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RESIDENTS in Spain who bought a new home before 2013 may still be able to offset the purchase against their annual tax return, if they have not done so already.

Until that year, buying a main residence in Spain gave the owner tax deductions, but the then Partido Popular (PP) government scrapped this benefit, at a time when taxes in general had sharply risen to aid a flagging economy.

Now, over a decade on, the Central Financial and Contentious Court (Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central, or TEAC) has created new windows to enable some of those who missed out to backdate their claims.

Anyone who had already applied a tax deduction in their annual return (Declaración de la Renta) in 2012 or before in relation to a main residential property purchase, who had bought their home prior to January 1, 2013, or carried out renovation works on it before that date, would have benefited from the now-defunct reduction scheme.

But some did not apply at all – those who did not have any taxable income, meaning they did not make a declaration, and those who were not obliged to file a tax return and opted not to do so, would not have offset their home purchase.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com