Capital gains tax

Does anyone on here have any experience on the following please. I have had  conflicting from two accountants.

I purchased a property in 2007 for 100.000€ Just under 4 years later I had notification that the spanish land registry dissagreed with the value, stating it was worth 154.000 €. I paid the extra tax along with a fine which amounted to 4832.00€ ( was informed no point in fighting it, no one wins)

I am in the process of selling the property for 158.000€. Question is.....is the original price based on the 100.000€ or the 154.000€? One accountant told me it's the 100k and another said he is wrong, as I have a legal document stating value was 154.000k that this is the original value for Capital gains tax.

If anyone can share an experience of this, much appreciated. I am non resident by the way. 

When I bought one time, the previous owner had been required to pay extra tax for under-declaring when he bought.   The revised value was the one he used when I bought. 

Many thanks John. Does seem the most logical but the 1st accountant was adamant! Just wanted to double check, as I don't want another surprise 4 yrs down the line. 

Hi we bought last year and 3 months later had a bill from tax office sayingnour house value was more than we paid and as such they billed us tax of 1k because tge value should have been 30k more our soliciter then sain that the revised price/value will now be used for cgt were we to sell or die so the price of tax paid in the long term will be less to the tax man 

Of course, after having paid the extra tax and fine up to 154000 euros. Your declared value got to be 154000. 

From 2015 on, residents in Spain are exempt of capital gains if-. as always- they sell their first residency and reinvest in first residency within two years or...) and this is NEW!

You are over 65 years old and:

a) Sell your first residency even if you do not reinvest in first residency again.

b) Sell any real estate asset and invest these funds in a life annuity as a complement of your pension, with a maximum limit of 240.000 euros

Many thanks for the information, seems I need to find a new accountant!

I also read somewhere that in order to receive your 3% retention back, you must leave your bank account open on spain , is this correct?  I don't really want to leave it open and occur bank costs for a period of time. Tax matters in Canary Islands seem to take many months if not years! 

When the form 210 (the form used to claim back the retention of the 3% tax) is submitted it has to include a bank account number. If this is your non resident account then you must leave it open as they will not pay into any other account. The form is submitted within 4 months of the sale and the tax office will repay it after a maximum period of 6 months. Any problems you hear about will generally be with the bank account they are trying to pay it into as, if the payment is rejected as a non valid account, they will not contact you to find out the correct details.

I reckon it's worth keeping the account open and paying charges for up to a year to avoid any problems.

Oh, and check the form when it has been submitted by whoever who is completing it for you. It took us nearly 3 years to get ours back because the solicitors had put one number wrong in the account details.

Thanks Marie,

I thought that was the case. Problem is, I fear it will be years before I get it even though it is meant to be paid within 6 mths. I found out about the non resident tax approx 2 years ago when a letter arrived at my spanish address. I only come out once a year lately so knew nothing aboutit! 

I gave  the letter to my accountant it's just under 2 yrs ago, he said he would get the bill for me. I have chased and chased my accountant over the last year to get this paid, he just keeps telling me I can't pay it as they have not sent an official bill!  

Although my resident tax is prob half of the 3% retention, I'm starting to think it's better to just let them keep it and move on. I'm never going to purchase abroad again.  The original revaluation bill hit me 3 years and 9 months after I bought the property, I've no reason to believe getting my  3% back and paying  the non residence tax will be easily resolved..........just not sure I have the energy to keep chasing them.  

I also worry about keeping an account open as there has been so many mishaps with the ayuntimento taking money that was not due, they even took my neighbours payment from my account once!

I'll have a chat with a new recommended accountant for advice tomorrow, I'll see what he says. Maybe I can authorise payment to him? 

HannaB:

Yes, you can authorise payment to your accountant of course

Cheers

Maria