount—either in the form of a guarantee or by placing a mortgage on another property.
More specifically, in cases where overdue tax debts exceed €50,000 and are under suspension—either by court order or a decision of the Dispute Resolution Directorate—and the debtor wishes to sell a property, the withholding is set at 5% of the sale price if the taxpayer provides a guarantee or a first mortgage on another property they own.
When a mortgage is used, 80% of the objective value of the pledged property is taken into account to reduce the withholding amount.
If the value of the pledged property does not fully justify the reduction from 50% to 5%, the withholding is adjusted proportionally based on the available coverage.
It is also noted that in all other cases, where the sale price is not lower than the property’s objective value, the standard withholding rate remains 70% of the sale price, limited to the amount of settled overdue debts. Overdue debts under collection suspension that have been included in a settlement plan are not counted for this purpose.
Furthermore, if the applicant has total basic overdue debts exceeding €50,000 that are under collection suspension, regardless of whether they are included in an installment plan, the withholding rate is set at 50% of the sale price, up to the full amount of suspended debts including penalties, interest, and late payment fines.
