Donnymatt

Hi all can anyone help me I'm in Spain at the mo looking to buy a place in the villamartin area of Alicante. I have been informed the succession tax is low here but the Sharks ( estate agents) keep try to push property's on us in the Murcia area which I've been informed the tax is a lot higher is this true.

Fred James

It is true. Until 2013 both regions had extremely generous allowances against IHT. In 2013, without any notice, Murcia removed all the regional allowances and Valencia reduced theirs significantly. However, Valencia is still better than Murcia. That said, Valencia could change all that tomorrow if they wished.

Perhaps you should take advice on ways to reduce the potential IHT before you make a decision. The valuation of property for IHT can be a bit of a lottery as it is based on a crude formula which relates to the Catastral value multiplied by an arbitrary factor which varies enormously from town to town. This can result in wildly incorrect valuations which can be higher or lower than the market price.

Donnymatt

Thanks fred

Patrick2976

That´s true. There is definitely growing pressure on Spain from Brussels to get it´s house in order with regard to secession tax. The fact that they (Spain) were forced to change their unfair IHT laws for non residents with Spanish based assets only paves the way for further pressure to change the huge differences in IHT applied to the various autonomous regions. For example the rate can be virtually zero in Madrid but 34% on the larger estates in Andalucía - depending on which beneficiary group you fall in to.

Donnymatt

Thanks patrick2976

Patrick2976

You´re welcome. Apologies for the succession spelling error. That will teach me to write posts without my glasses on!

Patrick2976

or rather not to...