Expats are being warned that the Tax Office are claiming additional transfer tax, which in some cases can amount to thousands of pounds, on properties purchased during the last four years.
Expats who bought their homes in Spain at ‘rock-bottom’ prices are facing shock tax bills due to the tax office’s opinion that they are worth more than what they paid for them.
In their quest to raise much needed finance, the regional tax offices are looking into tens of thousands of property sales which took place during the past four years. (Click here to see more information about Property Sales Taxes in Spain)
Since the property market crash in 2008, Spanish house prices have plummeted by up to 50% per cent in certain areas of Spain and the country is still trying to recover from the deep recession which followed.
In Spain, as in the UK and other parts of Europe, the buyer has to pay sales tax on the property. In Spain this is known as Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP) and is paid as a percentage of the value of the house. The amount payable will vary depending on the type of property in Spain and its location.
Obviously, since the crash, and its downward affect on house prices, the amount of this tax received by the Government has reduced dramatically which has forced them to review the situation and think of a newfangled way of raising extra money!
The regional tax authorities are in the process of ploughing through all home sales throughout the past four years and comparing the declared sales price to that which they believe should have been the market value at the time. If the price declared varies from the taxman’s own official valuation of the property, the owner will be sent a bill for the extra tax payable on the difference - which in some cases can amount to thousands of pounds.
To give an example, Mr & Mrs Simms, who bought their dream retirement home in Murcia in 2012 were billed for an extra 5,356 euros in sales tax ,almost three years after buying it. The couple who had searched for over two years to find the right property were delighted when they managed to find the home that they wanted and even more so when they managed to negotiate the price down to 95,400 euros.
A few weeks later, they paid the tax (ITP) over to the authorities, which amounted to 6,678 euros.
Then about four months ago, out of the blue, they received a letter from the local tax office claiming that in their view the house was actually worth £171,927 and that the couple should pay the extra 5,356 euros.
The couple went to the tax office as they presumed that there had been a mistake, but they were told that they had no other choice but to pay it.
That is when they came to see us at Abad Abogados. We appealed against the initial decision made by the tax office, and continued to a second and finally a T.E.A.R appeal before their decision was overturned, resulting in no further tax being paid by The Simms.
If you have received a letter from the tax office and are unsure of what you should do, or if you are just concerned about your situation knowing that you bought during the period under review, then we at Abad Abogados can help you. You can contact us on www.abadabogados.com for further infotmation about buying a property in Spain.