Non resident death duties

The amount paid was most probable inheritance tax and associated fees. Now it's the heir/successor who is liable to pay in order to become the new owner. The inheritance tax return (some 30+ pages) must be filed within 6 months from death-day, otherwise heavy surcharges may apply.

Hi Grannyrose

Adding to killjoys post, I know that Jim, after the death of Margaret, indicated it wasn’t without its difficulties🤪🥂

Is Spain still entitled to take so much money off owners?   Does the valuation of the property come into the equation?  It looks like they’ll be looking for another €13,500. I sometimes wonder why we ever bought in Spain  it’s a no win situation  

The amount you quote (13.500€) would most likely include all the taxes involved (unheritance tax, Plusvalia tax), notary public, land register and probably solicitor fees. The ownership of the assets must be changed into the heir's name and that requires a notarial document. It's quite a bit to do and pay if it should be done properly.I would recommend the family of your friend to contact a solicitor. Please feel free to PM me if you need any recommendations

Many thanks for your reply. Yes, the family have an excellent solicitor in Torrevieja. The apartment was bought and put into the names of the couple who bought it. A Will was made and the family will inherit it but I thought there had been a case taken against the Spanish government some years ago where they should not have been making non residents pay inheritance tax on their Spanish property. I remember at the time when his wife died , he had the choice of paying half , 1/3 or 2/3 of the inheritance tax with the understanding that the person who would become the sole owner would incur the remainder of that tax upon their death. Now, the family will become the owners in due course and the whole thing starts again. It seems wrong but a great way of generating revenue.  

Hi GrannyRose,

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.  As others have said, inheritance laws and the taxes associated with inheritance in Spain are complex.  This article gives a useful overview of the various elements involved, including documentation and deadlines:

https://www.expatica.com/es/finance/taxes/inheritance-tax-in-spain-102092/

However, unless your friend's family live in Spain and thoroughly understand Spanish bureaucracy, they will need help to complete the Modelo 650 inheritance tax return.  I supported a friend through this process earlier this year, following her husband's death.  From my friend's experience, I would advise the family ensure that all significant assets are included in the Inheritance Deed - my friend's advisors "forgot"(!) to include her husband's car, so she had to pay extra to inherit separately her 50% share of it.  Because of this, I am not happy to recommend her advisors, but you may want to ask for recommendations of relevant companies in the region that your friend lived.

Kind regards,

Kim

There shouldn’t be any other assets as far as I know. I imagine the solicitor will do all the necessary work and the family will pay the amount asked. 

I am shocked that the Spanish government takes so much money off non resident property owners when we all live in the EU. 

Hi Grannyrose

In 2014 I lost my dear wife, we have a 2 bed apt as a holiday home, we live in the UK and the apt was in joint names, the value of the apt at that time was app €85000 and we had a Spanish will.

Depending upon the value of your friends apt, €13,500 looks a little steep, you have to pay Inheritance tax on the half that you are inheriting within 6 months plus other fees for Solicitor, Notary, Land registry etc.

In 2014 in the EU courts a decision was made against the Spanish Government who were charging different amounts of Inheritance tax to non residents.

When this decision was upheld this then brought us all into line with the residents, at that time people in the Valencian community had a tax free allowance of €100,000 euros, this may still be the case ?

So how did this affect me ?  well, the ruling in the EU hadn't been finalised at that point, therefore I had to pay the taxes due under the ' old ' system.

Very shortly after my business was concluded the EU challenge was upheld and my fantastic Solicitor claimed the tax element back for me which was app €1300, so you can see why I say €13500 looks disproportionate, I realise there are fees included in that figure but it would be very interesting to see a breakdown of the final bill.

All told, from memory, I initially paid app €3750 to my Solicitor who then claimed the tax back, so final cost app €2450, this is probably why you have heard that some people didn't pay any tax, strictly speaking, eventually, I didn't but the other fees are unavoidable and a good Solicitor is a must in my opinion.

If your friends family are still using the Solicitor who charged this amount I would suggest a change would be advisable.

Also, any new Solicitor may be able to look into whether it would be possible to claim back any overpaid tax due to the EU ruling from within the €13500, there would probably be a timescale to this but I do not have this knowledge.

I recommended my Solicitor to a recently bereaved forum member too and as far as I know she was happy with them and they quoted quite a bit less than other quotes that she had, indeed, my initial quotations varied from €4000 to €6500.

Solmed Solicitors based in Los Balcones 0034 966 706 408.

Hope some of this helps and that you are less concerned now about any future unfortunate events.

Ken.

Great post, Ken.  If you don't mind, could you add your solicitor's details?  Recommendations for good advisors, from personal experience, are so helpful.

Many thanks and kind regards, 

Kim