Land tax higher or lower depending on area

In 2013 land tax will be assessed according to average market prices rather than basic land price.On 1^st January 2013 amendments to the land tax Act (Žemės mokesčio įstatymas) came into force.In some towns the tax rate will rise, in some – it can drop.

Each local government of Lithuania fixes its own tax rates, but certain boundaries, set by the Act (from 0,01 per cent to the maximum of 4 per cent of average market price of the land), cannot be crossed.  Local governments also grant tax deductions. 

Tax rate

“The local government of the Vilnius Region fixed the following tax rates for 2013: farm land – 0,6 per cent of average market price; unkempt farm land (set-aside) – 2 per cent of average market price; land for other purposes – 0,3 per cent of average market price” – informed Halina Zienkiewicz, the chef land consultant in the Vilnius Region local government administration.

The local government of Šalčininkai municipality also fixed its own rates. “From 1^st January the following rates will apply in Šalčininkai area: 1,5 per cent on farm land, forest land and other lands (for industrial buildings and warehouses, commercial activities, excavation territories, recreation facilities, public territories). 0,4 per cent of average market price will be collected on land for apartment and private houses and for housing purposes,” said Stanislovas Lebedis, head of the agricultural department of the Šalčininkai municipality local government administration.

“We do not implement drastic taxes on set-aside land yet.
Other governments set taxes on such lands as high as 4 per cent. So far, Šalčininkai municipality abides by 2 per cent,” added Lebedis. 

Deductions for farmers

The local government of the Vilnius Region also grants deductions for owners of farm land. In villages, lots for farming which do not exceed 5 ha are untaxed.

The same applies to lots owned by the disabled, pensioners and minors raised in families where all members were unemployed at the beginning of the tax year. Such lots cannot exceed 3 ha in villages and 0,25 ha in Nemenčinė.  The deductions do not apply to owners of set-aside lands and lots which show signs of grass smoking. It is similar in the Šalčininkai area: lots which do not exceed 2 ha in villages, and 0,25 ha in towns and cities, are untaxed.

“Since there are changes in assessment of land tax, it is natural that the tax rates will change as well. In areas where land is expensive, e.g. in Avižieniai, the tax will rise, whereas in Paberžė, where land is relatively cheap, the tax will be lower than the previous year,” Zienkiewicz explained.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/biznes/biznes/w-zaleznosci-od-miejscowosci-podatek-od-ziemi-bedzie-wiekszy-lub-mniejszy.d?id=60386381

Tłumaczenie Aleksandra Christ w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Aleksandra Christ the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.