Real property tax on co-owned or co-possessed properties

Abstract

In case of properties subject to real property tax which are held on the basis of co-ownership title or co-possession, the legislator has imposed a joint and several tax obligation. Debtors solidarity as to the obligation is an institution adopted from the civil law into the tax law. In practice, this solution raises a number of practical problems within the context of real property taxation. To a certain extent, the legislator recognizes them by introducing exceptions to the joint and several nature of the tax obligation. However, these solutions should be assessed as insufficient. In this regard, one should ask a fundamental question about a further rationale for retaining this legal construct. The purpose of this study is to present the rules of taxation of joint properties, to identify problems in this respect and indicate possible directions for changes.