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10-05-2013, 10:06 AM
An interesting court ruling that caught my attention. The ruling is base on the right of Chief Assessor, rather than on "fairness" or "justification"... Hmm...
Court ruling creates uncertainty for developers
In a landmark ruling last month, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision and affirmed the right of the Chief Assessor to raise the annual land value for the Sail@Marina Bay site from the original S$27 million to S$51.4 million when it was re-assessed to market value in 2009, notwithstanding that pre-sales of units had taken place.
When the case first surfaced, I was surprised by the action of the tax authorities as the developer Glengary had sold nearly all of its residential units — 1,106 units or some 97 per cent — in 2004 and 2005, and could not possibly benefit much, if at all, from the subsequent sharp rise in land values.
The move shocked the real estate industry because such an action had never been undertaken before, especially considering that the land was bought from the State, which came with a stipulated fixed time limit for project completion. Thus, any intention to profit from land-banking activities would already have been severely curtailed.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/prop...developers
Court ruling creates uncertainty for developers
In a landmark ruling last month, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision and affirmed the right of the Chief Assessor to raise the annual land value for the Sail@Marina Bay site from the original S$27 million to S$51.4 million when it was re-assessed to market value in 2009, notwithstanding that pre-sales of units had taken place.
When the case first surfaced, I was surprised by the action of the tax authorities as the developer Glengary had sold nearly all of its residential units — 1,106 units or some 97 per cent — in 2004 and 2005, and could not possibly benefit much, if at all, from the subsequent sharp rise in land values.
The move shocked the real estate industry because such an action had never been undertaken before, especially considering that the land was bought from the State, which came with a stipulated fixed time limit for project completion. Thus, any intention to profit from land-banking activities would already have been severely curtailed.
http://www.todayonline.com/business/prop...developers
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