Obtain a tax clearance certificate from the Tax Office
Agency: State Tax Service
The tax clearance certificate is to confirm absence of any debts to the state budget of the Republic of Moldova, including absence of unpaid taxes in connection with the real estate which is object of the transaction. This means that the applicant will not obtain a tax clearance certificate if debts to the state budget are detected, even if such debts does not refer to the real estate which is object of the transaction.
As of June 7, 2018, the tax clearance certificate is no longer required by law, however it is still obtained in practice at the request of the buyer.
Time and cost: 2 days, no charge
Obtain the Excerpt from the State Register of Legal Entities
Agency: Public Services Agency
The excerpt from the State Register of legal entities of the Republic of Moldova is obtained on basis of the following documents:
- Request on basis of a template provided by the State Chamber of Registration;
- Identification card of the applicant;
- Confirmation of payment of the State chamber of Registration fee.
Time and cost: 1 day, MDL 330
- MDL 110 the excerpt to be issued within 3 business days;
- MDL 220 the excerpt to be issued within 2 calendar day or 1 business day;
- MDL 330 the excerpt to be issued within 1 holiday / non-business day or within 4 business hours;
- MDL 440 the excerpt to be issued in 1 business hour. Please note that bank commissions can apply (e.g. MDL 1 / excerpt).
Obtain the extract from the Cadastral registry and the certificate on the immovables value from the Cadastre
Agency: Public Services Agency
The non-encumbrance certificate from the Territorial Cadastre Office is locally known as the excerpt from Real Estate Register for the purpose of transactions. The validity of the excerpt from the Real Estate Register is of two months as of the date of its issuance. The property transfer operation has to be performed within the stated validity period of the excerpt. The excerpt can be requested only either by the owner of the concrete real estate or a person duly empowered by the respective owner.
Additionally, the notary is to authenticate the property transfer transaction demands a certificate concerning the value of property put on sale. If the Real estate register does not contain the value of the property, such value has to be calculated pursuant to the Methodology approved by the Law 393/2006. In particular cases the value of the property can also be determined on basis of value included in the insurance policy issued in respect of the property or the valuation issued by a licensed person (art. 3 Law 271/2003 on the Methodology for calculating notary fees).
Time and cost: Less than 1 day (online), MDL 495
Real Estate Register excerpt:
- MDL 51 (regular service) to be issued within 3 business days;
- MDL 255 (expedited service) to be issued within 1 business day.
Certificate on the value of the immovable asset:
- MDL 48 (regualr services) to be issued within 3 business days;
- MDL 240 (expedited service) to be issued within 1 business day.
Execution of the transfer deed by a public notary
Agency: Public Notary
The following documents are to be presented by the Seller and the Buyer of the Real estate for the purpose of the authentication of the sale-purchase agreement:
- The Buyer’s and the Seller’s registration certificates / decisions on registration of the companies (in original);
- A valid excerpt from the Real estate register for the purpose of transactions in respect of the property to be transferred (in original);
- Original excerpts from the State Register of legal entities for both the Seller and the Buyer;
- Originals of the constitutive documents of the Seller and of the Buyer, including all performed amendments or legalized copies there of;
- The decisions of the competent corporate bodies of the Seller and of the Buyer to sell and, respectively, to purchase the property (depending on the concrete provisions of the parties’ constitutive documents and / or of the applicable legislation);
- Identification cards of the persons which are empowered to sign the sale-purchase agreement on behalf of the Seller and of the Buyer, including the authenticated powers of attorney (in case the agreement is signed by persons, other than those that are competent to sign on behalf of the entities on basis of the constitutive documents or applicable legislation);
- Documents confirming the Seller’s ownership right over the property which is to be sold;
- An evaluation certificate issued by the Territorial Cadastral Office;
- A tax clearance certificate obtained by the Seller as per Procedure 1 (As of June 7, 2018, the tax clearance certificate is no longer required by law, however it is still obtained in practice at the request of the buyer)
In particular cases the notary can require that the parties produce / legalize copies of their corresponding constitutive documents to be kept in the notary’s file and used for the purpose of registering the transfer with the Cadastre.
All types of land sale and certain types of construction / building sales are to be compulsory executed in the authenticated form. Although Moldovan legislation leaves margin for interpretation that certain types of real estate transactions (i.e. sales of certain constructions / buildings, donations of land, etc.) do not require authenticated form, in order to avoid lengthy court proceedings (e.g. with the Cadastre) it is highly recommendable to execute all real estate sales transactions (property transfer deeds) in authenticated form. A real estate sale transaction is subject to a state tax equal to 0.5% (Art. 3(9)c) Law 1216/1992) of the agreement price, but not less than 0.5% of the value of property as indicated in the Cadastre. The notary fee depends on the transaction value; and can constitute between 1.3% (but not less than MDL 120) and 0.1% of the agreement price (with a rate of 0.5 in case the agreement price is less than MDL 800,000) (Art. 8 of ‘Notary Fee Law of 2003 (271/2003)). For certain transactions separate state fees are applicable: e.g. MDL 5 for sale of agricultural land, etc. All fees / taxes in connection with a title transfer are bared by the Buyer, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
Time and cost: 1 day, MDL 20,655.07
- MDL 0.5% of agreement price (state tax); plus
- Notary’s fees according to the values determined in the following according to the Law on Notary Fees from 2003 (Law 271/2003):
- Up to MDL 20,000 – fee is 1,3 %, but not less than MDL 180
- From MDL 20,001 to 50,000 – fee is 1.0%
- From MDL 50,001 to 100,000 – fee is 0.9%
- From MDL 100,001 to 200,000 – fee is 0.8%
- From MDL 200,001 to 400,000 – fee is 0.6%
- From MDL 400,001 to 600,000 – fee is 0.5%
- From MDL 600,001 to 800,000 – fee is 0.3%
- From MDL 800,001 to 1,000,000 – fee is 0.2%
- More than MDL 1,000,001 – fee is 0.1%
Submit the application for registration to the Cadastre
Agency: Public Services Agency
A notary-authenticated real estate sale purchase agreement is not opposable towards third parties. To make it opposable, the Buyer must register the title with the Territorial Cadastre Office (Real Estate Register). The ownership title is considered to be passed to the Buyer only as of the moment the Buyer registered it with the Real Estate Register. A standard registration procedure lasts up to 7 business days and is subject to a fee of 0.06% of the overall transaction value of real estate, but not less than MDL 267 and not more than MDL 1,335 in standard option (pt. 4.2. Annex 1 to the Government Decision no.770/2007 ). In order to speed up the registration, the applicant can pay the triple the fee for 3 day registration, or five times the size of the normal fee for 1 day registration. In practice, the fastest procedure is preferred. A cash payment is made at the office. The registration fee with the Cadastre is not subject to VAT.
Time and cost: 2 days, MDL 6,675
There are different costs depending on the timing, as follows:
- 7 working days: fee of 0.06% of the overall transaction value, but not less than MDL 267 and not more than MDL 1,335.
- 3 working days: fee of 0.06%*3, but not less than MDL 801 and not more than MDL 4005.
- 1 working day: fee of 0.06%*3, but not less than MDL 1,335 and not more than MDL 6675.
