Parliament Enacted Rules To Appropriate Properties

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

Today, property of businessman Kibar Khalvashi - International Building Company and Priza - will be put up to auction once more. Ministry of Finances of Georgia intends to sell the holiday-house of Nino Burjanadze, former chairperson of the parliament of Georgia, on auction as well. If the property fails to be sold at the auction two times, according to the new legislation, the head of the department for revenues is entitled to remove the sequestration from the property and assign it to the state.

The amendments to the Tax Code of Georgia entitled the head of the department for revenues to assign the unsold property to the state; the parliament of Georgia enacted the amendments in parallel to the amendments to the Law of Georgia on Assembly and Manifestation.

The amendments were made to the Article 88 of the Tax Code. Some additions were made in the part 13 of the same article. As a result of the amendments, if a purchaser fails to pay the estimated price on the second auction or correspondent sum is not offered, the head of the department for revenues can remove the sequestration from the property and make it state property. That means - based on the new law, which is already in force, the head of the department for revenues is authorized to remove sequestration from the property of Kibar Khalvashi and assign it to the state because it could not be sold at two auctions. Tax Code does not regulate the cases when the sequestered property is more expensive than the debt of the property-owner to the state.

Expert Irakli Shavishvili said it means the state will seize the property from its owner.

“For example, if the price of the property that is put up to the auction is 100 000 GEL and the owner owes only 10 000 GEL to the state, where will the remaining 90 000 GEL go?  It is not returned to the property-owner; so apparently it will go to the state.”

-Mr. Irakli, how do you think, what was the reason for the introduction of similar amendments to the Tax Code?

-One of the main reasons might have been the wish of the government to get hold of the properties of Kibar Khalvashi, Nino Burjanadze and others without any problems. But in fact it means seizure of property. Minor entrepreneurs, who have some debts to the budget, will face problems too; their properties will be sequestered and if they will not be sold, the state will appropriate their properties too,” said Irakli Shavishvili.

See
 Amendments to the Tax Code will Cause Further Difficulties to Businesspersons, Experts Think

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