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advice needed

advice needed

Postby trudy » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:35 pm

Hi

i was wondering if anyone had any advice for me.

My husband passed away suddenly in December and we have a property in quesada but live in UK.
i have informed the solicitor & sent all the documentation they asked for back in november, but i have not had any decision back yet & it must be 8 weeks since they received everything.
I am awaiting life insurance & for the property documentation & everything to be sorted.
all i keep getting back is they are still awaiting a decision back from Madrid with regards to taxes etc, & we did have a will.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation & is it normal to have to wait so long for a decision?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
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Re: advice needed

Postby Sandra » Thu Jan 24, 2013 7:56 pm

Hi Trudy

I'm terribly sorry to hear your sad news. It must be very difficult to have to deal with everything on your own.

My friend lost her husband last year, and they had a house in Benidorm. She went over there to see the solicitor - she spent a week in Spain and gave the solicitor the power of attorney and then came back to England. They dealt with it in a relatively short time, but I know that she had to pay a sort of capital gains tax to transfer the house to her name. The whole process took less than two months. I'm not sure that you can put any sort of time limit on anything connected to Spanish paperwork!
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Re: advice needed

Postby trudy » Thu Jan 24, 2013 8:53 pm

Hi sandra

Thank you so much for your reply, i have given my solicitor power of attorny.
It's all very straight forward here but in spain when you have no idea it's difficult.
The solicitor keeps saying i may have to pay some tax but they cant say how much yet!!
It all gets very frustrating at times.

thank you once again for your reply.
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Re: advice needed

Postby Sandra » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:36 pm

You're very welcome.

You will need a large cup of tea and a sit down before you tackle the following.


Spanish capital gains tax is complex. It is paid by residents of Spain on their worldwide assets and by non-residents on property that they own in Spain. The main home of Spanish residents can be exempt depending on your situation.
Capital Gains Tax Rates

From 2007, gains made on the sale or transfer of assets, whether moveable or immovable assets, are taxed as “savings income” – so gains are added to your other savings income for the year and then taxed accordingly. For 2007, 2008 and 2009 the tax was 18%. On 1st January 2010 it increased to 19% on the first €6,000 of savings income and 21% thereafter.
As part of Spain’s austerity measures an additional contribution has been added to the tax rates for 2012 and 2013. The total savings income (including gains) tax rates for 2012 are therefore:
Income Tax Rate
Up to €6,000 21%
€6,000 to €24,000 25%
Over €24,000 27%
Capital Gains on the Sale of Property

When calculating the gain, in addition to the cost of acquisition, expenditure on improving or enhancing the property is allowable as a deduction when calculating the net gain and there is an "indexation co-efficient" that increases the allowable costs for inflation, based on how long the property has been owned.

Reductions


There may be reductions available depending on whether you acquired the property before or after 31 December 1994 and whether or not it was sold after 20 January 2006.
If you bought your property after 31 December 1994, the gains are taxed in full (subject to the main home relief/exemption – see below).
Where a property acquired before 31 December 1994 was sold prior to 20 January 2006, the full gain was reduced by 11.1% for every year (or part-year) owned prior to 31 December 1994 - so property acquired before 31 December 1986 was wholly tax free.
Where the asset was acquired before 31 December 1994 and is disposed of on or after 20th January 2006, the gain needs to be time-apportioned into:

  1. the gain arising before 20 January 2006, and
  2. the gain accruing from that date

The reduction is only available on the portion of the gain accruing before 20 January 2006. Gains accruing from 20 January 2006 are taxed in full. Gains are treated as accruing evenly throughout the period of ownership.

Main home relief/exemption if under 65


Reinvestment relief is available to Spanish residents when they sell their main home and invest in a new one.
To qualify for this relief, the property must be your main residence and you must have lived in it continuously for at least three years (less if you had to sell because of a change of job, marriage etc.) from the date of sale or completion. You must then buy a new main residence within four years, starting two years before the sale.
The tax relief is based on the proportion of the sale proceeds reinvested into the new home. If the new home costs more than the sale price of the old home, then all of the gain is exempt. If only 50% of the sale proceeds are reinvested, then only half of the gain is exempt. If the property being sold has a mortgage on it, then it is the net sale proceeds that need to be fully reinvested to escape capital gains tax.
In order for the reinvestment relief to apply, the taxpayer must declare the gain on their Spanish tax return together with their intention to reinvest the proceeds into a new main home. If the required declarations are not made, the relief is likely to be denied by the Spanish tax authorities.
Note that reinvestment relief is only available to Spanish tax residents (you will need to have registered as a resident and be paying tax locally). However the main residence does not need to be in Spain to qualify for the relief, nor does the new home.

Main home exemption if over 65


If, as above, you have lived in the property as your main home for three years or more, if you are over 65 years of old when you sell it, the gains are exempt from capital gains tax even if you do not buy a new property.
Again, you must be able to show you have been tax resident in Spain.

Sale of property by non-residents


When property is sold by a non-resident of Spain, purchasers must withhold 3% of the purchase price (not the gain) and pay it over to the Spanish tax authorities as an advance payment of capital gains tax on behalf of the vendor. If this is not paid, the purchaser can be fined and the unpaid tax becomes a charge over the property itself. If this 3% exceeds the tax due on the gain, a repayment will be made of the excess; however, if the tax due is more than the retained amount, further tax will be due in Spain. The vendor must file a Spanish tax return on the transaction within three months of the sale before any repayment can be made.
If a person is not resident in Spain, tax may also be due in the country where they are resident, subject to any Double Taxation Treaty Relief.

Gains on quoted shares


As with property, there may be reductions available if you acquired the shares before 31 December 1994. If you acquired the shares after this date then there are no reductions and the gains are taxed in full.
If shares were acquired before the end of 1994 and disposed of before 20 January 2006, the gain was reduced by 25% for every year until 31 December 1994. Where shares were bought before the end of 1994 and are sold any time after 20 January 2006, the gain is time-apportioned.
The gain arising from before 20 January 2006 benefits from the annual 25% reduction, while the gains from after this date are taxed in full.
Other Capital Gains

In a similar manner to the treatment of gains on property and quoted shares, the part of the gain on other assets accruing prior to 20 January 2006 is reduced by 14.28% per year for every year or part year of ownership prior to 31 December 1994. If the asset was sold after 20 January 2006, then the part of the gain accruing from that date is taxable in full, as is the whole gain on any such asset acquired after 31 December 1994, since no distinction is then made with reference to 20 January 2006.
Plusvalia

In addition to any mainstream capital gains tax on the sale of property there is also a local tax in urban areas levied by Spanish town halls commonly known as the Plusvalia (which literally translates as "gain") on the growth in the value of urban land (excluding the buildings).
The real growth in value of the land is reflected by the allowance of a realistic allowance for inflation, unlike the token allowance in Spanish mainstream capital gains tax.
The tax rate varies depending upon the size of the local population and the length of ownership. For a town of more than 100,000 inhabitants the minimum tax rate is 20 per cent and the maximum 30 percent, with the town hall fixing a rate within this.
Any Plusvalia tax paid is allowed as a cost of disposal in calculating the mainstream capital gains tax.
The tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; an individual must take personalised advice.


==================================================

As you can see, it is a minefield - and seems to come down more heavily on non-residents! Definitely a case for a solicitor!
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Re: advice needed

Postby Jan » Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:18 am

Hello Trudy,


So sorry to hear your sad news and the problems you are having with the Spanish tax system - It can't be easy and something you can certainly do without at a time like this. Unfortunately, it is a situation that many of us with a house in Spain could face at any time and, as we all know, Spain is notoriously slow in dealing with any sort of paperwork.

Finding clear and concise information for financial matters in Spain is not easy. I have just been navigating through the information on the Internet about Inheritance Tax for Non-Residents and, as Sandra says, it's a minefield. I'm more confused now than I was before. At least you have a Spanish Will which is always highly recommended and a good thing.

I do hope you get some answers from your Solicitor very soon.
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Re: advice needed

Postby Sandra » Fri Jan 25, 2013 1:58 pm

JAN

I looked into the question of capital gains tax - Spanish style - a few years ago! It's always good to know what sort of bill you will be faced with. In England, if one partner dies the money (usually!) goes to the other partner - without being taxed. I knew that it could cost an "arm and a leg" in Spain. The only thing that has gone our way is the fall in the price of property - so there is probably no gain on the money that we paid in 2004!! Not sure if I should feel ecstatic about that fact!!:( If you are a resident in Spain you don't get hit so hard - I think that the government just want to make money from all these "wealthy" second home owners!! One of my other friends tied up her property - so that it formed a "company", but with all these laws changing you don't know the best way to go.
=============================
TRUDY

I hope that you get something settled soon - waiting is never good.
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Re: advice needed

Postby Jan » Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:06 pm

[quote="Sandra"]JAN

I looked into the question of capital gains tax - Spanish style - a few years ago! It's always good to know what sort of bill you will be faced with. In England, if one partner dies the money (usually!) goes to the other partner - without being taxed. I knew that it could cost an "arm and a leg" in Spain. The only thing that has gone our way is the fall in the price of property - so there is probably no gain on the money that we paid in 2004!! Not sure if I should feel ecstatic about that fact!!:( If you are a resident in Spain you don't get hit so hard - I think that the government just want to make money from all these "wealthy" second home owners!! One of my other friends tied up her property - so that it formed a "company", but with all these laws changing you don't know the best way to go.
=============================
Hi Sandra,

From what I can tell, on the death of a spouse who is a non-resident co-owner of the property in Spain, Inheritance tax (not capital gain at this stage) is payable to allow the property to be fully transferred to the surviving spouse (as you say- unlike the UK) based on a set percentage of the 50% inherited, after taxable allowances.
I may be wrong (it has been known ;) ) but I don't think that capital gain comes into the equation unless or until the house is sold, and, yes, with the fall in property prices there may not be much gain, if at all. However, I suppose we all have capital gains tax to consider when selling a property as a non-resident in Spain, as we would with a second home in the UK.

I found this on-line among all the other 'mind-numbing' information and advice, and it actually seems quite helpful and worth a read - even if still a bit 'headache inducing' :? .........well my head was aching trying to make sense of it last night! It also mentions about 'forming companies' and other such things as not being such a good idea with Spain cracking down on tax avoidance (like the UK!)

http://belegal.com/articles/showArticle/spanish-inheritance-tax-spain-iht
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Re: advice needed

Postby trudy » Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:38 pm

Thank you for all your replies.

Yes confused is the word:? very mind boggling, but some of your posts links are helpfull in a way if you understand them.
The last link is more understanable as it seems to be in plain english, so lets hope that i get a resolution soon without a hefty tax bill;)
All i can do is wait & hope with everything crossed.

thank you again
Trudy
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Re: advice needed

Postby Sandra » Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:52 pm

Whoops, sorry. Yes, I looked into capital gains tax and inheritance tax! Transfers between husband/wife are inheritance under inheritance tax!! Too many taxes!!:lol:
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Re: advice needed

Postby trudy » Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:13 pm

Hi all thank you v much for all your posts inheritance tax now sorted but took long enough.
The only problem I am having now 9 months on is with the life insurance people still no joy an now they are asking for all sorts of impossible requests. Has anyone else experienced the same?
Thank you
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