[Anonymous]

Hello there
Has anybody had the same experience as I had this week 👿 posting.php?mode=post&f=2#

I bought a house in Begur, Catalunya in juli 2009
and because of the starting of the economic crises, It was for a very reasonable price
But now 3 years later, the ‘Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya’ sent me a letter in Catalan of course; whereas they tell me to pay an extra amount of ‘ tipus imposittiu’ ( tipos impuesto ) of 7% over the difference of the price I paid for the house and the price the ‘Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya’ says the house was worth in july 2009.
I paid 240.000 for the house, and they claim that it was worth nearly 360.000 in july 2009. So they order me to pay nearly 8.300 Euro of taxes and also 1.080 Euro of interest ( 5% over nearly 3 years ). makes a total of 9.380 Euro.

This really sounds strange to me. Never heard or read something about this. I have 15 days to raise objection. But I really have no glue how to raise objection. I really think that the price of 360.000 is not reasonable. And in the first place it sounds arbitrariness to me this kind of taxes. They are really looking for money because of the crises. Is this possible according European law. They have made mistakes before in the past.

[katy]

Happens all the time, has been discussed on here before. Happened to us in 1996. Our lawyer told us he had never heard of anyone winning an appeal and I believed him as he was going to charge us over a 1000€ to handle it. Also if you make an appeal then you still have to pay the tax owed upfront.

[Chopera]

As Katie says it happens to everybody (including me) although I’m beginning to hear of cases where the council is backing down because it is becoming ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Ramon are you Spanish??

Just another symptom of a corrupt country. The whole system knows everyone under-declares in every way possible, so the simple answer the authorities have is to just double the tax rate and then they get their due tax receipt.

IVA on buying a house in the UK is 1% for the majority of houses that the average person buys. Compare that to Spain of 7% (or is it 8% now?) A figure that high makes it just impossible for normal families to move around the country to chase jobs, careers, family commitments etc. Every time you would move you’d nearly lose 10% of your house value!!!

The Spanish taxes are clearly set high to overcome the under-declaration.

The trouble is now under-declaration is less common and a lot harder to get away with, but taxes are not reducing to reflect this fact.

You are the victim of a corrupt system and it is costing you more in taxes and contributing to the downward spiral of the country.

However, I would still put in an appeal and you may be lucky and the calculated purchase price reduced to a more acceptable figure.

[Anonymous]

This is one of the most bizzare “taxes” I have ever seen being used in the whole world. You are more powerless against it than the normal people was under the Sovjet Regime.

[GarySFBCN]

In California, the taxable value of land + building is established by each county’s Assessor. The assessed price can go up or down and with those changes, the tax bill can increase or decrease.

One can request an assessment if the home values decrease.

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

“But now 3 years later, the ‘Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya’ sent me a letter in Catalan of course; whereas they tell me to pay an extra amount of ‘ tipus imposittiu’ ( tipos impuesto ) of 7% over the difference of the price I paid for the house and the price the ‘Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya’ says the house was worth in july 2009.
I paid 240.000 for the house, and they claim that it was worth nearly 360.000 in july 2009. So they order me to pay nearly 8.300 Euro of taxes and also 1.080 Euro of interest ( 5% over nearly 3 years ). makes a total of 9.380 Euro.

This really sounds strange to me. Never heard or read something about this. I have 15 days to raise objection. But I really have no glue how to raise objection. I really think that the price of 360.000 is not reasonable. And in the first place it sounds arbitrariness to me this kind of taxes. They are really looking for money because of the crises. Is this possible according European law. They have made mistakes before in the past.”

Hi, If you intend to object the figures, your best bet is to present a ‘property valuation’ if you had one done prior to purchase. Additionally you can argue the valuation if you bought the property and it was in poor condition.

This value is calculated from the ‘valor catastral’.

[Anonymous]

JP1. The 1% that you are talking about is not IVA/VAT. It is a property purchase tax historicaly known as stamp duty. The rest I however agree with you in addition the high taxes are to keep the civil servents in their jobs.

[Anonymous]

@shakeel wrote:

JP1. The 1% that you are talking about is not IVA/VAT. It is a property purchase tax historicaly known as stamp duty.

😀 Yes I know it’s called stamp duty!

In making a comparison for Ramon, (who is not British) all he needs to know is that taxes in Spain that go to the government are approximately 7% and in the UK 1%.

[Anonymous]

JP1. I was not indoubt that you were not aware of the difference. I just wnted to clear the use of the word as there are people who will start beleiving that there is VAT in Uk for property purchase.

Personally, I am against taxing anybody in whatever form on a residential property purchase. Property is not a luxury it is one of the basic economic need for survival.

[Anonymous]

If the Hacienda thinks that there is under declaration on a private sale. Would they take the same view when a purchase is from an Auction or from a Bank ???????.

[katy]

YES…we bought from a bank, and declared the full price.

[Author]

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