A draft bill concerning changes in definitions relevant to property tax has appeared on the website of the Government Legislation Centre.
Autonomous Definitions
The Constitutional Tribunal ruled on July 4, 2023, in case SK 14/21, that the definition of a structure in the Local Taxes and Fees Act is unconstitutional. The provision (Article 1a(1)(2) of the Local Taxes and Fees Act) will lose its validity at the beginning of 2025. This explains the proposed changes in property tax, which include creating entirely new definitions of structures and buildings for property tax purposes. The proposed bill suggests definitions that are independent from the Building Law.
Building
The proposed new regulations define a building as an object, along with installations ensuring its usability according to its intended purpose, constructed using building materials, which is permanently attached to the land, enclosed by building partitions, and has foundations and a roof, even if it is part of an object listed in items 1-6 of Annex No. 4 to the Act.
| Object Type | Position |
| uncovered: sports facility and recreation facility | 1 |
| water treatment plant | 2 |
| sewage treatment plant | 3 |
| defense object (fortification) and protective objecty | 4 |
| pedestrian crossing: overground and underground, and pedestrian walkway | 5 |
| hydrotechnical object | 6 |
Structure
Structures will constitute objects listed in Annex No. 4 to the Act, as well as installations and equipment, if they constitute a technical and operational whole with that object.
Moreover, the following will also be recognized as structures:
- building components of non-building equipment,
- building components of wind farms and nuclear power plants,
- foundations for machinery and equipment, which are technically separate from those machines and equipment,
- connections to a structure, if made using building materials.
Additional definitions
Additionally, the following definitions have been proposed:
- Technical and operational whole – a set of elements necessary for achieving a specific economic purpose, interconnected in such a way that none of them can achieve this purpose independently, and the absence of any of these elements prevents its realization.
- Permanent attachment to the ground – the attachment of a building object to the ground that ensures its stability and the ability to resist external factors that could destroy it, cause displacement, or move it to another location.
It has also been clarified that a multi-space garage within a residential building is considered a residential part of the building and is subject to preferential tax rates as specified in Article 5(1)(2)(a) of the Act.
