What is a ‘plot of land’?

• Undeveloped land suitable for use as a building plot for housing, holiday homes, etc. will always be considered to be a ‘plot of land’.

Fully or partly developed land is also considered to be a plot of land if

• the land is suitable for the construction of housing, holiday homes, etc. and
• it appears likely that the fee will be strongly affected by such utilisation of the land. An example of this would be a situation where buildings on a plot have little value (often ready for demolition), so that in reality the purchase relates to the land and not the development.

What is considered to be ‘realisation’?

A plot is deemed to have been realised upon cessation of ownership or transfer of ownership to another party. For example, this would be the case in the event of a

• voluntary sale, including the division of a large plot of land into a number of smaller plots,
• compulsory sale, e.g. expropriation, sale at a compulsory auction
• exchange of the plot,
• sale at a reduced price where the payment is not symbolic, e.g. as an advance on inheritance or partial gift, or
• establishment of perpetual (everlasting) rights (i.e. longer than 99 years), when the rights are established in return for a lump sum.

However, some forms of property transfer aren't considered to be realisation, e.g.

• transfer as a gift or advance on inheritance,
• transfer through inheritance in the event of death,
• division of a decedent estate, 
• transfer between spouses, including in the event of the dissolution of jointly owned property following separation or divorce,
• land consolidation in accordance with the Act on land division of 21 December 1979, or
• establishment of temporary rights, including leasing, when the lease agreement is valid for less than 99 years.

Please note that a proportion of the fee for the sale of a house/apartment or holiday home which is exempt from any tax obligation may still be taxable under the rules concerning tax liability when selling a plot of land. This will for example be the case in the event of the sale of a developed property where the plot is larger than would normally be considered to constitute a naturally associated plot for the house/apartment or holiday home or where the residential building on the plot has little intrinsic value.