Will Government Exempt The Subsidized Housing Contracts From VAT

The National Chamber of Notaries called for the abolition of the value-added tax (VAT) on subsidized housing contracts, the recent inclusion of which in the framework of the 2022 Finance Law, caused a rise in the prices of various real estate, administrative and economic contracts, causing anger among citizens who complained about these increases, especially for AADL and various social formulas subscribers, who were shocked by significant increases in the prices of notarial contracts of their housing.

In this context, the head of the National Chamber of Notaries, Reda Ben Ouenane, told Echorouk, that he “warned against including the value-added tax in the notarial contracts, which will raise prices and prevent citizens from various real estate, administrative and other contracts, and demanded, with the company of notaries, to cancel this procedure in the Finance Law of 2022. However, the matter has become a reality and must be dealt with positively”.

“I propose exempting the vulnerable groups of the beneficiaries from various forms of subsidized housing such as AADL, Contributory Housing, Social and Promotional Subsidized Housing and Rural Housing from paying the value-added tax, during the conclusion of contracts”.

Especially since these forms of subsidized housing, according to the speaker, benefited from many documentary exemptions, such as the registration fee, which amounts to 15 million centimes, the advertising fee estimated at 1% of the value of the housing and the stamp fee, which makes the prices of contracts for various subsidized housing in which the state assistance is included very reasonable compared to other contracts, and this support can be expanded by exemption from paying the value-added tax”.

“Many citizens accused notaries of increasing prices, but the matter was related to the imposition of the value-added tax that enters the state treasury, and the notary does not benefit from it, especially since the rate of this tax represented by 19%, raised the prices of contracts by a significant percentage, which would damage the fragile class in particular, which requires state support, especially since many of the beneficiaries of subsidized housing are mostly middle-income”.

“The activity of notaries declined, due to the stagnation of real estate and commercial transactions, and the matter extended to various other transactions, such as the establishment of companies and mortgages and the liberation of contracts for the transfer of real estate ownership and shops. The decline in the activity of notaries is a strong indication of the stagnation in the real estate market, due to the Corona pandemic, the activity of many notarial offices which is almost frozen, and the adoption of new taxes and fees on the activity of notaries harms the citizen and the notary at the same time”.