Tag Archives: business

New legal requirements for holiday homes

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Our costs welcome millions of visitors during each season. Not all of them are owners of an apartment or a property or stay in a hotel. The majority of them decide to rent a holiday home during the stay. A new legislation fights against the black market on this sector and wants to guarantee the maintenance of our touristic brand.

The new legislation addresses to the touristic sector not (like in the past and without any great success) to the housing sector itself. This law considers a “vivienda de uso vacacional” those properties that are conceded by the owner, directly or indirectly, to other persons in exchange of a consideration. Because of this, every accommodation must have a “cédula de habitabilidad” and ensure that there is enough furniture and equipment according to the number of offered places for visitors. The “cédula de habitabilidad“ is a proof of flat’s habitability which is prepared by the architect and has to be proposed at local housing authority.

How to convert a house or an apartment into a „vivienda de uso vacacional“? The law simplifies this procedure by using the so-called „régimen de comunicación previa“. Hereby it is only necessary to display the intention to rent the flat at the local administration and without any delay it could be started with renting. In this display the owner declares the responsibility to ensure the necessary amount of above-named equipment. He also needs, besides the identity card, the „cédula de habitabilidad“, a confirmation of energy supply and an insurance contract with an adequate coverage.

In this point the municipality is getting involved. This means that it is possible that the community charges a certain fee which could be established in the financial regulation. It would be desirable that administration wouldn’t take advantage of this to generate new revenue. The law intends to secure the quality of the offered holiday homes and it doesn’t want to increase costs which could have the opposite effect namely a promotion of shadow economy. The success of this law depends on an easy handling without further costs as well as on a resolute control.

A holiday homes status as a “vivienda de uso vacacional” means that it could not be turned into a main or secondary residence. The owner has to register guests’ personal data and, in accordance to local security service, send them to the central administration of the police. The stay in a holiday home with this status could not last longer than three months.

Another question that should be answered is that it is not allowed to split the holiday homes. Some owners of larger estates usually rent single rooms to different persons. Or in some cases there are different segregated fully furnished apartments. In these case the law states that rent is only possible if there is an own „cédula de habitabilidad“ for each lodging. If there is none, the „régimen de apartamentos turisticos“ is applicable. For this it is necessary to show a reception with at least 10 square meters. Furthermore the minimum standards for hotels like weakly cleaning are to be maintained.

Carlos Prieto Cid, Lawyer

This article in German

The reintroduction of Spanish Wealth Tax

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A few months ago, US President Barack Obama announced to Congress: ”This is not class warfare, it’s math.” If the crisis leads to a fall in revenue for public authorities, spending must either be cut or taxes increased.

If we assume that governments cannot cut back on social services because the social rights they have achieved should not be touched due to the crisis, then new tax increases become necessary. Instead of raising existing taxes, the former Spanish government had preferred to try to maintain the level of revenue it needs by reintroducing a recently-abolished tax: the IMPUESTO DE PATRIMONIO, or Wealth Tax.  This tax was never actually abolished, although the full rate was indeed scrapped in 2009 with a 100% rebate. The government has therefore simply done away with this rebate in order to reintroduce Wealth Tax.

The tax applies from 18 September 2011, although the concession is scheduled to increase once more in 2013. This means that Wealth Tax declarations need only be submitted for the years 2011 and 2012 (due on 31 December each year). It is important to remember that non-residents are also obliged to pay this tax. Declarations must be submitted to the tax office each year together with the income tax declaration.

The most important changes to the rules on Wealth Tax introduced in the Real Decreto-ley 13/2011 are the following:

1. Tax allowance on residences: the maximum rate for tax exemptions on the value of the own residence (for residents) has been raised to €300,000 (previously €150,253.03).

2. General tax allowance: unless the autonomous communities rule otherwise, the general tax threshold is €700,000.-

Whether these new rules and the reintroduction of the tax will have any real impact or affect public authorities’ revenues is debatable. It appears that the Socialist Party intended to make political capital through the reintroduction of a ‘tax on the rich’ (elections took place in a short time after de tax reform and they were a spectacular failure for the Socialist Party anyway ), but the real impact of the tax’s reintroduction will not be able to solve the difficult situation surrounding the public finances.

Carlos Prieto Cid, Lawyer

This article in German

Income Tax for foreign property owners

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Foreign nationals who are not registered for tax in Spain but own property in the country must submit a tax declaration for their income tax to the state tax office every year. This involves the so-called Impuesto de la Renta de No Residentes (Income Tax for Non-residents).

Many property owners do not understand why they must declare and pay tax in Spain even though they earn no income here because they only come here for holidays and therefore neither work nor are involved in any economic activities or receive interest from banks on financial investments. There is usually no rental income from property either. Despite this, in Spain (much like in other European countries), simply owning a property is regarded as income, even when the property is not let or leased out. The state tax system assumes that a profit is made from the property even if it is not rented out, it is not the own home or if the property is not dedicated to economic activity, which for non-residents can never be the case.

How is this fictitious return calculated? Spanish law stipulates that income earned from the simple possession of a property equates to a certain percentage of its cadastral value. This percentage is either 2% or 1.1%, depending on the year in which the Spanish Land Registry (or rather, the respective municipality), updated its property values. The Land Registry (Catastro) is a national register of properties, answerable to the Spanish tax office, which gives the authorities information about these properties (owners, size, use, year of construction, boundaries, etc.). The information stored at the Land Registry can be submitted by Land Registry officials themselves, the municipalities or the owners of the property. One of the most important pieces of information on every property is in fact the cadastral value. This value is dependent on many other objective details and here on the coast can generally be a lot lower than the market price that we would set for the property.

Despite this, this objective value is decisive for almost all authorities and provides the basis for many taxes, including income tax for non-residents. This percentage of the cadastral value is therefore the basis for income tax for non-residents, which is currently 24%. Every year, the owners must pay the resulting sum by 31 December the following year. This means that foreigners who own a property in 2011 must submit their tax declaration to the tax office and pay the tax by 31 December, 2012. In 2008, the tax office changed the forms for this declaration, which caused problems for many foreigners who did not hear about this amendment in time. Until then, Form 214 was used, but now Form 210 must be completed. The change was a consequence of recent tax reforms, which saw the abolition of property tax. However, the tax for non-residents was retained because it is regarded as a form of income tax rather than a property tax.

Otherwise, for non-residents there are only the local rates, the so-called IBI, which are paid as a municipal tax that every municipality demands from property owners each year and which is calculated and demanded by the local authority itself.

Carlos Prieto Cid, Lawyer

This article in german

The risks of giving power of attorney

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The event often arises when we would like to sell our Spanish holiday home or freehold apartment but we are unable to be there at the time of the required notarial certification of the contract of sale because we are only there occasionally on holiday.  A common solution in such cases is to authorise someone to represent us in the notarial proceedings.

InSpain, the transfer of a property only becomes valid once the person giving the authorisation has notarially submitted a letter of attorney.

Simple handwritten authorisation is not sufficient as there must be a notarial letter of attorney for such transfers, i.e. one prepared by a notary to make it legally valid and enable it to be entered in the land register.

This letter of attorney must be signed in the presence of a notary to allow them at that moment to verify our identity and legal status in their capacity as a representative of the state.  They are also obliged to inform us of the risks of giving power of attorney.

This formality is a guarantee for the person granting power of attorney, but it can also pose a risk because the document being officially issued by the notary is really a key with which the authorised person can do anything which is written in it when exercising the power of attorney.  Later, with the letter of attorney in their hand, they can act without the knowledge of the person giving the power of attorney, or even against their will, because the validity of the letter of attorney does not depend on the actual wishes of the person giving power of attorney, but on the officially declared wording of the certified wishes which is contained exclusively in the notarial declaration of authorisation.  This gives the third party, who is conducting business with the authorised person in good faith, the guarantee and security that the transactions are as far as possible valid, irrespective of what the person giving the authorisation might think, and Spanish law therefore does not provide any opportunity to restrict authorisation in the internal relationship, provided the letter of attorney is not notarially revoked.  It is therefore recommended that power of attorney should only be given for the benefit of a person we completely trust or that the authorised person is preferably a lawyer whose area of expertise is continually monitored by a relevant authority, such as the Colegio de Abogados (Bar Association).

It is also possible for a lawyer to simply represent us during the notarial sale without documented and express power of attorney, with the person represented confirming the legal transaction afterwards in the presence of the notary.  However, this approach attracts additional costs and can also have further drawbacks.  The transfer to the buyer is provisionally invalid, i.e. the transfer is not valid until the notarial confirmation has been entered in the land register.  This always presents difficulties if the buyer of the property has to bankroll the purchase price and requires a loan guaranteed by a mortgage, for example.  In such cases, the sale cannot take place because the mortgage only counts as a guarantee if it is entered in the land register.

Carlos Prieto Cid, Lawyer

Buying property without risk

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Before buying a property in Spain or signing a contract agreeing the sale of a property, it is important to be aware that, without the necessary guarantees, this signature can represent a major risk. The cost of consulting a lawyer is very small compared with the substantial costs arising from any possible legal proceedings resulting from a legal dispute. However, legal disputes are very easy to avoid if you receive the correct advice beforehand.

The services of a lawyer during a transfer of ownership can cover the following:

Prior inspection of the property:
– Register details: ownership, description, liabilities and tax liabilities
– Cadastre details: description, cadastral value
– Tax details of the property: outstanding tax
– Urban planning details of the property: valuation, planning, liabilities, legality of new building
– Horizontal ownership details: debts, special taxes and duties
– Condition of the building: implementation and monitoring during the preparation of a survey report
– Property value: implementation and monitoring during the preparation of a valuation report

Regulation of register, cadastre, tax and planning details

Financing and tax analysis of the project

Foundation and registration of a company with the tax office

Registration of natural persons with the tax office

Supervision of mortgage financing

Preparation and legalisation of documents
– Arrangement of power of attorney
– Application for apostilles
– Request for simple and certified translations

Drafting and verification of the private contract of sale, option contract, service contract etc.
– Drafting and negotiation
– Verification
– Guidance when signing the contract or signing in the name of the client by means of the power of attorney

Drafting and verification of certificates (for purchase, mortgage, acceptance of inheritance, building project etc.) together with the notary.
– Preparation and verification of documents necessary for issuing the certificate
– Drafting of the proposal and verification of the certificate text drawn up by the notary, based on the project
– Guidance when signing the contract or signing in the name of the client by means of the power of attorney

Processing of tax declarations and payment of tax

Entry into land register

Contracting party’s change of contracts with energy/water suppliers and phone companies etc.

Guidance in negotiating with the following persons/organisations:
– Seller/buyer
– Estate agent
– Builders
– Chief architect and technical architect
– Notary
– Registry officials
– Valuer
– Surveyor
– Bank
– Insurance company
– Property management
– Tax office
– Local council and other public authorities

Carlos Prieto Cid, Lawyer

Read this article in German