Is there a public land rent charge for a shelter under public land?

You own real estate - a warehouse, a shelter or a garden shed. However, the property is on or under public land. You have not entered into any agreement to lease the state land, but one day you receive a notice that you have not complied with your obligation to pay the rent, even though you are not the lessee of the state land. Viktorija Dubovskienė, a lawyer at AVOCAD, explains what your obligations are and what the legal framework is.

The Law on Land Reform of the Republic of Lithuania stipulates that the users of state land plots, who have been granted land plots in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts or who have been allowed to use the land by decisions of the land administering authorities during the period of the land reform, shall pay the land rental fee for the use of the land in accordance with the procedure established by the Government, before the lease or sale-purchase contracts are concluded, except for the land transferred for use. 

According to the Land Law, a land user is the owner of the land or another natural or legal person, foreign organisation, branch of a legal person or foreign organisation, who uses the land on the basis of laws, administrative acts, court decisions, transactions or other legal basis.

The Supreme Court of Lithuania, interpreting the application of the Land Reform Law, points out that the obligation to pay land rent for the use of state land arises not only from the state land lease agreement, but also from law. The Court of Cassation has noted that the actual user of the land may not obtain more privileges than the person with whom the land lease agreement is concluded.

It is therefore clear that immovable property located on State land for which no lease agreement has been concluded does not exempt the owner of the immovable property from the payment of State land rent, nor does it constitute any exception to the non-payment of the abovementioned State land rent.

The Land Reform Law establishes the obligation to pay the state land rent tax not only to those users of state land who use only the state land plot formed in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation and registered in the Real Estate Register, but also to other users of state land who use state land on a legal basis for the actual use of the state land, except for the gratuitous grant of the use - the use.

Is there a public land rent for an underground shelter?

And how would the situation be assessed if the property in question was real estate - a shelter not on public land but under it? According to the Building Act, a building is an immovable object with load-bearing structures, all of which are erected on the site of the building during construction work. According to the same law, a building is a roofed structure, the main part of which consists of premises. 

A shelter is an independent object of legal relations and is included in the concept of basic objects within the meaning of the Civil Code. Therefore, it is the shelter that does not fall within the exceptions set out in the Land Law, which prevent the lease of public land without auction.

It should also be noted that neither the above-mentioned norm of the Land Law, nor any other provisions of laws or other legal acts link the possibility of renting state land, as well as the obligation to pay the state land rent fee, with the fact whether the building is above or below ground. An underground building, like an aboveground building, requires a land plot of an appropriate size for its construction and operation. The term 'built-up' as used in the Civil Code and in the Land Law is to be interpreted as covering the use of public land when both above-ground and underground structures (buildings or installations) are built on it.

Therefore, the Court of Cassation in its practice has stated that the fact that the structures (buildings) located on state land are underground does not negate the use of state land necessary for the operation of such structures in accordance with their intended purpose and this circumstance does not constitute a reason to exempt the owner of such structures from the obligation to pay the rent of the state land.

So, whether your property is on or under state land, and whether or not you have a state land lease, the legal obligation to pay state land rent is not eliminated, and you must always comply with this legal obligation.