SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Blaž Ogorevc, Miha Štravs and Blaž Murko, Odvetniki Šelih & partnerji, o.p., d.o.o.
2.7 Soil Pollution or Environmental Contamination Under the polluter pays principle, prescribed by the Environmental Protection Act, the per - son who is responsible for soil pollution or con - tamination is responsible for undertaking the measures necessary for the rehabilitation of the environment. Therefore, the buyer who did not cause the pollution or contamination is generally not liable for incidents that occurred while the relevant assets were held by the previous owner. Nonetheless, if environmental damage occurs and, after its occurrence but before its remedia - tion, the polluter disposes of the real estate on which it carried out certain types of environmen - tally burdensome activities, the agreement by which it disposes of the real estate must include a provision to the effect that the person acquir - ing such real estate will also assume the reme - diation; otherwise, the contract is null and void. 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law The permitted use of real estate is determined by the state and local authorities under the spatial planning regulations. Permitted use of a specific land plot can be most reliably ascertained by obtaining location information from the compe - tent local authority. Permitted use can also be ascertained through online public spatial data information systems. Conclusion of specific development agreements with relevant public authorities is possible to a limited extent (see 4.6 Agreements With Local or Governmental Authorities ). 2.9 Condemnation, Expropriation or Compulsory Purchase In accordance with the Spatial Management Act, owners may be expropriated on the condition that expropriation is essential to attain the public
benefit, and that the public benefit pursued is in proportion with the interference with private property. Owners need to be either awarded damages or compensated in kind with a real estate of same type and quality. Before the expropriation procedure commenc - es, the expropriation beneficiary must make an offer to the owner to purchase the real estate. If the sale and purchase cannot be agreed, the expropriation beneficiary may submit a request for expropriation, with which the expropriation procedure is commenced. The expropriation procedure is conducted by the administrative unit, which decides on the expropriation and the compensation. Besides the above-mentioned generally appli - cable provisions of the Spatial Management Act on expropriation, the provisions of specific leg - islation concerning expropriation, such as the Investment Promotion Act and the Water Act, may be applicable in particular cases. 2.10 Taxes Applicable to a Transaction Asset deal transactions are taxed either by the real estate transaction tax (RETT) or VAT. If the transaction is not subject to VAT, RETT amount - ing to 2% of the value of the real estate is to be paid by the seller. Payment of RETT may contractually be shifted to the buyer. Differently, in the case of sale of real estate owned by a taxable person identified for VAT purposes, VAT amounting to either 22% or 9.5% is applied instead of RETT in cases enumerated by the law or by choice of the parties (see 8.1 VAT and Sales Tax ). Both asset deal transactions and share deal transactions may be subject to corporate income tax (CIT) if the seller is a legal entity, or income tax on capital gains if the seller is a natural per -
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