tax resident and capital gains

Hi,

 

I have a Spanish residencia (the card with my picture on) and live in Spain, surviving by teaching a few English classes a week but I don’t declare tax.  I have a property that I want to sell and then re-invest the money into a smaller property (hopefully without a mortgage or a very low mortgage that I can afford).  I am aware that for capital gains reasons I need to show a tax certificate so that 3% of the selling price won’t be held back.  If I go to the tax office to declare (which I believe is between May and June each year?) could they ask me why I haven’t declared before and how I have been living on no earnings for the past few years?  The reality is that I’ve only earned enough to pay my mortgage, bills and minimal food (and sometimes struggled with that) in order to keep things going and now I’m at a point where I know I have to sell before I can’t start paying the mortgage.  Am I doing the right thing by considering going to the tax office so 3% won’t be retained or am I opening up a “can of worms” by doing this. The 3% could really make a difference to whether I can afford to get something without a mortgage or not so any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Kind Regards

 

Debbie