Can I sell inherited property in Lebanon, and what tax applies?

Also asked as: “Do heirs pay capital gains tax in Lebanon?” · “Selling a property I inherited in Lebanon” · “Can one heir sell his share of the land?” · “Tax on selling inherited land in Lebanon”

What you own as an heir#

The Land Registry splits ownership of a property into 2,400 shares^[4,5,6], and each heir's part is written as a fraction of that total. Those shares are undivided. You own a fraction of the whole plot or flat, not a specific room or corner of land, and no right can be registered on a particular piece until the property is partitioned and that piece gets its own folio^[1,6,9].

So you can sell or mortgage your own share, but you cannot sell the whole property or a defined part of it unless the other co-owners agree^[1]. Kallas Law Firm adds that the other co-owners have a right of pre-emption when a share is sold to an outsider. More on that in selling your share and the other heirs' right of first refusal.

If you live abroad, you may not even know which plot you inherited. Ask the lawyer handling the estate, or the Land Registry, for the plot number and real estate district, and for an apartment the section number. Then check them against the official extract, which describes the plot and its area and lists each owner's shares^[5,10]. To see where the plot actually lies on the ground, ask the same lawyer how to get the cadastral map or a survey of the plot.

If you are a foreign heir, two law firms say you inherit Lebanese property on a reciprocity basis, to the extent your own country's law lets Lebanese inherit. Kallas says inherited shares do not need the foreigners' acquisition licence, and advises confirming the position family by family^[11,12]. See what foreign heirs need to know.

Which tax applies when you sell#

The sale falls under the gains tax in item (j) of Art. 45 of the Income Tax Law. Its base rate is 15%^[2], cut for now to 1% until 31/12/2026^[2,3]. PwC reads the 1% as covering only non-residential property, while the law text, as read, covers the whole item.

The taxable gain is reduced by 8% per full year; exempt from 12 full years^[2,3]. For heirs, the trouble is what no source explains: whether the years count from the parent's purchase or from the death, what counts as your cost, how the deduction combines with the 1% rate, and what the law's proviso about paying "the difference" in the year of transfer means. Do not assume the 12-year exemption applies to you. Ask a tax lawyer or the regional finance office before you set a price.

Gains on a natural person's main homes are excluded from this tax, up to two dwellings^[2,3]. A partition among heirs is a different operation from a sale: in 2024 a Ministry of Finance decision (644/2024) excluded partitions among heirs from the 1% rate^[8]. No source we read says what tax applies today to a partition, or to heirs selling to an outsider. Inheritance tax on the estate is a separate charge; see inheritance tax in Lebanon.

What must be cleared before the sale registers#

The sale can only be registered once the finance office issues the rental-value statement. Where there is no Treasury seizure on the property, that statement is issued after the built-property tax and the gains tax are paid^[3,13]. Kallas Law Firm lists a third tax, annual municipal fees, while Art. 66 of Law 10/2022 names only the first two.

If the Treasury has a lien on the property for unpaid inheritance (transfer) fees, the statement is issued once the seller has paid all seller taxes except inheritance transfer fees^[14]. That applies in two cases. Either the property is outside the estate, or it is part of the estate and the sale rests on a transfer permit granted for paying the inheritance tax in instalments, backed by an instalment note on other estate assets worth twice the tax.

No source we read sets out what else must come first: the inheritance decision (hasr irth), the inheritance-tax clearance and registering the heirs' shares in their names. Read how heirs transfer inherited property at the Land Registry, and have a lawyer confirm the order for your file. For land with no building, the seller also needs a statement of contents from the municipality where the land lies, and a location map^[15,16].

Selling from abroad#

You do not have to travel. You can sign a power of attorney at a Lebanese embassy or consulate, or before a local notary, followed by local authentication and Lebanese legalisation^{[17,18,19,20]}. An apostille is not enough, because Lebanon is not a member of the Apostille Convention^[21]. For a sale POA, some missions want the original deed or a registry certificate, others a copy^[19,22]. The full route is in selling your apartment from abroad with a power of attorney.