Property owners unable to find out who owns neighbouring land

monchique It is pointless asking the tax office for the name of the owner of a particular property or piece of land, it has decided not to divulge any details.

The Tax and Customs Authority has decided that there is no “direct, personal and legitimate interest” in any case where someone requests information from the land registry to contact the owner of a property.

This decision is particularly relevant, given the land cleaning laws launched by the Government to clean up unused areas of scrubland after last summer’s devastating fires.

Unless property owners have an informal way of finding out the identity of the owner of neighbouring land or property, there is no legal way of contacting the owner.

This ruling from the Tax Office appears in a binding edict following a request submitted by a taxpayer.

In the absence of “a direct, personal and legitimate interest, access to the data by non-owners cannot be allowed,” the Tax Authority notes. This decision will be used to thwart any similar requests.

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