Capital gains tax

Good morning,

A simple question (if you understand these things). I have a property worth 100,000 (on escritura although I paid more). If this property sells for 200,000, how much capital gains tax will I have to pay? I am a resident, but isn´t the tax now 16% for residents and non-residents. Also I haven´t paid tax for 12 months as I am no longer working, so will this affect the capital gains tax I have to pay? I understand there is a retention of between 3-5% of sale price of the property at the notary but this would work out at much less than 16% of the profit (on a 100,000 return), so  how exactly does it work?

Also, how much would I expect to pay for an ´abogado´ etc. Total costs without estate agent and capital gains tax? Thanks,

Amatista

There are various deductions allowable, such as the initial purchase costs (notary, land registry, transfer tax etc.) so that will help reduce your total liability. The retention at the notary only applies to non-residents, since residents should declare their capital gains as part of their annual tax declaration - even if you are not working now, you should still do one, even if it's a zero declaration. A gestor will charge maybe €50 to do this for you, and can advise you in more detail about capital gains tax. You will need to do an annual declaration anyway in order to obtain a certificate of fiscal residency from hacienda, which you will need to present to the notary in order to avoid the retention in the first place.

Not too sure what the second part of your question means; do you mean how much will an abogado charge to handle the sale of your property? If so, that would depend I suppose on what exactly you want them to do. What do you want them to do (that an estate agent won't do, or you can't do yourself)?

If the property is your principal residence you can roll the gain over into a new principal residence anywhere in the the EU and you do not then pay CGT and you have 3 years inwhich to do this.

Thanks John, Kath and Roberto - very helpful.

Jane