so many charges and taxes

we have recently compled on our new holiday apartment on the CDS. we have seen many posts on different charges and taxes and was wondering if there is anyone who can provide a list of the different ones that will relate to us. theres so many things flying around about fiscal representation, wills, community fees and whats included, inheritance tax, IB something that i dont know if im coming or going!!

any help would be much appreciated.

thanks

Crikey, where to start

IBI is the equivalent of your Council tax and is billed by the Town Hall.

Basura is your rubbish collection tax (we still haven't managed to register for that yet!!).

Renta tax which is levied as all non resident owners are assumed to rent out their property.

Spanish Income tax if you decide to rent your property (plus really you should let HMRC know about your little bolt hole as they want a piece of the pie too!)

Wealth tax has been abolished, but there are still some areas I think it is still valid.

Community fees are levied by your community and cover maintenance of the facilities, contact your administrator.

Spanish will is advisable, otherwise if an unhappy event should occur, you will be treated as a Spaniard.

Fiscal rep, I haven't got one yet. Our solicitor did our taxes this year and they were €33 each, the fiscal rep wanted €150 to do the return!

I'm sure there are others, and if I have made a mistake I will be summarily chastised . But these should be enough to be going on with .

Mark

EDITED TO ADD: It took me so long to write this that Mark got in before me & answered.  

Hi both

Yes, taxes etc, a minefield to a new owner ... welcome to owning a holiday home in Spain like us.

We pay community fees by Direct Debit & that is up to each community to decide when & just how much. Some pay monthly, quarterly, half yearly, we pay ours annually because that's what our community have decided.

We pay electricity every two months, water every three months, both by Direct Debit, the norm. Our Basura (refuse tax) is included in our water bill.

We pay IBI taxes annually usually around Sept/Oct, this is like the UK council tax. We pay this directly to the Suma local office.

Then you need to arrange to pay income tax . (You will likely need to instruct a fiscal rep to pay this on your behalf. The form has just changed because now non residents don't pay wealth tax which was submitted on the old form but it's in Spanish   so a fiscal is probably best for the 1st year anyway  then you could tackle doing your own.

I can hear you saying ' but why do we have to pay income tax, we don't have income in Spain !' If you do NOT rent out your property you do still have to pay income tax though at a lower rate. Too many don't supply the Spanish tax office with details of earnings from their rentals as tax is a whopping 25% so everyone ends up having to pay something, which is disgusting especially as we lock our house up when we leave Spain & no one is there except us & we do not have income as some do.

You should both make Spanish wills, that's important. Cost around 150€ each. See your lawyer.

Bet I've left lots off.  We still sometimes feel we don't know if we're coming or going & we completed April 2005 !!

thanks both for your help, it gives me something to be getting along with. im sure i will come across many more in the future!!

thanks again.

Dear Glenn & Kerry,

When I bought in Spain my findings before I bought were exactly the same and it did look to be a mindfield out there. However my Consultant who operates from the UK & Spain showed me a completely legal way of removing Taxation in Spain. This was by method of Ownership in a UK Limited Company. I have also been communicating via a previous post to Members headed "How TO Avoid Spanish Inheritance Tax" , I think it well may be worth reading for some ideas.

If you would like me to pass on my Consultants details to you for your reference then please let me know.