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A couple of months ago, I read on a legal website (can’t recall which one) that a resurrection of the Wealth Tax had been given the go-ahead and was going to be reintroduced in a matter of weeks. I can’t find anything more on this and wondered if anyone could shed light on this for me (as I understand it, this time it’s for those with worldwide assets in excess of 1m euros).
Thanks
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@Snowy wrote:
A couple of months ago, I read on a legal website (can’t recall which one) that a resurrection of the Wealth Tax had been given the go-ahead and was going to be reintroduced in a matter of weeks. I can’t find anything more on this and wondered if anyone could shed light on this for me (as I understand it, this time it’s for those with worldwide assets in excess of 1m euros).
Thanks
(link removed as Mark’s is the original material)
(from the link it looks like Mark’s the expert on this)
The Spanish government has opted to re-introduce a wealth tax on net assets above €700,000 (£610,000), with a main home allowance of €300,000 (£260,000), although this is not relevant to holiday homes in some regions of Spain.
“Holiday-home owners in regions like Catalonia, Andalucia, The Valencian Community, The Balearics and The Canaries – basically the most popular regions with foreign buyers – will have to pay partimonio [wealth tax] on all net assets above €108,200 [£95,000], unless autonomous governments reform their tax codes before the end of the year,” said Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight.
The wealth tax was abolished three years ago, but the Spanish government felt it was necessary to re-launch it to generate greater revenue from the middle classes with a tax on property and savings, in a bid to help the country’s struggling economy.
Stucklin, a Spanish property commentator, fears that the new tax will deter many foreigners, including Brits, from buying homers in Spain, further damaging the country’s flagging property sector.
“Need I point out this tax will make Spanish property less attractive to foreign investors at a time when the Government should be doing everything to make it more attractive by reducing the costs of owning property in Spain.
“In the light of this tax-increase, the government’s road-shows to promote Spanish holiday-homes to European buyers will be even more ineffectual.”
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You could do worse than read the original article I published yesterday on this topic:
Higher taxes for property owners as Government re-introduces the Spanish wealth tax (patrimonio)
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The real story behind the re-introduction of the wealth tax is that it’s aimed at foreign owners of holiday-homes in Spain.
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@mark wrote:
The real story behind the re-introduction of the wealth tax is that it’s aimed at foreign owners of holiday-homes in Spain.
Not true. Turns out that non-residents get the same tax-free allowances as residents. The re-introduction of patrimonio is a bad move, but it does not discriminate against non-residents. So you can ingore this angle.
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@mark wrote:
@mark wrote:
The real story behind the re-introduction of the wealth tax is that it’s aimed at foreign owners of holiday-homes in Spain.
Not true. Turns out that non-residents get the same tax-free allowances as residents. The re-introduction of patrimonio is a bad move, but it does not discriminate against non-residents. So you can ingore this angle.
Good!!! I had thought this would have contravened EU legislation. But some times you never know
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@Fuengi wrote:
Good!!! I had thought this would have contravened EU legislation. But some times you never know
It wouldn’t have been the first time Spain used the tax code to discriminate against other EU non-residents. But as I say, not the case this time. Nevertheless, it still raises the cost of owning property in Spain, albeit at the higher end of the market. We don’t need that.
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I might get into trouble by saying it 😉 but I think in principle it is better to tax property than work. So while I’m opposed to taxation in general, given that Spain needs to raise revenue one way or another, it would be better if it were raised through a taxation on property than an increase in income tax. The ideal situation would be to have everybody paying a few percent property tax and a corresponding reduction in income tax. It should be harder to avoid paying tax on property and with lower income tax, fewer people might end up avoiding that as well.
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@mark wrote:
It wouldn’t have been the first time Spain used the tax code to discriminate against other EU non-residents. But as I say, not the case this time. Nevertheless, it still raises the cost of owning property in Spain, albeit at the higher end of the market. We don’t need that.
I think we all know that. But I would have been surprised if politicians did anything to dampen foreign investment in an industry that needs it in the current climate.
@Chopera wrote:
I might get into trouble by saying it 😉 but I think in principle it is better to tax property than work. So while I’m opposed to taxation in general, given that Spain needs to raise revenue one way or another, it would be better if it were raised through a taxation on property than an increase in income tax. The ideal situation would be to have everybody paying a few percent property tax and a corresponding reduction in income tax. It should be harder to avoid paying tax on property and with lower income tax, fewer people might end up avoiding that as well.
agreed.
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“But I would have been surprised if politicians did anything to dampen foreign investment in an industry that needs it in the current climate “
Fuengi. I am surprised. How long have yoy dealt with Spain. Remember as from as the spanish are concerned. Sun only shines in Spain & no foreginors will go anywhere else in the world.
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“But I would have been surprised if politicians did anything to dampen foreign investment in an industry that needs it in the current climate “
Fuengi. I am surprised. How long have yoy dealt with Spain. Remember as from as the spanish are concerned. Sun only shines in Spain & no foreginors will go anywhere else in the world.
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@shakeel wrote:
Fuengi. I am surprised. How long have yoy dealt with Spain. Remember as from as the spanish are concerned. Sun only shines in Spain & no foreginors will go anywhere else in the world.
Well no that is not the case. The Spanish people are not idiots, nor are they particularly greedy. If you think like that Shakeel you are the one that knows very little and Spain and the mentality of the locals.
As the people here become more educated and ‘worldly’ they are adapting to changing circumstances.
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@shakeel wrote:
Fuengi. I am surprised. How long have yoy dealt with Spain. Remember as from as the spanish are concerned. Sun only shines in Spain & no foreginors will go anywhere else in the world.
Well no that is not the case. The Spanish people are not idiots, nor are they particularly greedy. If you think like that Shakeel you are the one that knows very little and Spain and the mentality of the locals.
As the people here become more educated and ‘worldly’ they are adapting to changing circumstances.
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Things like wealth tax are usually so easy to avoid for really wealthy people but slapping higher taxes on real estate is actually quite a smart move since it’s very hard to sneak your way around it.
As others have said I don’t like taxes but it would be smarter to actually tax real estate more instead of income.
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