jimadept

Does anyone have experience of selling a house (main residence) in Spain and leaving the country? We are planning to sell up and move to Holland next year, and our accountant has told us to expect a 15% tax on the increase in value of the property. From other websites and forums I've even heard figures of 35% and 40% mentioned. Seeing as the property has more than doubled in value in the 4 years since we bought it, this would be a major blow to our finances in terms of buying a house in Holland.

The rule apparently is if you reinvest the profits from the sale in another property (main residence) in Spain within two years, you can reclaim the tax. Surely though in these days of Schengen etc., this should apply to any main place of residence in Europe?

I'm sure there must be ways around this tax (apart from the obvious one of falsifying the escrituras), and would love to hear from others with first-hand experience of selling up and moving away.

Many thanks, Jim

Beachcomber

The capital gains tax on selling a property in Spain which constitutes your principal residence if you do not re-invest in another property is 15% which is paid when you submit your annual tax return for the year in which you sold the property.

This only applies if you are official residents and can obtain certificates of fiscal domicile from AEAT otherwise your gain will be taxed at 35% and a retention of 5% of the sale price will be withheld and paid to the tax office on account of your CGT liability.

jimadept

Thanks Beachcomber. We are residents, so I'm glad that's cleared up. What puzzles me is why the principal residence to be reinvested in cannot be elsewhere in the EU, in view of Schengen etc. What about Spaniards emigrating, would they also be subject to the 15%?

regards, Jim