{"id":411,"date":"2008-11-10T16:53:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-10T16:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/decotta.wpsine-dev.com\/marriage-and-its-effect-on-inheritance-tax-in-spain-2\/"},"modified":"2008-11-10T16:53:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-10T16:53:00","slug":"marriage-and-its-effect-on-inheritance-tax-in-spain-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/decottalaw.com\/it\/marriage-and-its-effect-on-inheritance-tax-in-spain-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Marriage and its effect on inheritance tax in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/o:smarttagtype><\/o:smarttagtype><\/o:smarttagtype><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/o:p><\/p>\n

Most ex-patriates from the UK will be acquainted with the fact that if you are domiciled in the UK,
\nany assets bequeathed to a wife or husband are tax free under the spouse
\nexemption rule. However, many people are surprised to learn that the spouse
\nexemption does not apply to any assets in Spain,
\nincluding property.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There are however definite advantages to being married from
\na Spanish inheritance tax point of view, most of all if you are non-residents.
\nThe way inheritance tax is charged in Spain,
\ndiffers completely from the UK<\/st1:place>.
\nIn the UK<\/st1:place>, it
\nis the estate that is charged inheritance tax (at 40%) after having deducted
\nexempt beneficiaries (spouse and charities), any allowances (such as business
\nor agricultural property relief) and the nil rate band (tax free allowance,
\ncurrently \u00a3300,000). <\/o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n

In Spain,
\nthe estate is divided up in accordance with the will or the rules of intestacy
\nso that each beneficiary\u2019s share can be calculated. The beneficiary is then personally
\nresponsible for the inheritance tax, which is calculated on the basis of their
\npersonal circumstances. The tax rules take into account the relationship
\nbetween the deceased and the beneficiary, the residential status of both, the
\npre-existing wealth of the beneficiary and in some circumstances, their age.
\nThe tax is then calculated from a table published by the tax office and the
\nautonomous regions. The regions in Spain have complete autonomy over the inheritance tax rules for residents of that
\nregion. Many regions have now abolished inheritance tax for residents.
\nNon-resident beneficiaries have to declare and pay inheritance tax at the
\ncentral office in <\/st1:place>Madrid<\/st1:place>.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For non-residents, the spouse receives an allowance of
\n\u20ac15,956.87 after which inheritance tax is paid on everything received. This
\nclearly is a very small allowance which would mean that a surviving
\n(non-resident) spouse would normally be liable to pay inheritance tax. The same
\nallowance is given to children over 21, younger children get a larger allowance
\nand brothers and sisters about half that of a spouse. The tax is then charged
\non a sliding scale basis, basically the more you receive, the higher the
\npercentage rate applied when calculating the tax. For example, the first
\n\u20ac7993.46 is taxed at 7.65% whereas the tax rate for amounts received
\nbetween  <\/span>\u20ac119,757.67 and \u20ac159,634.83 is
\n18.70%. The figures are quite obscure as they were originally based upon the
\npeseta. The top tax rate, if you receive over \u20ac797,555.08 is 34%.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n

However, there is a further shock for non-married couples.
\nIf they wish to leave their assets to each other then the tax calculated from
\nthe tables is doubled! Furthermore, there is an additional increase if the
\nrecipient has high pre-existing personal wealth in Spain<\/p>\n

<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region><\/p>\n

which means a possible top rate of tax of 81.6% on everything received as there
\nis no allowance for non-married partners.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So it is quite obvious that for non-residents, there is a
\nsignificant advantage in being married if you wish to leave everything to your
\npartner. For residents, this will depend on the applicable law of the region
\nyou are resident in. In the Canary Islands, for example, the resident spouse
\nreceives an allowance of \u20ac18,500 after which inheritance tax is paid, and from the
\n1st January 2007 resident non-married couples who are to be considered \u201cparejas
\nde hecho\u201d according to the Canary Islands Law 5\/2003, are assimilated to
\nmarried couples for inheritance tax purposes and receive the same allowances as
\nif they were married. Therefore thanks to this recent change in the Law the
\neffects of marriage on inheritance tax in the Canary Islands<\/p>\n

<\/st1:place><\/p>\n

are not so important (but this is quite different in other Spanish autonomous
\nregions). <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n

According to the new Canary Islands<\/p>\n

<\/st1:place><\/p>\n

law, the \u20ac18,500 allowance applies also to children older than 21. Furthermore the
\nlaw establishes various inheritance tax allowances for children younger than 21.
\nFirst of all, there is a general allowance of \u20ac18,500 and a further allowance
\nof \u20ac4,600 per year below the 21. If the child is younger than 18, then the
\nallowance is 100% of the taxable amount until a maximum allowance of \u20ac1,000,000,
\nwhich means that if the child inherits less than \u20ac1,000,000, then there is no
\ntax to pay. Should the child receive more than \u20ac1,000,000, then he would
\nreceive an allowance of \u20ac1,000,000, after which he would pay inheritance tax.   <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p>
<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the Canary Islands there is a
\nfurther allowance given to children younger than 18: a reduction in value of
\nthe home for the purposes of the inheritance tax calculation. In fact in this
\ncase the value of the house that the child receives is reduced by 99% for the
\npurposes of inheritance tax.  <\/span>The big
\ndrawback to these allowances is that the law stipulates that the recipient of
\nthe allowance cannot sell the property for five years. If they do, they must
\npay the extra tax plus interest. If the house is received by the spouse or the
\nsurviving partner of the \u201cpareja de hecho\u201d, then the value of the house is
\nreduced by 95%, with a limit of \u20ac122,606.47 euros, and with the same obligation
\nof not selling the property for five years. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

 The value to be declared for inheritance tax purposes is the
\nreal value of the house, which corresponds to the market value of the property in
\nthe area. It is advisable to ask for a valuation from the local Tax Authorities
\nin order to avoid any problems in case of verification of the declared value. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

For co-habiting couples, there are ways to reduce the
\npotential inheritance tax burden.Get married if you are non-residents \u2013 as can be seen above
\nthere are definite advantages to this.<\/p>\n

Reduce the equity in the property \u2013 buy with a mortgage or
\ntake out a mortgage or equity release scheme. Change your will – to include other related beneficiaries
\nsuch as children who will not be taxed as highly.It is always advisable to make a Spanish will for your
\nassets in Spain especially for non-married couples. A good lawyer can advise you on your tax
\nposition and how the dispositions in your will can mitigate inheritance tax.<\/o:p>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p>For more information on this subject, or to make an appointment for a
\nprivate consultation, please contact us at De Cotta Law, <\/span>De
\nCotta McKenna & Santaf\u00e9<\/a> on:<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tel.: +34 952 931 781
\nFax: +34 952 933 547 <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most ex-patriates from the UK will be acquainted with the fact that if you are domiciled in the UK, any assets bequeathed to a wife or husband are tax free under the spouse exemption rule. However, many people are surprised … Continua<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"office-cat":[],"service-cat":[],"yoast_head":"\nMarriage and its effect on inheritance tax in Spain - De Cotta Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/decottalaw.com\/fr\/marriage-and-its-effect-on-inheritance-tax-in-spain-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marriage and its effect on inheritance tax in Spain - De Cotta Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most ex-patriates from the UK will be acquainted with the fact that if you are domiciled in the UK, any assets bequeathed to a wife or husband are tax free under the spouse exemption rule. 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