Gift tax (Andalucia)

Hello,

I have a few questions regarding the new inheritance & gift tax rules for a person originally from UK but now a fiscal resident living in Andalucia.

1. Inheritance from a UK trust where the settlor of the trust is a step-father - not exempt?

2. Inheritance from mother who lives in UK - exempt up to €1 million?

3a. A gift of £60,000 from mother who lives in UK - exempt up to €1 million?
3b. Can these funds be kept in either UK or Spain?
3c. After the initial gift exemption, would this amount be liable to Spanish tax in future years or would it always be exempt (as long as a gift deed was signed before a Spanish notary)?

4. Are there are plans for these beneficial exemptions to be changed in the near future?

Thanks for any advice/comments.

Cloudnine:

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Hello,

I have a few questions regarding the new inheritance & gift tax rules for a person originally from UK but now a fiscal resident living in Andalucia.

1. Inheritance from a UK trust where the settlor of the trust is a step-father - not exempt? Is there a legal link of adoption or similar between the step-father and the step son?

2. Inheritance from mother who lives in UK - exempt up to €1 million? Yes if the assets of the inheritor valued no more than 1 million before the inheritance.

3a. A gift of £60,000 from mother who lives in UK - exempt up to €1 million? 99% exempt
3b. Can these funds be kept in either UK or Spain? If a gift, it needs to be formalised in a Spanish Notary deed with prove of origin. They can be kept in a Uk Bank account.
3c. After the initial gift exemption, would this amount be liable to Spanish tax in future years or would it always be exempt (as long as a gift deed was signed before a Spanish notary)? It will always be exempt

4. Are there are plans for these beneficial exemptions to be changed in the near future? No, there are not at present.

Thanks for any advice/comments.

Hello,

I have a question about Spanish tax for a joint bank account in the UK. Here are the details:

Father sells his house in the UK and puts the sale proceeds (£150,000) into a UK joint savings account with his son. The father lives in the UK but the son lives in Andalucia and is a Spanish tax resident. The father dies and the money in the UK joint account passes to the surviving owner (son) through the right of survivorship. 

Would this money (£100,000) be considered as an inheritance from the deceased father? Would the son be exempt from paying Spanish tax as the current exemption is up to €1 million?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE.

In Spain, yes — this would normally be treated as an inheritance for the Spanish-resident son, even if the UK bank account passes by right of survivorship.

Spain looks at the economic reality: the portion of the balance that belonged to the father at death is considered acquired by inheritance by the son. With joint accounts, the Spanish tax authority often presumes 50/50 ownership unless you can prove a different split (e.g., evidence the funds were entirely the father’s from the house sale).

If the son is tax resident in Andalucía, the €1,000,000 parent-to-child allowance often means no Spanish inheritance tax is payable if the inherited share is below that amount — but the inheritance usually still needs to be declared in Spain within the deadline.

Hope the above helps ;)

Thank you for your response Maria. It is appreciated :)

My pleasure!

Hello Maria,

A follow-up question, if I may:

You mentioned that "With joint accounts, the Spanish tax authority often presumes 50/50 ownership unless you can prove a different split (e.g., evidence the funds were entirely the father’s from the house sale).

In this case, all the funds (£150,000) came from the father's house sale. The father also receives on a monthly basis all the interest made on the funds.

With the above in mind, during the time the father is alive, does the son have to declare anything in his yearly Spanish tax return?

Thank you once again for your advice.

If the father is still alive and it can be clearly proven that the funds (and the interest) are 100% his, then the son would normally have nothing to include in his Spanish annual income tax return (IRPF) in relation to that money.

However, because the son is named on a UK joint account, there may still be an information-reporting obligation (e.g., Modelo 720) if certain thresholds are exceeded — even if no tax is due.

Bottom line: these cases are very fact-specific (real ownership, who receives the interest, account movements, and documentation). It’s worth reviewing the details properly to avoid unnecessary risk.

Thank you again Maria, for your time in responding.