EDITED TO ADD: It took me so long to write this that Mark got in before me & answered.
Hi both
Yes, taxes etc, a minefield to a new owner ... welcome to owning a holiday home in Spain like us.
We pay community fees by Direct Debit & that is up to each community to decide when & just how much. Some pay monthly, quarterly, half yearly, we pay ours annually because that's what our community have decided.
We pay electricity every two months, water every three months, both by Direct Debit, the norm. Our Basura (refuse tax) is included in our water bill.
We pay IBI taxes annually usually around Sept/Oct, this is like the UK council tax. We pay this directly to the Suma local office.
Then you need to arrange to pay income tax . (You will likely need to instruct a fiscal rep to pay this on your behalf. The form has just changed because now non residents don't pay wealth tax which was submitted on the old form but it's in Spanish so a fiscal is probably best for the 1st year anyway then you could tackle doing your own.
I can hear you saying ' but why do we have to pay income tax, we don't have income in Spain !' If you do NOT rent out your property you do still have to pay income tax though at a lower rate. Too many don't supply the Spanish tax office with details of earnings from their rentals as tax is a whopping 25% so everyone ends up having to pay something, which is disgusting especially as we lock our house up when we leave Spain & no one is there except us & we do not have income as some do.
You should both make Spanish wills, that's important. Cost around 150€ each. See your lawyer.
Bet I've left lots off. We still sometimes feel we don't know if we're coming or going & we completed April 2005 !!
This message was last edited by morerosado on 2/2/2009.