You can choosr either way. No matter which way you own property, personal name or corporate, you own that
property outright with title, fee simple.

2) If a property is owned in a corporate name, can it be assinable?

Yes, you can transfer share of the corporation to a new ownwer. Note: the new owner can be another corporation
or trust.

3) Will i pay property tax on a yearly basis? How dos the goverment determine the taxable amount?

Yes. Property tax is called IPI tax. It is approximately 1% of the assessed value of the home that is determined
by the amount of square meters of the house and its appraised value. If the property is owned by the corporation,
the applicable tax is tax over the assets (impuesto sobre activos) but a company must pay the higher value of
either the 1% tax over assets or 25% over its net income. Companies that only own property are generally subject
to the 1% tax over its assets and that asset is normally the real estate.

4) Do you get a deed at closing? is there a transfer tax?

if the transaction is a transfer of real property, the seller must provide you with the deed of title duplicate of
owner (certificado de titulo duplicado del dueno) along with other documentation required to record the transfer at
the land registry. Before you record the transfer of title you most pay your transfer taxes (3% of the value of the
property) at the department of internal revenue which issues a receipt evidencing you have paid. if the transaction
is a transfer of shares then the seller must provide you with the shares and the deed of titledulicate of owner.

5) Do you need title insurance?

It is nat customary but it is available through Las Americas Title Sevices and other agencies.

6) What are typical closin cost? How much is the transfer tax?

Closing cost will be your attorney’s fee. The transfer tax is 3% of the value of the property.

7) Does financing impact the closing?

Sellers do not require local financing. Banks will require appraisals in order to approve the loans and in financing
has been pre-approved, it should no impact the closing.

Is there a due diligence period where tou can inspect the property before putting down a deposit?

It is common in the DR to perform due diligence on the property. Purchasers want to make sure the property is free of
liens and encumbrances, the seller is up to date in payment of property tax, that the surface area of the
property is what the seller says it is, etc.

9) How do you apply for tax exemptions?

An attorney can find out if you qualify for tax exemptions and how it is paid.

Ikea announced it will open in February. This will be the first Ikea in Latin America and the Caribbean. The mega furniture and interior decoration store is located at the intersection of John F. Kennedy almost corner Abraham Lincoln. General manager Maria Amarante Martinez said that US$80 million has been invested. “Consumers will find absolutely everything: ideas, inspiration, and articles for decorating the home,” she says. The opening of Ikea will strengthen the positioning of Santo Domingo as an attractive shopping mecca.

The issue, which was one of the major items up for mention at the 12th Meeting of Caricom’s Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), has been referred to a technical team for further consideration.

According to Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Kenneth Baugh, there are a lot of issues to be addressed in the context of this relationship with the Dominican Republic, but the general spirit is yes. “It is one of welcoming the Dominican Republic,” he said.

“That relationship takes several forms,” he explained. “There is a Free Trade arrangement already in place and, secondly, Dominican Republic is part of CARIFORUM –which is Caricom plus the Dominican Republic– and we have signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Europe and that has certain implications with the Dominican Republic in terms of trading relationship,” he added.

He said the funds were spent to build the Santo Domingo – Samaná highway, as part of the project North Atlantic Boulevard, and in the construction of the aqueduct,  with the completion of its second stage is still pending.

The chief executive said the investments represent almost half of what it cost to build the Santo Domingo Metro, and chided that, “in Samaná we have a metro of development.”

After hearing the requests and demands by the province’s community representatives, ranging from ambulances to the reconstruction of churches, Fernandez said Samaná has only “small details” pending which are “insignificant” in comparison with this investment.

Among those “small details” the chief executive noted is the embellishment of the entrance to Samaná and the transfer of the garbage dump to the outskirts of the urban area.

Source: DominicanToday.com

SANTO DOMINGO.- National Energy Commission (CNE) president Arístides Fernandez Zucco slated the inaugural of the first station to sell natural gas for cars in the next few days, as part of the Government’s policy toward efficiency and to save fuel.

Fernandez, accompanied by Ricardo Canalda, president of Linea Clave Internacional, the company that sells natural gas to the country’s industries, said the station will be located in the place known as Los Tres Ojos, on Las America highway, which will operate as a pilot project to supply the fuel to vehicles.

The executives spoke during an educational tour for students of the Carol Morgan School of the facilities of the companies AES Andrés, Linea Clave Internacional and Fluitecnik S.A., organized by the CNE.
Source: DominicanToday.com

“While growth in the smaller economies should remain broadly resilient to the risk of economic and financial turbulence,” Forbes reports that S&P also noted that future economic and financial direction in Caribbean nations will depend upon their ability to maintain a high level of investment.

Forbes reports that S&Ps’ forecast stresses sustainability of both domestic and foreign investment is specially important because exports, the other main driving force for GDP growth, “are becoming more vulnerable to the negative external environment.”

It adds that S&P, despite acknowledging many similarities, the rated Caribbean nations have important and unique characteristics that position them differently when addressing the rising risk from the deteriorating global environment. “The economic situation looks reasonably safe for the Caribbean region.”

Source: DominicanToday.com

The president of the company Conazucar, Miguel A. Santana, said though the government agreed to lease three sugar mills including the one in Boca Chica, Fernandez later asked that they be returned, when on February 27 he announced a similar project by the sugar companies Central Romana and Grupo Vicini, the country’s two largest producers.

Speaking for the group which affirms would also produce 60 million liters of ethanol and 27 megawatts of electricity annually, Santana said the facilities would provide around 3,000 jobs for the three mills’ former employees. “Mister president, please prevent the collapse of hundreds of small and medium companies which live off supplying those mills. Thousands of jobs which depend on us will be lost if we go bankrupt.”

Alex Rood, another member of the group who held the press conference, agreed that the situation had become “another can of worms,” since the impasse keeps the ambitious project form going forward and also keeps the thousands of now out-of-work sugar mill workers from getting jobs. “This is an umbrella situation, we have the money, Alfy Fanjul (of Central Romana) thought they could get the mills free and clear, but their lawyers have seen otherwise. The CEA (government sugar council) reneged on the deal, but by that time, the president had already made his pledge (to Central Romana).”

Rood, president of Bioethanol Boca Chica, one of the companies in the planned project, spoke with Dominican Today by telephone Wednesday. He added that the impasse came about with changes in the laws regarding government contracts, including those which are part of the DR-Cafta trade deal.

Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Central Romana’s Public Relations department said it wouldn’t comment for now.

Dominican Republic’s sugar output has declined annually from 805,556 tons in 1982 to as low as 170,030 in 1998, the last year data is available in the government agency’s Web site (cea.gov.do).

Source: DominicanToday.com

Dominican beer known for its white veil of ice is making inroads in South Florida

Santo Domingo.– Ask for a cold one in this sun-drenched Caribbean nation, and chances are you’ll get a Presidente beer. It likely will be “dressed like a bride,” with white frost on a bottle stored nearly frozen.

The longtime Dominican sweetheart also has emerged as a favorite in South Florida. It now ranks among the area’s top four best-selling imports –its strongest showing outside its homeland.

The story of Presidente’s success features an unusual cast: an immigrant family from Spain that got its start in hand-rolled cigars; Americans who launched a tropical brewery; the conglomerate Philip Morris; and a beverage distributor from Pompano Beach.

Their combined efforts now have Presidente nipping at the heels of Heineken, Corona and Beck’s in South Florida’s import-dominant beer market, setting the stage for the largest Dominican brewery to expand across the U.S. east coast, into Europe and beyond.

Read the whole article here.

She said 13 issues have been made in the primary market this year, whose total has yet to be placed.

Estrella said in 2007 trades in the stock market grew more than 800 percent than the previous year, and the same is expected this year.

The stock market director said four offers have been approved this year: INCA, La Fabril, Franquicia Dominicana and the Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana, whose 4.6 billion offer has been entirely traded.

She said for the stock market to be developed there must be a secondary market which works, because no investor is going to have the confidence to enter into it if they know they aren’t going to be able to trade that issue.

“It’s important that there is liquidity, transparency, and that people know where the price is, what is it that the stock-market has been promoting,” Estrella said interviewed by newspaper Hoy. She said though the stock market’s primary market currently has 71 percent and the secondary market 29 percent, that would soon change.

Source: DominicanToday.com

SANTO DOMINGO.- The company Globasol will spend up to 30 million dollars to build a biodiesel plant in Azua province (south) to supply the group Globalia’s hotel chain, said its biofuels division chief yesterday.

Jose Vicente Galindo said his company, founded in 2005, will begin construction of the plant in July, in 120,000 square meters of land, near Azua’s Puerto Viejo port. He said construction will last between 12 to 15 months and is expected to be operating next year.

Globasol said it will produce 60,000 tons of biofuel annually (68.1 million liters, 18 million gallons) from the plant jatropha, starting September 2009. The project includes construction of “ecovillages”, where the workers, farmers and their families will live.

Source: DominicanToday.com