Directories

TIMEFRAMES: (TIME LIMIT FOR OCCUPATION /PERIOD OF OCCUPATION)

It is important to distinguish between:

  • The time limit for occupation, i.e. the period within which buyers must occupy the acquired property.
Article 10 states that the occupation must be effective within two years as from the date of the notarial purchase deed.
  • In the event of acquisition of a place to be built or a building under construction, this time limit is four years.
However, this can be extended by a decision of the Director of the land registration department.

In the event of non-compliance with the time limit for occupation:
In the absence of requests for extension, non-compliance with the time limits for occupation of respectively two and four years, respectively extended, gives rise to the full repayment of the relief granted on the concerned transaction. In all cases where a repayment is applicable, this is paid back to the government with legal interests as from the day of grant of the relief.

  • The period of occupation, i.e. the time during which the accommodation is occupied, required for the tax relief to be final.
The occupation must remain a fact during an uninterrupted period of at least five years. However, the Director of the land registration department may grant an exemption from this condition in cases where it cannot be complied with for reasons of force majeure or following a situation such as:
illness of the buyer, making the occupation of the property impossible,
  1. - forced sale of the property,
  2. - compulsory acquisition in the public interest,
  3. - death of the spouse,
  4. - divorce
This list is not exhaustive. Other cases could be taken into consideration, provided that the facts and circumstances for not occupying the property are beyond the control of its beneficiaries.

In the event of non-compliance with the period of occupation:
Buyers who, during the period of occupation of five years, sell the property or use it for a different purpose, are subject to repayment obligations as is the case for non-compliance with the time limit for occupation. Given that this repayment results in the restoration of the tax credit up to the amount of relief granted and repaid, the buyers will again be entitled to their credit, subject to refunding the interests due on the relief.

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