Britons Win £2.6 Million in Spanish Holiday Home Tax Fiasco
British people who bought Spanish holiday homes have been refunded at least €3.3 million (£2.6 million) in
punitive taxes that should never have been charged to them in the first place.
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| Great news for any one purchasing a holiday home |
The Barcelona based Spanish Legal
Reclaims law firm is also managing a further €7 million worth of claims.
The CEO of Spanish Legal Reclaims
says that anyone paid inheritance tax in the last five years are eligible to
claim back the tax that they paid. He does warn that it is difficult to do
this, however.
He also added that he expects at
least €3 million more to be filed in the next few years as more claimants come
forward and demand a refund.
There are other law firms who are
getting in on the action and helping Britons win back their money after being
unfairly charged inheritance tax. The situation is so bad that there are
currently no official estimates on how much could be won back.
As Spain is the country where
Brits usually buy holiday homes and second properties it’s been estimated that
100,000 people have overpaid a grand total of €300 million in inheritance tax.
Spanish authorities raised
inheritance tax and levied it on lifetime gifts. Inheritance tax is paid when
someone dies and leaves their home to their family or friends.
In several cases the inheritance
tax came to a third of the value of the property and the person who inherited
the house would have to pay this within six months of receiving the property.
On the other hand Spanish
residents were exempt from up to 99 percent of inheritance tax and paid almost
nothing.
It was decided by the European
Court of Justice in 2014 that charging people from outside of the country, but
still within the EU or a European Economic Area country, more than locals was
discriminatory. As a result it demanded that these people should be paid back
and even paid back with interest.
The average claim by
non-residents is costing the Spanish authorities €30,000. This repayment is
also not an automatic thing. Claimants have to file to receive one .
Mr Cuervo, CEO of Spanish Legal
Reclaims, said that if a non-resident was charged inheritance tax since 2010
they are eligible to reclaim the tax in Spain. They would need the help of specialised
lawyers however as it’s a complex thing to do. There is more than one form to
fill in and you need all the help you can get.
