The Law on the Registration Procedure in Real Estate Cadastre and Utility Cadastre ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia" No. 41 dated May 31^st, 2018) introduced mandatory, automatic and electronic data exchange between institutions with the aim of transferring ownership of real estate in a single step. The property buyer and the seller complete the transfer of ownership by visiting the notary public who solemnizes the contract. The notary public submits all the information required for the registration to the cadastral office, with the supporting documentation. This completely abolishes the need for the clients to visit the cadastral office. In this interaction with the notary public, tax returns for the absolute rights transfer tax can also be filed, as well as for the inheritance and gift taxes, and property tax, which are forwarded from the notary public to the competent tax administrations.

The e-FrontDesk is a unique information system for the electronic exchange of documents and data established by the Republic Geodetic Authority. Through the e-FrontDesk, the exchange of documents on the change of the property rights holder property with other bodies includes: Tax Administration, local tax administration, utility services, and local government units. The e-FrontDesk is operational since July 1^st, 2018.

Single Step Property Transfer

The seller and buyer come to the office of notary public. Upon confirmation of the contract in the presence of parties, the notary public enters all the data into the electronic system together with the sales contract and automatically submits the data to the cadastre for registration of the change in the real estate cadastre. The cadastral office forwards tax returns submitted by the notary public to the competent tax administration for the purpose of taxation.

Within a single day (24 h), the notary public:

a) determines the identity of the buyer and the seller on-line by viewing the business register,

b) determines the ownership and the facts about the registered real estate on-line by inspecting the real estate cadastre,

c) authenticates the transfer of ownership,

d) enters the contract and tax documentation into the electronic system of the real estate cadastre,

The cadastre has 5 days deadline to make a decision and to send a resolution on the change to the address of the buyer and seller.

The costs of a notary public are charged as before, when solemnizing. The costs of registering in the cadastre and the tax are paid only after registration in the real estate cadastre, and therefore do not delay the registration.