They are also taxed at the time the gift is made, unlike the UK, where they are taxed at the time of death, unless the gift was made more than 7 years earlier.

In Spain, IHT allowances and rates are set by the individual region, so the deceased's place of residence is critical. In Andalucia, IHT is almost zero on most bequests. Also, the relationship of the beneficiary to the deceased is critical in all regions. Unmarried couples are particularly badly treated.

There are countries where you could hold joint accounts, and the death of one account-holder does not trigger any sort of death/will/estate/probate/transfer/whatchamacallit issues. Nothing at all. Same with properties in some countries as long as they are joint-owned - zero inheritance issues as they fall outside inheritance proceedings and the surviving spouse automatically becomes the sole owner.

Not sure how this would apply to being resident in Spain or in the UK for that matter from the local side of things.

Yes, this is one of those areas that I've never quite understood or agreed with, and something that even US nationals would see as completely crazy (even though 99% of things are even less logical over there!). But at least over there you are king of your home and can do with it as you please. If you give it away then it's done - they cannot come after you because you die... less than 7 years later. Same with allowing your parents to continue living in a property handed down to you. In the UK you have to charge them market rent to remain there or else the gov't could come after you, but in the US you could even PAY them extra to live there because it's your property and you can do with it as you please.

Personally, I don’t think inheritance or gift tax should exist at all, as happens in places like Canada, New Zealand and Australia. What is yours should be down to you to dispose of as you wish. But I get that some see it redistribution of wealth…

The 7-year rule in the UK is utter madness. I always imagine some civil servants/ministers coming up with it late on a Friday evening after a few gin & tonics! It just encourages people to play the system.

I also think obliging people to pay inheritance tax within 6 months is particularly cruel and unnecessary. Many have to turn down an inheritance because they don’t have time to sell the assets inherited to pay the tax.

In Spain you can extend the 6 month deadline to one year if requested within the 6 months.

I think the biggest problem for beneficiaries who have an IHT liability is that the tax must be paid before the assets can be transferred into their name, and many don't have the spare funds available and it might not be easy for them to secure a loan to pay it. It would be much easier if the IHT due could be deducted from the funds/proceeds of property sale and paid to AEAT by the notary, in the same way that property transfer tax is when a property is being purchased, or tax on lottery winnings is witheld at source before the balance is paid to the lucky winner.

I agree, it should at least be something that doesn't cover half or even two-thirds of society but is primarily aimed at preventing extreme wealth anomalies on a national scale.

Australia is a good example in terms of Western societies though you have to take into account that CGT will still take a bite out of inherited properties if their values have risen since they were acquired (so pretty much 100% of the time for all residential property held in the long run). No tax on gifts or reporting required.

Closer to home here in Europe, and especially within the EU, one of the best jurisdictions to seek residence in for IHT purposes is Poland. IHT has been completely scrapped there since 2007 for close family, and to top it off CGT does not apply to any rise in property values. What does apply is a 5-year waiting period (for properties) in order to sell at 0% IHT.

There is no CGT here in Spain if you are over 65 and sell your main residence.
Nor if you sell and buy again, as long as you have owned the property for more than five (it may actually be three, but I can't be bothered to check)
We plan to move and possibly downsize to a smaller flat and use the rest to travel, so we are waiting another year or so until we are both 65.
Some friends of ours here have just sold their second property but still have not paid CGT, as they were advised at the time of purchase to have only one of them on the deeds and to have this as a single residence.
The second property is in the same town, and the other partner had this one in his name, and they were on separate padrons as well.

My daughter lives in Australia, and she pays tax on her pension contributions (Super) and any private pension as well, but it's then tax-free when she takes it out.
Whereas I had all my pension contributions paid pre-tax and saved the extra NI.
I'm not sure which version I prefer, maybe the Australian version; that way there would be zero tax in my old age.

I didn't pay CGT when I sold my old house here, I was under 65 and had owned the house as my principal residence for more than 3 years and was buying another property. It's only free of CGT if you invest all of the sale proceeds in the new property, otherwise you pay CGT on the amount left over after the purchase. A certificate of fiscal residency is needed to prove to the notary that CGT is not payable.