HomeAway Web Site now sending income to Spanish Tax authorities

I advertise my property on HomeAway and last week received an email asking me to fill in an online form so that they will send my rental income from 2018 and onwards directly to the Spanish Tax Authorities. They also will send on Passport details of any holidaymakers as part of the Spanish Royal Decree 1070/2017.

I am a fully registered / licenced to rent my property in Spain, I declare and pay the 4+1 quartermy tax returns and also declare the income on my UK SA100 Self Assessment.

I am so confused by their email and the form that I called them up, unfortunately I seemed to know more about it than the girl I spoke to!

They are gathering and sending these details, but its not clear if they actually declare/pay the tax on your behalf in future. She implied they would. But my apartment is co-owned and the other owner declares and pays their half separately. The HomeAway web site only allows input details of one persins NIE number so how can the tax be paid across two owners?!

Also, you key in a "Tax value" - 19% for Spain. This then increases the final booking price right at the end by 19%. which then becomes the tax you pay. So how the heck do you offset this against your outgoings like mortgage interest ? You can't is the straight answer! The girl was very lost in the conversation and kept saying "call your local tax authority and ask them". As if the Andalucia Tax authority would have the slightest clue as to how poorly HomeAway had presented the email and their information. 

If you don't comply before end of Jan your ad is removed, I believe. However, I certainly don't want to be paying tax twoce, once as a straight 19% no offset, and then my own offset value and accountants fees also. It's almost like they relly haven't thought it out at all. 

Has anyone else received this email ? Its got a few of us on my development absolutely puzzled by its total lack of clarity.

Thanks,

Nigel

Although this is not exactly following the thread, if this becomes standard in many buildings where letting is now common, then the problem with paying taxes may no longer exist !

 From Euro Weekly News (It appears the article is not in all editions so I have pasted it here )

NB  There is also an article about Spain being advised to charge a Tourist Tax  in all locations across Spain.  

QUOTE:

ON December 14, 2018 the Spanish government approved a Royal Decree which modifies the Law of Horizontal Property and the laws for rented property, especially property rented out as tourist accommodation.

The Royal Decree was posted on the Boletin Oficial del Estado (the official state bulletin) or the BOE on December 18 and became law on December 19. The new decree still needs to be ratified by congress within 30 days of the date of publication. If it is not ratified, the decree will be declared void and the changes and modifications can no longer be implemented.

However if it is ratified, this will bring some welcome changes for many owners in residential communities currently unhappy about the sharp increase in neighbouring  properties being rented out as short-term tourist accommodation. Understandably, many owners but not all, feel a fundamental incompatibility between their own often quieter home lifestyle and the thrills, spills and noise generated by the carefree, often stay-up-late tourists on holiday. Previously in order for a community to impose any kind of restriction on an owner’s right to run their house or apartment as tourist accommodation, the law required a unanimous vote of approval from all the owners, a 100 per cent agreement.

Understandably any owner, even just one, using their property or properties as tourist accommodation could vote against any such proposal and defeat the motion. The new decree includes an amendment to the unanimous requirement by reducing the majority needed to pass a motion of this nature to just three-fifths of the owners, owning three-fifths of the properties within the community according to their community quotas. Meaning this reduced majority is now able to set limits and change the conditions for tourist accommodation at any general meeting of the owners far more easily.

This includes limiting or prohibiting properties being used as tourist accommodation in a preference for residential occupation and also increasing the community fees by up to 20 per cent for properties rented out as tourist accommodation. The Royal Decree does say these new rules cannot be applied retrospectively so it is not yet completely clear, if ratified whether it will affect properties already registered with the Junta de Andalucia as tourist accommodation or not. In addition to other measures regarding changes to compulsory conditions for housing rental agreements, the new decree also requires that within three years of its approval, all residential communities throughout Spain will need to increase their reserve fund minimum holding, from the current 5 per cent of the communities last ordinary annual budget to a new minimum of 10 per cent. Many communities already hold well in excess of the new minimum amount, a measure considered very sensible by most responsible administrations, others not.

However, remember the new decree still needs to be ratified by Congress to come into permanent effect.

Interesting and the same email from AIRBNB, no doubt all the others will have to comply. Will EOS holiday rentals be affected or have to comply with Spanish Royal Decree 1070/2017?

On May 24th, 2018 model 179 on Quarterly informative declaration of the assignment of use of housing for tourist purposes"  was approved.

Despite de information obligation is quarterly, the Treasury agreed, exceptionally, that  incomes obtained in 2018 could be declared between the 1st and the 31st of January, 2019. Thereafter, the declaration will be made every quarter.

This model must be presented by both people and by collaborative platforms that mediate in the assignment of use and are considered as service providers of the information society, regardless of whether or not (1) they provide the underlying service object of intermediation or (2) of the imposition of conditions with respect to the assignors or assignees of the service in relation to it, such as price, insurance, terms or other contractual conditions.

The information to be provided in model 179 includes:

a) Identification of the owner or owners of the dwelling, of the owner of the right by virtue of which the dwelling is assigned (if it is different from the owner of the dwelling) and of the assignees or entities.

b) Identification of the property (complete address) with specification of the cadastral reference, in case it was assigned.

c) Number of days of enjoyment of the house for tourist purposes.

d) Amount received, as the case may be, by the assigning owner of the use of the dwelling.

e) Contract number by virtue of which the intermediate declarant in the assignment of use of the dwelling.

f) Date of beginning of the assignment.

g) Intermediation date in the operation.

h) Identification of the means of payment used (transfer, credit or debit card or other means of payment).

The Decree has been brought to the Supreme Court as some collaborative platforms consider that the obligations included there exceed what is necessary and proportional and are an administrative burden to some business models, which is also against noth national and european regulations.

National Commission of the Markets and the Competition (CNMC) has also required the Government  to modify or supress  the requirements of the Royal Decree that  suppose an unnecessary and disproportionate to effective competition in the market.

The Spanish Association of Tax Advisors (Aedaf), has also filed a complaint against the normative text.

This message was last edited by mariadecastro on 02/01/2019.