I have owned an apartment for 15 years, but I live in my wife's apartment, and I am registered there. If I decide to sell the apartment that is in my ownership, will the fact that I was not registered there at the time of sale affect the amount of taxes?
Will I have to pay more than if I had been registered there for some period? And if so, for what period? Reader bb.lv
Kristīne Augustkalne-Jaunberziņa, specialist of the Public Relations Department of the State Revenue Service:
– According to the Law on Personal Income Tax, income from the sale of real estate is NOT subject to tax if one of the following conditions is met:
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The property has been owned by the person for more than 60 months (the time is counted from the date of registration in the Land Register), and for at least 12 consecutive months within the specified 60-month period prior to the date of the alienation agreement (in this case, the sale), this property was a residence where the person declared their main place of residence (and not as an additional address);
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The property has been owned by the person for more than 60 months from the date of registration in the Land Register, and during the last 60 months before the day of sale, it was the only property of the person;
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The property is registered in the Land Register as the only property of the person, and the income from its sale is reinvested in functionally similar property within 12 months before or after the sale.
If none of these conditions are met upon the alienation of the property, the income from the sale is considered capital gains and is subject to income tax at a rate of 25.5% (in 2025). The income from the sale of the apartment should be declared by submitting a capital gains declaration, and the tax should be paid accordingly.
In this specific situation, the person has owned the apartment for 15 years but has not been registered there. He will have to pay tax if this apartment is not his only property—that is, if he has other ownership as well.
If the apartment is the only one and has been owned for at least 60 months, then even if he has never been registered there, he will not have to pay tax upon sale.
If this is not his only residence, but the person now registers in this apartment and sells it no earlier than 12 months later, he will also not have to pay tax, as the requirement for continuous declaration of the main place of residence for 12 months will be met.
