Syrian Arab Republic

Registering Property in

Syrian Arab Republic

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: SYP 6,264,405.54
  • City: Damascus

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 File application at the Registration Office

The application for registration is filed at the Registration Office. It is possible that a lawyer prepares the contract for commercial properties, charging about USD 500-700. If the lawyer attends with the client to the Registration Office, the client will be charged an additional USD 60-80 per hour.
The lawyer will verify the rightful ownership of the property and check if the property has no encumbrances.


Agency: Property Registry, Real Estate Authority (دائرة المصالح العقارية) 		1 day USD 5
2 Obtain property tax clearance from the Ministry of Finance

The seller should obtain proof of payment on all taxes related to the property from the Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance. The transfer tax (20-35% of the property value) is paid at the Ministry of Finance, and it takes up to one week to obtain the tax clearance due to the non-computerized procedures. It is a common practice that parties sign two agreements. One is a non-disclosed agreement that shows the real value of the property. Usually, sellers do not pay the full amount of transfer tax. They pay only 5% and get a primary declaration from the Ministry of Finance, Tax Department, to transfer the title to the buyer who signs an undertaken that he will pay the outstanding amount for the Ministry of Finance. Note that the taxes are paid on the official value of the property, which may be as little as 1/50 of the market price of the property. However, in this case study, value is equal to selling price.


Agency: Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance 		3 days 13% Transfer tax 0.8 % for the Stamp Duty 9.867% of the property value for Registration fees, 3.795% of property value for Local Tax
3 Payment of registration fees at the Ministry of Finance

The transfer tax (USD 50), stamp duty (USD 10) and partial registration fees are included in this cost. The registration fees are paid at the Ministry of Finance, and depend on the value of the property.
Payment receipts are then to be presented to the Registration Office along with other documents in order to transfer the title of the deed.


Agency: Ministry of Finance 		1 day USD 190- 250
4 Present payment receipts for the registration fee at the Registration Office and wait to obtain the title deed

The parties will present the payment receipts of the registration fee at the Registration Office. The registration process continues and the office must approve the transfer and then it will issue the new title deed.

The documentation shall include: payment receipts for registration fees (obtained in Procedure 3).


Agency: Property Registry, Real Estate Authority (دائرة المصالح العقارية) 		14 days USD 50 - 60
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