Minimum Value Letter Received Today - Any Advice?

You can claim on it. Ask your lawyer for advise

Maria

Surely if you bought your house via an estate agents advertising you will have the house details leaflet and selling price, if everything you have done ie: paid the advertised price then you didn't buy the house cheap to avoid tax, how could you?.

Just because the house deeds say one price lets say ten years ago, that cannot reflect on the price you paid now if all has been done correctly.

I would question my solicitor more on this.

If the seller paid, say 200,000€ and sold it to you for say 100,000€ it's up to the seller to explain why they sold it cheap or under market value. If their are say 20 house's in the area, much the same and all selling for 200,000€ that's where the discrepancy comes in.

This has been brought in to try and stop the "Under the table" cash payments that has always gone on...and still does.

This very same law has always been in force in the UK regarding stamp duty, which is a tax, but explained thoroughly and carefully to the tax man you should be able to get away with it providing you are the innocent one.

 I am considering this option if our Solicitor is willing.

Surely any claim by the Spanish Authorities would need to be supported by evidence of inappropriate conduct?...Only the market can determine the market value not a bureaucrat in a government office.

 Everything was done above board. The amount on the sales particulars at the estate agent is the amount we paid and the amount on the deeds. We put in an offer as soon as the vendor reduced the price...the property had been on the market for over 6 months and the price was dropped due to a sale that had previously fallen through and a vendor anxious to sell.

I wouldn't ask your solicitor if he is willing,  but i would ask another solicitor if they think it's correct, whatever the outcome i would  be more forcefull with your own solicitor, sounds like to me it's a "Oh pay it, less work for me"  situation.

Remember in Spain, maybe you dont do yours this way, but we tend to pay the solicitor a yearly fee, i do, like a retainer, to sort out standing orders, suma, tax and the such like, so they have been paid upfront to sort problems like yours out.

 Thanks Baz,

Part of the fee we paid (additional EUR 600)  was for the Solicitors to act as our legal fiscal. They've just replied to me and advised me not to pursue this as it could be expensive and there's a good chance we will lose.

pay it and swallow it.

or fight and spend so much time and money on it your end up losing.

pick your battles very carefully in spain

Mungry, Yep, that's probably what I'll do!

its only 1500

sounds a lot but if you fight for months and end up with fees and stuff

pick your battles to fight wisely in spain.

yeah thats about right.

pay it and wipe your mouth,

you will have plenty more of these unexpected charges and troubles in spain so you may as well bend over and accept it up the butt early on.

this way you will be ready to accept more in the rear.

Tamaraessex-unless you are very wealthy I don't think you would laugh about being penalised with complementary tax.Why should anyone just pay up, and put it down to the Spanish way of life.It is extremely unfair  -in fact it's robbery.

because if you fight it you end up bitter and twisted like lots of the destroyed people on this forum.

 My parents and I bought this property as a place to go and relax. I understand both perpectives on this...but to be honest I'd rather spend my time in Spain on the beach rather than in the solicitors. Yesterday I was pretty angry, now.. not so much.

meh

life is too short

 Maria has already responded that you can claim on it.  These letters claiming unpaid tax seem to be a form letter sent out to virtually everyone.  From what I've read, a simple statement with proof of what was actually paid has been enough to get the charges waived.  No going to court but, possibly, just one extra trip to the notary and that's it.  If everything was above board and no cash changed hands which wasn't declared, there should be no problems.  

It's not about the fight, why should it be, it's about whats right and wrong, if you feel you have been unfairly mistreated in anything, anywhere, you have two choices, do something about it and try to resolve the problem by winning the day, or let it go and let the people who treated you bad win....no less no more, and it does depend on how you go about it.

Just for the record, only last night i received an email from my Spanish Solicitor advising me that my 2400€ paid to the Tax Man last year is on it's way back, should be in my account in the next few months, when i had to pay this i told my Solicitor that i don't agree with that because i did everything legal, correct and how you told me to... i pay you to sort these problems out, not me, so you sort it out ...PLEASE, and they have, it only cost me the normal fee i pay to them every year, no more. I would have done the same had it been 500€ or less. 

As for bitter destroyed and twisted people on this forum, i have only been taking note and been on this forum for a few weeks and i haven't seen any of that, what i have seen is decent folk doing their level best to offer decent advice to others that have asked for a little help, okay maybe not the type of advice you were hoping to get back, but decent advice never the less.

Sounds to me that if you give an honest open opinion and it's not the opinion that you agreed to your in trouble. 

thats a superb answer and a very balanced opinion.

and you have owned or been in spain for less that 2 years i am guessing.

Thank you.

As it happens in and out of Spain over 30 years, on my 4th house, last one had it for almost 9 years, sold it in Oct / November 2012, and to be honest it caught us out as to how quick it sold, this might sound stupid but we thought it would take about  a year or two which didn't bother us because what ever i buy i always have said if i get back what i paid for it, so be it, made a profit, small one.

Buying a house in Spain is exactly the same as in England, you look at it, look at the area, would someone else want to buy it in this place, price right, and so on.

I was with a couple who bought at the same time when we bought the last one and he showed me what they had just bought, a new apartment near the top floor, small balcony, no air-con, no furniture, but they were pleased the builder gave them money to buy a home pack, i think then about 3000€.  Got told by the builder/agent that by the time they complete they will have gone up in value.  I bought second hand of the owner no agents, air-con in every room, massive garage, solarium, fully complete just as the owners left it and walked out,  he asked me what i paid for ours,  i told him the truth, he had paid a fair bit more because his was brand new.  Suppose they were happy at the buy.

But looking at the house problems in Spain and it seems to me (perhaps it's only me) but the many that don't sell are high rise apartments or in not so nice positions, like i said in the UK when we have moved house for the most part i wont even walk up the path of many houses the agent want to show us.

The agent i last used has sold over 120 houses in 2012, so that's either down to her expertise of the market, or the fact the houses are the right ones to sell meaning area and price.