He tax to inappropriate construction has been generating controversy in the department of Rocha where the neighbors demand an amnesty to be able to regularize their tax situation; while the mayor of the department, Alejo Umpiérrezassured that there are many citizens who pay taxes on their houses as if they were vacant land.
The last case of controversy belonged to the department of Rocha, especially in homes in spas such as La Paloma, La Pedrera, Punta Rubia, Santa Isabel and Punta del Diablo where high-value houses had been built and they continued to be paid for as if they were empty land.
From the neighborhood community, they demanded little flexibility on the part of the mayor since the first action was the application of a fine and the subsequent implementation of the inappropriate building tax. “There is no flexibility whatsoever. In a few months try to put us first penalty fee and then a tax. We understand that we do have to regularize our houses, but with a longer period, more flexibility and with an amnesty,” the neighbors demanded.
However, the mayor Alejo Umpiérrez, highlighted that there are several cases of neighbors who pay taxes on their properties inappropriately. “We found more than 3,000 plots of land that looked like wastelands at the municipal level, that they were paying for vacant land, but that they had buildings of great economic value,” Umpiérrez established. “We believe that this is tax injustice for a neighbor who pays what he owes,” he added.
The keys to the tax
According to General Building Ordinance of the Intendance of Rocha, The tax is intended for all those homes that do not comply with Municipal ordinances. Among them are the invasion of retreats, failure to heights, non-compliance with Land Occupation Factor (FOS) regulations, farms dilapidated and unhealthy and buildings not regularized.
Regarding the amount of tax, establish that these properties with inappropriate construction will be taxed with an annual cumulative surcharge equivalent to 50% of the amount of the real estate tax corresponding to the previous year.
An amnesty case last year
In mid-October of last year, the Rocha mayor’s office flew over the coast of the department and identified more than 3,000 constructions on the coast that did not have a permit and that is why it opened a amnesty with the aim of power regularize the buildings, which was open until December 31 of last year.
Excluding Park Neighborhood, the places that could access the amnesty are those buildings in La Paloma, La Pedrera, San Sebastián and Santa Isabel de La Pedrera; Punta Rubia and Punta del Diablo.
From the Municipality they established that “the Inappropriate Building Tax starting in 2024, to properties whose owners have not signed the declaration for the regularization of buildings” before the commune.
Once the amnesty ends, the process of regularization and qualification of the buildings. Once these processes are completed, the real cadastral value can be modified.
However, those who do not comply with the corresponding declarations, as of January 1, will begin to be charged the Inappropriate Building Tax where the spas will be charged 25 Readjustable Units (UR) – equivalent to 40,650 Uruguayan pesos – for each year not declared, which will be added to the value of the land.
The amnesty arose after neighbors complained about a surprise fine for their buildings on the coast, without prior notice. On October 5 of last year, the Neighbors Civil Association from Punta Rubia de La Pedrera expressed his rejection of the fine of 20 UR that the mayor was seeking.
Source: Ambito
