The Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget today adopted the amendments to the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Property Tax, prepared by the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro and submitted by Members of Parliament Nikola Camaj, Artan Čobi and Ilir Čapuni. The session was also attended by the Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities Mišela Manojlović.
If the Parliament of Montenegro adopts these amendments, the long-standing issue concerning the collection of property tax on buildings under construction and other structures would finally be resolved. The issue arose after the Constitutional Court, at its session held on 30 April, upheld an initiative submitted by two lawyers from Podgorica and Bar and repealed part of Article 3, paragraph 2, item 2 of the Law on Property Tax, which specifically related to the taxation of buildings under construction and other structures.
Had these provisions remained unconstitutional, municipalities would have been forced to suspend all ongoing property tax collection procedures relating to such structures and would have lacked a legal basis for initiating new ones. This would have created an opportunity for certain law firms to seek amendments to tax decisions and pursue claims against municipalities amounting to millions of euros.
The Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities, Mišela Manojlović, emphasized that the proposed amendments are of crucial importance for all 25 municipalities in the country. She recalled that, given the seriousness of the situation, the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro had requested the Constitutional Court to reconsider its ruling in order to allow Parliament to urgently amend the Law and remedy the identified constitutional deficiencies without causing harmful consequences for municipalities. “This would create the conditions for the Constitutional Court to suspend the proceedings and avoid a new wave of budget outflows, similar to the one experienced five years ago under the same scenario,” Manojlović stressed.
On 16 June, the Constitutional Court decided to review its previous decision repealing the provisions in question.
The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro prepared amendments to the Draft Law within a very short timeframe, fully safeguarding the interests of municipalities while at the same time ensuring compliance with the Constitution.
With their adoption by the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget, the amendments become an integral part of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Property Tax, which will now be submitted to the Parliament of Montenegro for consideration.
