An overpayment to the budget can be refunded, but not always

In March 2026 the Constitutional Court considered an illustrative case (Judgment No. 14-P).

A company paid an administrative fine in full, although it could have paid 50%. It made a mistake, and it applied at once for a refund of the overpayment.

The public authority refused. The courts agreed: "You chose to pay more yourselves. That is your business risk."

The Constitutional Court took a different position.

The key conclusion: if you had a right to pay less, and you overpaid by mistake, that is an excess payment, and it is subject to refund.

Why this matters for owners of commercial property

This approach reaches much further than fines.

It applies directly to situations that almost every owner encounters:

• a property was erroneously included in the cadastral list

• the wrong rate was applied

• a relief was not applied

In all of these cases an overpayment may arise.

The logic of the Constitutional Court is that the state is not entitled to keep the money merely because you made a mistake in performing an obligation.

There is, however, an important limitation

The Constitutional Court stressed separately that the mere fact of an overpayment does not give an automatic right to a refund.

The owner's conduct matters:

1. the error must be discovered in good time

2. the application for a refund must be made without delay

3. or it must be shown that you were misled

If for years a property is taxed on an incorrect base, the availability of reliefs is not analysed, and the calculations are accepted without being checked, and only after a time a position is formed, "we have overpaid, give it back", then, on the logic laid down by the Constitutional Court, the courts may read that pattern of conduct as bad-faith inaction, and for that reason a claim for a refund of the overpayment may be left unsatisfied, comments Sergei Pivovarchik, managing partner of Consul Group.

The practical conclusion

What works is not the mere fact of an overpayment, but the combination of a right to pay less and a timely response.

At Consul Group we deal with this task in a systematic way.

On the OWNEX digital platform we:

• consolidate data on properties from different sources

• track changes (lists, value, characteristics)

• identify risks and overpayments

• flag opportunities to reduce the burden

Our partners therefore:

• always know where they are overpaying

• and, most importantly, have time to react in good time

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