How can a foreigner sell an apartment in Ukraine?
Cost of services:
Reviews of our Clients
Real estate in Ukraine is an excellent investment opportunity, including for foreigners. The law of Ukraine allows foreigners to buy almost any kind of real estate (with the exception of certain types of land), and to freely own and dispose of it.
It is not unusual when a foreign person wants to sell the earlier purchased apartment, house or office in Ukraine. And there is a whole range of questions:
-
When is it profitable to sell the apartment after the purchase?
-
Are additional documents required from a non-resident?
-
What is the procedure of reselling the apartment by a non-resident?
-
What are the tax implications when selling the apartment or other real estate in Ukraine?
-
How to check the reliability of the buyer of the apartment, etc.?
In this article we will try to answer all these questions and pay attention to the key aspects of the procedure.
If you want to know how to sell an apartment or other real estate in your case - contact our specialists for personal consultations and support.
You may also like: The Rules of Notarial Execution of Documents in Real Estate Transactions
Resale of real estate in Ukraine by a foreigner
The procedure for reselling real estate involves some preparatory work:
-
prepare documents on the ownership of the apartment;
-
prepare a technical passport, if available, or obtain a new one;
-
ensure that there are no registered persons (especially minors);
-
provide information about the absence of debt on the apartment;
-
have the property appraised and obtain an appraisal report;
-
prepare personal documents - usually a passport, a passport translation certified by a notary (for foreigners), a TIN (ID code), which by this time is usually already available to non-residents (issued when buying an apartment), as well as other documents, for example, the consent of the spouse to sell the apartment;
-
marriage certificate (if there is a marriage) and permission from the other spouse.
It takes a few hours to make copies and translations of documents with notarisation. An expert valuation of the property can also be prepared within a short time. Please note that the value of the property according to the expert assessment will be, on average, equal to the market value. It is not possible and even risky to understate the value of property to unrealistically low amounts.
On the other hand, obtaining a technical passport for an apartment may become a problem if it was lost during the period of ownership of the property, or if the apartment/house/office was redeveloped. A new technical passport will have to be prepared, and illegal alterations, if any, will have to be legalised.
As soon as the documents are ready and the buyer is found, you can proceed to conclude the contract. At this stage, you will need to take care of:
-
checking the reliability of the counterparty (buyer);
-
opening an account in a Ukrainian bank (if necessary);
-
agreeing on the terms of sale between the parties;
-
competent drafting of an apartment sale agreement;
-
notarisation of the transaction;
As for payments under the contract, we recommend using a cashless payment. To do this, you need to open a bank account for a foreigner. Our lawyers will organise this process and accompany the foreigner to the bank if he or she does not have an account at the time of the transaction.
Important! It is necessary to check not only the counterparty, but also the notary with whom you are going to conclude the transaction - in our practice, there was a case when we insisted on replacing the notary, because after the check it turned out that he had a "criminal past". To ensure the reliability and safety of the procedure, we independently organise meetings with our trusted partner notaries.
-
if the seller or buyer of the property is married, the written consent of the spouse certified by a notary will be required to conclude the transaction;
-
if you are not fluent in Ukrainian, you will need to have a certified translator present during your visit to the notary, otherwise the notary may not complete the transaction;
-
when concluding a contract, it is important to make sure that there is no double taxation in the Client's situation;
-
when drafting a contract for the sale of an apartment, attention should be paid to the payment of the state duty (often divided between the parties in half), as well as the choice of the law of the country that the parties will use in case of disputes.
You may also like: Monetary Settlement Rules for Real Estate Transactions
What tax will a foreigner have to pay when selling an apartment in Ukraine?
In case of alienation of property, a non-resident pays:
-
18% PERSONAL INCOME TAX;
-
1.5% military duty.
At the same time, in most cases, the buyer will have to pay 1% of the state pension fee. This payment is often divided in half by the parties to the transaction.
Important! Today we are talking about the sale of real estate by an individual to an individual. If we are talking about the sale of real estate in Ukraine by a foreign company, the taxation will be completely different.
How to transfer money to a foreigner’s account after the sale of an apartment in Ukraine?
Having received the payment for the sale of real estate in Ukraine, the absolutely logical question would be the procedure of money transfer to your foreign account. It is necessary to understand at once whether such a procedure will not require unnecessary costs of money and time.
Unfortunately it is impossible to find a universal answer applicable to all situations when selling real estate in Ukraine.
After receiving the money for the sale of your property, you have the right to dispose of the money at your discretion, including transferring it to a foreign bank account. In this case, it is important to consider the fee of your bank and the domestic laws of the country of residence, and, if necessary, the country of location of the bank to whose account you plan to transfer the money.
At the same time the money must safely leave Ukraine, which is also sometimes difficult.
We have several times encountered a situation where a foreigner, when withdrawing funds for the sale of real estate from Ukraine, faced a requirement from the bank to confirm the origin of the money at the time of purchase of the apartment. That is, you must not only provide documents on the sale of the apartment, but also prove the way your money for its purchase was transferred to Ukraine, and their sources.
As a standard, when transferring money from one account to another, an individual goes through the standard financial monitoring procedure in the bank. For this purpose, the bank performs the Client’s identification procedure, which confirms:
-
passport of the Client;
-
availability of Ukrainian Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN);
-
source of origin of the money received on the account - in this case, the purchase and sale agreement.
However, when making money bank transfers you should take into account that transfers over UAH 400,000 may be subject to state financial monitoring, which may slow down their receipt to your account, and require additional interaction with authorities in Ukraine.
This is only a superficial analysis of money withdrawal from Ukraine, as each situation is unique and requires its own algorithm of actions.
Legal services to a non-resident selling an apartment in Ukraine
Our company offers a full range of services to a non-resident selling real estate in Ukraine. This means that you can get answers to all your questions in one place, and the sale will be safe and smooth.
We offer:
-
Legal consultation on the sale of real estate in Ukraine;
-
Preparation of all necessary documents for selling real estate in Ukraine;
-
Assistance in obtaining missing documents, arranging translation and copies of the required documents;
-
Drafting Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement;
-
Checking up counterparty;
-
Arrangement of the transaction at a reliable notary;
-
Legal support of the transaction;
-
Consultation on tax implications for a non-resident selling real estate in Ukraine.
Why us?
-
All the answers in one place;
-
A staff of English-speaking specialists who will ensure comfort and understanding for you;
-
A staff of proven notaries and translators;
-
Comfortable arrangement of the process with your minimal involvement;
-
Guarantee of your security.
You can check the cost of legal consultation and support for real estate transactions here. Or you can contact our specialists for a personal package of services.
Do you want to solve your real estate problem in Ukraine? Don’t hesitate to contact us! Our team will find the best option for you and help translate it into action.
Didn’t find an answer to your question?
Everything about buying or selling apartments in Ukraine here.
