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New Year’s Resolution: Become a Spanish Resident!

02/02/2017 Marina Rodriguez

Everybody makes New Year’s resolutions, but most of us do not keep them. However, we can help you to keep this one for sure: obtaining your Spanish residence card!

Why do I need a Spanish residence card?

Most people think that having a NIE (Foreigner’s Identity Number) allows them to live legally in Spain, but this is not true. EU citizens are not allowed to stay in another European country for more than 3 months a year. For this reason, if you like spending long stays here in Spain, or you would like to obtain your Spanish driving licence, enrol your children in a Spanish school, and enjoy a long list of other benefits, it would be advisable to become a Spanish resident.

Moreover, there are lots of English people that became Spanish residents last year because of Brexit. As we told our clients, this does not guarantee them more rights than other citizens in the event that the UK leaves the EU definitively, but it is definitely easier to lay claim to legal rights within a country in which you are already a resident!

What are the requirements to obtain the Spanish residence card?

There are different ways to obtain the Spanish residence card depending on your personal and professional circumstances, but there are some common points such as providing proof of good financial circumstances and having the right to Spanish medical assistance, either public or private. In any case, as soon as you contact us, we will find the easiest and best way for you to become a Spanish resident.

Is being a Spanish resident the same as being a Spanish tax resident?

Most people confuse the two situations. Being a Spanish resident just means that you have permission to live legally in Spain during the time your card is in force. However, being a Spanish tax resident means you are obliged to submit your tax returns to the Spanish tax authorities. Either way, here at Andalucia Lawyers we can help you both with becoming a Spanish resident and a Spanish tax resident so don’t hesitate to contact us!

Spanish Golden Visa for Investors: Years 5-10+

Spanish Golden Visa for Investors: Years 2-5+

Spanish Golden Visa for Investors: Year 1

Golden Visa: Spanish Residence Permit for Non-EU Investors

How Do I Know if I’m a Spanish Resident or Non-resident for Tax Purposes?

New Holiday Property Rental Law in Andalusia

07/04/2016 Rafael Guerrero

Do you rent out property to tourists in Andalusia? Find out how the new 2016 holiday property rental law in Andalusia affects you and what steps to take.

On 3 February 2016 the Junta de Andalucía approved the controversial Holiday Rental Law for Andalusia (Viviendas con Fines Turísticos), which was published in the Official Bulletin of the Andalusian Government (BOJA) on 11 February 2016 (Decree 28/2016).

Landlords were given 3 months to prepare their paperwork for presentation before the decree came into force.

What does this mean?

From 12 May 2016 onwards, landlords of holiday rental accommodation are required to register their properties with the Tourism Registry of Andalusia.

What is a tourist rental property?

A property in a residential area regularly rented out to tourists, whether as a whole or by room, in exchange for money. As a landlord you can rent the property directly to tourists or lease the property to another person or entity to run the tourist rental activity on your behalf.

What properties are not considered tourist rental accommodation?

Those in which no financial transaction takes place between the host and the guests e.g. allowing friends or family to stay in your property for free.
Properties rented out for more than 2 months to the same tenant.
Properties on rural land. These are governed by their own set of regulations (Decree 20/2002 of 29 January).
A group of 3 or more properties owned by the same person or entity located in the same building or group of buildings. These are subject to the regulations governing tourist apartments (Decree 194/2010 of 20 April).

How can I rent my property out to holiday-makers?

Rental Types

Regardless of the type of rent, the maximum capacity is limited according to the property’s occupation licence and no more than 4 guests are allowed per bedroom.

Renting the Whole Property

Maximum capacity of 15 people.

Renting by Room

The landlord must also live in the property.
Maximum capacity of 6 guests at a time.

Requirements and Common Services

The property must have a first occupation licence issued by the town hall.
The bedrooms must have direct outside ventilation, be adequately furnished, and have fixed cooling and/or heating systems depending on the months when the property is rented out.
The property must be equipped with a first aid kit, useful information for tourists e.g. local shops, restaurants, health and transport services and nearby parking, official complaint forms and a visible sign saying these forms are available.
The accommodation must be cleaned before and after each stay.
The property must be equipped with sheets (and a change of sheets), adequate household goods (with instructions for appliances where appropriate) and furnishings.
Guests must be provided with a contact number by which any enquiries or incidents concerning the property will be attended to immediately.
Guests must be fully informed of the house rules.

Reservations, Payment & Cancellations

There are certain conditions that must be fulfilled when renting the property:

Holiday Rental Agreement

All guests must receive a document outlining the relevant information of their stay. It must include:

The landlord’s name and contact number.
The property’s registration number assigned by the Junta de Andalucía.
The number of guests and their details.
The arrival and departure dates.
The total price of the stay.

The landlord must keep a copy of the signed holiday rental agreement for 1 year in case of inspection by the authorities.

Pricing & Payment

The advertised price must be per night and all-inclusive.
The price, booking, deposit and cancellation terms can be agreed by the two parties and must be stated in detail before the booking is confirmed.
An advance payment as a deposit of up to a maximum of 30% of the total price of the stay may be requested.
Guests must be provided with invoices for every payment made.

Cancellation

If the guest cancels the reservation up to 10 days before the check-in date, the landlord is entitled to keep 50% of the deposit.
If the guest cancels less than 10 days before the check-in date, the landlord can keep 100% of the deposit.
If the landlord cancels the reservation up to 10 days before the check-in date, the deposit must be refunded in full.
If the landlord cancels less than 10 days before the check-in date, the deposit must be refunded in full plus 30% of the total price of the stay as compensation.
If a booking is cancelled due to events of force majeure compensation will not be due by either party.

Arrival and Departure Time

Arrival and departure times can be agreed between the landlord and the guests. Unless otherwise stated the default arrival time is set at 16:00 and departure at 12:00.

Upon Arrival

Registry Book and Traveller Registration Form

Due to security laws, it is compulsory for landlords to maintain a registry book with the names of all guests. This book must be kept for 3 years in case of inspection. Every guest over 16 must present proof of ID, e.g. passport or identity card, and complete an individual registration form upon arrival. The landlord must submit this information to the police (Guardia Civil) in person, via fax, email or online within 24 hours.

How to Register your Holiday Rental Property with the Tourism Registry of Andalusia

Self-registration

In order to register your property you must fill out a registration form called declaración responsable para inicio o ejericio de la actividad. Registration is free in Andalusia. If you have a good level of Spanish you can self-register here. If you don’t have a digital certificate then you can fill the form in on-line, print it and hand it in at your local Delegación Territorial de Turismo.

Once you have completed the form you can begin your holiday rental activity. Afterwards, you will receive a resolution stating whether you may continue with your rental activity or not. If your application has been approved you will receive an alphanumeric code like this one: VFT/HU/00000. You must make sure to include this code on all advertising of your holiday rental property.

Via Andalucía Lawyers

If you don’t know much Spanish, or you simply don’t want to deal with all the paperwork, we can register your holiday rental property on your behalf.

We’ll keep you informed about the entire procedure and all the documents required in order to submit the tourist rental property registration form.

Non-compliance Penalties

Do you only rent your place out to holiday-makers every now and again? Tempted to risk it and not go through all that rigmarole? Don’t even think about it.

1) Minor offences will be sanctioned with a warning or a fine of up to €2000.

2) Serious offences will be sanctioned with fines between €2000 and €18,000. The fine may also be accompanied by the temporary suspension of tourist services or the temporary closure of the holiday rental property for up to 6 months.

3) Very serious offences will be sanctioned with fines between €18,000 and €150,000. The fine may also be accompanied by the temporary suspension of tourist services or the temporary closure of the holiday rental property or accommodation unit for anything from 6 months to 3 years.

Anyone who is sanctioned for very serious offences twice or more within 3 years and anyone causing serious damage to the tourism interests of Andalusia through their behaviour will have their holiday rental property closed and removed from the Tourism Registry of Andalusia.

Spanish Tax Return (RENTA 2022)

Non-resident Income Tax in Spain 2022

Costs Involved in Purchasing Property in Spain

Spanish Capital Gains Tax for Non-Residents 2022

05/09/2016 Marina Rodriguez

Find out what taxes you’re liable to pay when you sell your Spanish property as a non-resident.

As a non-resident of Spain when you sell your Spanish property you are obliged to pay capital gains tax. Capital gains tax is applied to the difference between the original purchase price of the property (the acquisition value) and the sale price (the transfer value).

The acquisition value: the amount you paid for the property including any expenses and tributes you paid resulting from the purchase but not including any interest charges from these.

If the property has been rented at some point since you bought it then the value is depreciated according to the corresponding values for the period in which it was rented out.

The transfer value: the amount you sell the property for minus the expenses and taxes linked to the sale and paid by the vendor (you).

Income from Capital Gains up to 31 December 2014

You may well be aware that previous to 2014 there were updating coefficients. These in effect increased the purchase price of a property based on when it was bought in an attempt to bring the purchase price in line with inflation. This reduced the amount of tax due as the original value of the property was increased, thus the taxable difference between the acquisition and transfer values was reduced.

The original purchase price was multiplied by the coefficient corresponding to the year it was bought to calculate the real value of the property at the time of purchase taking into account the rising cost of living. The coefficients are listed in the table below:

Year of Purchase

Coefficient

1994 and before

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

1,3299

1,4050

1,3569

1,3299

1,3041

1,2807

1,2560

1,2314

1,2072

1,1836

1,1604

1,1376

1,1152

1,0934

1,0720

1,0510

1,0406

1,0303

1,0201

1,0100

Important: these coefficients were abolished with Spain’s recent tax reforms. The current capital gains taxes are now as follows:

Income from Capital Gains from 1 January 2015

You are taxed on the difference between the purchase price (with no adjustment made for inflation) and the sale price at the following rates:

Spanish Capital Gains Tax Rates for Non-Residents

Year

2011

2012-2014

2015

2016

Tax Rate

19%

21%

Up to 11-07-15:

20%

From 12-07-25:

19.5%

19%

3% Withheld Tax on Spanish Property Sales Applicable to Non-Residents

When you sell your Spanish property as a non-resident, the buyer (whether resident or non-resident) is required to withhold 3% of the purchase price and pay it directly to the Spanish tax authorities. This tax withheld functions as an advance payment of the capital gains tax payable by you, the vendor. If the 3% retained is higher than the amount of capital gains tax due, the Spanish tax authorities refund you the difference. If the capital gains due exceeds the tax withheld, you must pay the difference. As the vendor you must file a Spanish tax declaration on the transaction within 4 months of the completion date.

Paperwork

The buyer gives you, the non-resident vendor, a copy of the 211 tax form with which they have paid the 3% retention.

Tax Exemption for Reinvestment in the Main Home

There is a tax exemption for reinvestment in the main home for taxpayers from the EU, Iceland and Norway, applicable only to property sales from 1 January 2015.

If you’re a resident of a member state of the EU or the European Economic Space with a two-way exchange of tax information with Spain, you can be exempt from capital gains tax when you sell your property in Spain providing all the following conditions are met:

The property is your main residence in Spain.
The total amount gained from the sale is reinvested in the purchase of a new main residence.

When the amount reinvested is lower than the total amount received from the property sale, only the amount reinvested in the new property will be exempt from capital gains tax.

Paperwork

Form 210 (income type 28). However, when you are applying for the exemption resulting from reinvestment in a main residence the income type will be 33 or 34.

When the property concerned is of shared ownership by a married couple in which both partners are non-residents, a sole declaration can be made.

Spain’s Plusvalía Tax on the Transfer of Property

What is the plusvalía tax?

The plusvalía tax is charged when a property is transferred from one owner to another, whether by inheritance or through sale. It is a local tax levied on the increase of the value of the land upon which the property is built calculated according to the amount of time that’s passed since the property last changed hands. This is not the same as capital gains tax and it must be paid in addition to capital gains tax. Each local authority applies their own plusvalía tax rate, which can vary widely from one autonomous community to another.

Who is liable to pay the plusvalía tax?

When a property is sold it is usually the responsibility of the vendor to pay the plusvalía tax, although this is negotiable and who pays it often depends on the strength of the market as to whether the buyer or seller has the upper hand in negotiations. If the property is being transferred as a gift or an inheritance it is the recipient of the property who is liable to pay the plusvalía tax.

When is the plusvalía tax due?

The plusvalía tax is due within 30 days of the sale of a property. In the case of an inheritance or a gift it is due within 6 months of the passing of the deceased or the legal bestowing of the gift by the benefactor.

Contact Us

Are you a non-resident in Spain looking to sell Spanish property? Contact us to enquire about our tax and conveyancing services.