Cap. 364 чл. 32GTransfer of property leased at affordable rates.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, but subject to the other provisions of this article, when:

(a) a transfer that is made on or after 1 January 2022 is a transfer of property that had been leased for a period of at least ten (10) years ending on the date of the transfer; and

(b) during that whole period of ten (10) years the tenant was entitled to a benefit in respect of that lease under the Private Rent Housing Benefit Scheme, the Nikru Biex Nassistu Scheme or the Rehabilitation of Vacant Dwellings for Rent Scheme administered by the Housing Authority; and

(c) that transfer is made to the tenant of that property, no duty shall be chargeable on the first two hundred thousand euro (€200,000) of the value of the transferred property and the duty on the excess, if any, shall be chargeable at the normal rate.

(2) When a transfer satisfies the conditions of sub-article (1) except only that it is not made to the tenant but to another person, the duty on the first two hundred thousand euro (€200,000) of the value of the property shall be chargeable at the rate of one half of the normal rate and the duty on the excess, if any, shall be chargeable at the normal rate.

(3) When a transfer satisfies the conditions of sub-article (1) except only that the period of the lease and, or the period during which the tenant was entitled to the said benefit was less than ten (10) years but not less than three (3) years, the duty on the first two hundred thousand euro (€200,000) of the value of the property shall be chargeable at the rate of one half of the normal rate and the duty on the excess, if any, shall be chargeable at the normal rate.

(4) This article shall apply only if the parties to the transfer or any of them produces to the notary who publishes the deed of the transfer a document issued by the Housing Authority certifying the

*this article was originally added as article 32D. period during which the tenant of the lease of the property had been entitled to a benefit in respect of that lease under the Private Rent Housing Benefit Scheme, the Nikru Biex Nassistu Scheme, or the Rehabilitation of Vacant Dwellings for Rent Scheme, as the case may be. The notary shall make a reference to that document in that deed and shall produce that document to the Commissioner together with the notice of the transfer referred to in article 51.

(5) This article shall not apply to a transfer made to a person who requires a permit by the Minister responsible for finance for the purposes of the Immovable Property (Acquisition by Non-

Residents) Act or who would have required such permit had the property acquired not been situated in a special designated area.

(6) For the purpose of this article, "normal rate" means the rate of duty that would be chargeable on the relevant value of the property in terms of this Act were it not for the provisions of this article.