Legal Procedures
Foreign
nationals wishing to purchase property are required to obtain an Alien
Land Holding License. When entering into a real estate transaction in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, lawyer’s services are very much needed.
The lawyer will provide the abstract of title and prepare a Deed of
Conveyance. The lawyer will also handle the application for the Alien
Land Holding License of the buyer. The License registration fee must be
paid to the lawyer, while the registration cost of the Deed of
Conveyance (transfer tax) must be paid directly to the Government.
A
deposit of 10% is required as security to take the property off the
market. After which, the lawyer will also take care of the application
for required permanent residency. The whole process of buying takes
about 6 to 10 weeks.
Alien Land Holding License - All
foreigners must obtain an Alien Landholding License from the government
to be able to buy landed property. Aside from the Alien Landholding Tax
which is pro-rated based on property value, the buyer must also pay a
filing fee of 940 US$. The license is also subject to a stamp duty of
2 US$. Foreigners also pay 936 US$ annually for holding an Alien Land Holding License.
Value of Property |
License Cost |
37,500 US$ and below |
3,750 US$ |
37,500 US$ - 1,125,000
US$ |
3,750 US$ + 6% of value in excess of 37,500 US$ |
1,125,000 US$ million and above |
39,300 US$ + 4% of value in excess of 750,000 US$ |
Stamp Duty - On registration of the title deed Stamp Duty is 10%, evenly split between buyer and seller.
Registration - The fee to register the title deed is 15 US$ for the first 5,600 US$ of the sales price plus 1 US$ per 375 US$ thereafter.Legal Fees - - The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Bar Association regulates the amount lawyers can charge. Legal fee for properties worth 18,750 US$ and above is 576 US$ plus 1.5% of amount in excess of 18,750 US$.
Type of Costs |
Percentage |
Who Pays |
Alien
Landholding License (ALL) |
4.00% -
10.0% |
buyer |
Legal
Fees |
1.50% -
2.00% |
buyer |
Registration Fee |
0.25% |
buyer |
Stamp
Duty |
0.25% |
buyer |
Government Tax |
5.00% |
seller & buyer |
Total costs |
10.75% - 17.25% |
buyer |
Total costs |
5.00% |
seller |