Registering Property in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This topic examines the steps, time, and cost involved in registering property in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Standardized property

Property Value: BAM 335,500
City: Sarajevo

Registration Requirements Summary:


  Procedure Time to complete: Cost to complete:
*1 Obtain a land registry extract as proof of ownership 1 day BAM 2 per page (about 3 pages)
*2 Parties obtain the court extract certifying the person authorized to act on behalf of each company 10 days (simultaneous with procedure 1) BAM 8 (each request) + BAM 2 per page (Court Extract, about 4-5 pages each)
3 Notarization of the sale-purchase agreement 1 day 600 BAM
4 Submit a request for evaluation of the property regarding tax payments 1 day no cost
5 On-site inspection of the property 5-15 days no cost
6 Payment of the transfer tax at a commercial bank 1 day 5% of property value (transfer tax)
7 Apply for registration at the Land Registry 30-90 days BAM 6 (court tax)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Registration Requirement Details

Procedure 1.
Obtain a land registry extract as proof of ownership
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
BAM 2 per page (about 3 pages)
Name of Agency:
Municipal Court of Sarajevo (Land Registry Office)
Comment:
The seller requests and obtains the land registry excerpt from a competent court land registry office as the proof of ownership and to check the property against encumbrances. In practice, the excerpt must be obtained by the seller before starting the transaction formally. This information can also be obtained online (www.oss.ba http://80.65.160.22/LarisLight/) but need to be obtained in hard copy and be sealed to have legal validity. The seller may hire a lawyer to perform this task. The lawyer fee would be about BAM 90.
The Court Tax is BAM 2 per page. Typically, an extract for a property with no encumbrances would have 3 pages, one of which would describe the property and the land plot number, second one would have the information on ownership and third on encumbrances.
Procedure 2.
Parties obtain the court extract certifying the person authorized to act on behalf of each company
Time to complete:
10 days (simultaneous with procedure 1)
Cost to complete:
BAM 8 (each request) + BAM 2 per page (Court Extract, about 4-5 pages each)
Name of Agency:
Municipal Court of Sarajevo
Comment:
Both the seller and the buyer submit the request for obtaining the court extract certifying the person authorized to act on behalf of each company to the court that keeps the Registry of Commercial Companies. They may hire a lawyer to perform this task.
The parties have to provide the set of registration documents, which prove that the person who will sign on behalf of the company is authorized to do it.
The Court tax is BAM 8 for the Request + BAM 2 per page for the Court Extract. Each Court Extract contains approximately 4-5 pages. The lawyer fee would be about BAM 90.
Procedure 3.
Notarization of the sale-purchase agreement
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
600 BAM
Name of Agency:
Notary
Comment:
The law on Notary of the Federal Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina that passed in 2002 and became applicable in May 2007 prescribes notaries as the competent authority in the process of transferring a real estate or acquiring the ownership rights over the same or other real rights. According to the law, the purchase agreement of the real estate must be prepared as a notary deed. The cost of the procedure of notarization of the sale-purchase agreement depends on the value of the real estate at the time of purchase. Parties provide the notary with the land registry excerpt (obtained in Procedure 1) and well as with a court excerpt (obtained in Procedure 2). The presence of both parties is necessary at the notary's office or verification of the signatures should be based on a special power of notary. The notary needs to be provided with the following documents:

- the land registry excerpt as well as the copy of the cadastre plan proving the ownership over the property;
- the extract from the company’s court registry certifying the person is authorized to act on behalf on the company and to sign the purchase agreement;
- the approval of the founder (i.e. the General Assembly or Supervisory Board if applicable) for selling the property in case that the value of the property exceeds the amount of 1/3 of the company’s book value.

The notary fee depends on the value of the property and are set in the Federation of B&H Official Gazette no. 71/07) as follows:

Value of property
Notary fees in points
from BAM to BAM
0 1.000,00 120
1.001,00 2.500,00 180
2.501,00 5.000,00 250
5.001,00 10.000,00 300
10.001,00 20.000,00 400
20.001,00 30.000,00 500
30.001,00 40.000,00 550
40.001,00 50.000,00 600
50.001,00 60.000,00 650
60.001,00 80.000,00 700
80.001,00 100.000,00 750
100.001,00 150.000,00 850
150.001,00 200.000,00 900
200.001,00 250.000,00 1.000
250.001,00 300.000,00 1.200
300.001,00 400.000,00 1.400
400.001,00 500.000,00 1.600
500.001,00 750.000,00 2.000
750.001,00 1.000.000,00 2.500

The value of point is 0,50 BAM + 17% VAT
Procedure 4.
Submit a request for evaluation of the property regarding tax payments
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no cost
Name of Agency:
Municipal Tax Authority
Comment:
Parties file the request for the evaluation of the real estate regarding the payment of the tax for the transfer of the ownership on real estates at the competent municipal Tax Authority.
The deadline for filing the request is 15 days from the verification of signatures on the sale agreement. This procedure can be done by a lawyer or by the buyer and/or the seller.

The documentation shall include:
Copy of sale contract (obtained after Procedure 3)
Procedure 5.
On-site inspection of the property
Time to complete:
5-15 days
Cost to complete:
no cost
Name of Agency:
Tax Office Commission
Comment:
Upon submission of the purchase agreement the tax office commission performs on-site inspection of the real estate and takes notes from that inspection. Based on the notes, the tax office adopts an official decision on tax duty of the tax payer (in practice it is always the buyer).
Procedure 6.
Payment of the transfer tax at a commercial bank
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
5% of property value (transfer tax)
Name of Agency:
Commercial Bank
Comment:
The transfer tax is paid, usually by the buyer, at a commercial bank in favor of the municipal budget. Following an amendment to the Law on Transfer Tax of the Real Estates and Rights as published in the Official Gazette of Canton Sarajevo on March 31st, 2005, the transfer tax of 5% came into effect on April 8th, 2005.
The tax has to be paid according to the tax authority's instructions within 15 days from receiving payment instructions from the tax authority.
Procedure 7.
Apply for registration at the Land Registry
Time to complete:
30-90 days
Cost to complete:
BAM 6 (court tax)
Name of Agency:
Municipal Court of Sarajevo (Land Registry Office)
Comment:
Parties submit the application and other documentation for the transfer of the ownership to the competent court land registry office. The registration of the transfer of ownership is handled by the authorized court officer. Time length of the procedure is not prescribed by the law. However, the procedure can last less than indicated above in case the party sends the urgency letter, especially in case of larger investments, explaining the grounds for such urgency, which happens often in practice. Computerization efforts at the Municipal Court in the past years have significantly sped up the process of registration.

The documentation shall include:
Purchase agreement
Certificate of tax payment (obtained in Procedure 6)