Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
Sep 17th 2009, 2:07 pm
#1
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Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
Hi, started renting a house here 3 weeks ago after coming from the UK. I read somewhere that if you are renting, you do not need to pay a SUMA (community tax), the owner of the house pays it, but the estate agent has told me we have to pay it. ok its only about 12 euros a week but thats not the point.
Anyone know if we are liable for council tax in spain if we only rent?
Anyone know if we are liable for council tax in spain if we only rent?
Sep 17th 2009, 2:10 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
Hi, started renting a house here 3 weeks ago after coming from the UK. I read somewhere that if you are renting, you do not need to pay a SUMA (community tax), the owner of the house pays it, but the estate agent has told me we have to pay it. ok its only about 12 euros a week but thats not the point.
Anyone know if we are liable for council tax in spain if we only rent?
Anyone know if we are liable for council tax in spain if we only rent?
Whether you may community fees (but not a tax) will depend on your agreement with the landlord, but normally he will pay these too
Sep 17th 2009, 3:49 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
blimmin estate agent has worded the contract we signed as us being liable for "all charges for rates, gas, water, electricity....." (etc), in no bit does it say being liable for the SUMA or the tax on the house, but the agent has told us that the it was agreed with the landlord that we pay the rates also!!!! 
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
Sep 17th 2009, 4:52 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
blimmin estate agent has worded the contract we signed as us being liable for "all charges for rates, gas, water, electricity....." (etc), in no bit does it say being liable for the SUMA or the tax on the house, but the agent has told us that the it was agreed with the landlord that we pay the rates also!!!!
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
P.S. We also do not pay the community fees
Last edited by SueG; Sep 17th 2009 at 4:55 pm.
Sep 17th 2009, 4:59 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
We don`t pay any fees, just pay rent, elec, water and bottles of gas.
Sep 17th 2009, 5:20 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
Yes.
I've rented the whole time I've lived in Spain and never paid anything but water, electricity and phone.
Did you not discuss the terms of the contract with the agent when you first did the viewing? I've always found Spanish agents to be quite up front about these things - but you need to ask because each one is different.
I've rented the whole time I've lived in Spain and never paid anything but water, electricity and phone.
Did you not discuss the terms of the contract with the agent when you first did the viewing? I've always found Spanish agents to be quite up front about these things - but you need to ask because each one is different.
Sep 17th 2009, 5:20 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
Sep 17th 2009, 7:00 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
contract is in english and spanish.
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
Sep 17th 2009, 7:10 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
contract is in english and spanish.
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
Sep 17th 2009, 7:22 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
dont tempt me!!!
nah seriously, paintermujer
loves it here, so i will watch what i say, and to be fair, it is nice and has its good bits for sure, its just not quite what we thought we were going to, & a lot further away from civilisation than we hoped. We have our 8 year old and she is so lonely sometimes it breaks my heart it really does 
and as we are in the campo, theres no kids for her to play with. 
But she has started (spanish) school so hopefully she will find a few but of course they all live 5 or 6 kms away in the town (Aspe)
but we've moved many times in the UK and dont want to do that here too! I dont know. the owners say they will sell it in 12 months (if they can) when our tenancy officially "ends", but im not sure yet if i would buy it, i guess i am picky and i want the best for my family and i wanted nearer to other people (but not "in yer face"), and somewhere we could at least walk to bars, restauante etc, but theres nowt here and most of the places are spanish weekend homes so its pretty dead.......
but, again, its still really nice, but long term?? no se
Sep 17th 2009, 7:42 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
IMO thats why I always say people with kids should be in town/village....we did the same when we first moved over, lovely villa but no one around, a year later we moved 5 mins into the village and wow what a change for our son...its far better for them to be close to their friends and school esp when first moving over
hope she settles and makes friends quickly, expect you will be a taxi service running her around in no time
hope she settles and makes friends quickly, expect you will be a taxi service running her around in no time
its just not quite what we thought we were going to, & a lot further away from civilisation than we hoped. We have our 8 year old and she is so lonely sometimes it breaks my heart it really does and as we are in the campo, theres no kids for her to play with.
But she has started (spanish) school so hopefully she will find a few but of course they all live 5 or 6 kms away in the town (Aspe)
and as we are in the campo, theres no kids for her to play with. But she has started (spanish) school so hopefully she will find a few but of course they all live 5 or 6 kms away in the town (Aspe)
Sep 17th 2009, 7:44 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
suppose if thats the contract you agreed and signed theres not much you can do about it now...if the owner is amicable maybe you could sort it out with her direct and poss negotiate something ?
blimmin estate agent has worded the contract we signed as us being liable for "all charges for rates, gas, water, electricity....." (etc), in no bit does it say being liable for the SUMA or the tax on the house, but the agent has told us that the it was agreed with the landlord that we pay the rates also!!!!
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
dont know what i can do. Its only 40 odd euros but thats not the point.
anyone have any ideas or have we been stitched up?
Sep 17th 2009, 8:05 pm
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
contract is in english and spanish.
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
We signed before viewing the house, we knew it was a risk, and hey to be fair, the house was "almost" as described, although much further in the campo than we wanted, and its only an extra 40 euros a month, but nevertheless, not happy but i can see kicking up causing more hassle than 40 euros a month, HOWEVER if i can do something about it will.
prob is, the agent is, to be frank , a lying cheating scumbag, but the actual owners (who seem ok actually) dont like here either but they are tied into a contract with her too!
Sep 18th 2009, 5:52 am
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Re: Do i have to pay a SUMA (council tax) if i rent a house or only if we owned it?
hey hold on sunshine, we're not stupid! THe contract we signed does not say anything about SUMA or taxes, it mentions the word "rates" which we presumed were water rates, and if its the norm that renters dont pay the suma, why would i think for one minute that we were going to have to pay it? The agent has stitched us up.