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Hi can you please help me. I am looking into buying a property in Almeria. We are here to look at properties and look at different areas, before we apply for our visa etc. I was told by someone I was speaking to today, to be very careful of property value tax. A property can be advertised to sell at 1say 200,000 € but if it was valued at 400,000 € you have to pay tax on the difference. Has anyone experienced this or knows anything about it please ? Thank you.
I think you are hinting at the Black Economy in property which in past years was used mainly by sellers and buyers to reduce applicable taxes. Things have got somewhat more civilised since the recession in 2007. Your solicitor will give you all the advice you need. Tread carefully.
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 8:22am
Matthew wrote on Sat Jan 14, 2023 8:01am:
I think you are hinting at the Black Economy in property which in past years was used mainly by sellers and buyers to reduce applicable taxes. Things have got somewhat more civilised since the recession in 2007. Your solicitor will give you all the advice you need. Tread carefully.
Thank you Matthew. I am not sure it’s the same thing as it happened quite recently. I will speak to a solicitor/estate agent. Thank you very much for your reply.
Kay62 wrote on Sat Jan 14, 2023 8:22am:
Thank you Matthew. I am not sure it’s the same thing as it happened quite recently. I will speak to a solicitor/estate agent. Thank you very much for your reply.
Likely, it’s not the same as the Black Money in the early 21st century, but it isn’t much different even if it is different (pardon my bad grammar). Buying property in Spain has become so complicated that even some solicitors don’t know the full story of particular properties. “Knacks” whether legal or not are always being dreamed up especially by people who are used to buying and offloading property. Cash “bungs” still exist and the innocent buyer can sometimes be screwed and left with a huge bill and penal interest charges that they had no knowledge of. You heard it here first and when I said Tread Carefully I meant it.
If it looks like a duck swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Sorry!
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 10:34am
Matthew wrote on Sat Jan 14, 2023 9:14am:
Likely, it’s not the same as the Black Money in the early 21st century, but it isn’t much different even if it is different (pardon my bad grammar). Buying property in Spain has become so complicated that even some solicitors don’t know the full story of particular properties. “Knacks” ...
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...whether legal or not are always being dreamed up especially by people who are used to buying and offloading property. Cash “bungs” still exist and the innocent buyer can sometimes be screwed and left with a huge bill and penal interest charges that they had no knowledge of. You heard it here first and when I said Tread Carefully I meant it.
If it looks like a duck swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Sorry!
Thank you again Matthew, that is very helpful information 👍 Maybe we will just rent.
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Kay62 wrote on Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:42pm:
Hi can you please help me. I am looking into buying a property in Almeria. We are here to look at properties and look at different areas, before we apply for our visa etc. I was told by someone I was speaking to today, to be very careful of property value tax. A property can be advertised t...
Read more...
...o sell at 1say 200,000 € but if it was valued at 400,000 € you have to pay tax on the difference. Has anyone experienced this or knows anything about it please ? Thank you.
As per the other replies you have received, tread VERY, VERY CAREFULLY. Sometimes what seems to be an easy way round reducing the purchase costs (which has included paying part of the sale price in cash) has turned out to be very costly strategy in terms of capital gains tax when you come to sell. Its a minefield. Get professional advice and follow it.
Kay62 wrote on Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:42pm:
Hi can you please help me. I am looking into buying a property in Almeria. We are here to look at properties and look at different areas, before we apply for our visa etc. I was told by someone I was speaking to today, to be very careful of property value tax. A property can be advertised t...
Read more...
...o sell at 1say 200,000 € but if it was valued at 400,000 € you have to pay tax on the difference. Has anyone experienced this or knows anything about it please ? Thank you.
This is true. In some places the tax you pay is based on the cadastral value of the property. This is especially true if you are buying a property to reform. WhatsApp me for further information if you are thinking of buying. Andy 642932692
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:59am
Andy56 wrote on Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:33am:
This is true. In some places the tax you pay is based on the cadastral value of the property. This is especially true if you are buying a property to reform. WhatsApp me for further information if you are thinking of buying. Andy 642932692
Thank you Andy. Will do. 👍
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:17am
Helpful member
Kay62 wrote on Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:42pm:
Hi can you please help me. I am looking into buying a property in Almeria. We are here to look at properties and look at different areas, before we apply for our visa etc. I was told by someone I was speaking to today, to be very careful of property value tax. A property can be advertised t...
Read more...
...o sell at 1say 200,000 € but if it was valued at 400,000 € you have to pay tax on the difference. Has anyone experienced this or knows anything about it please ? Thank you.
If I had my time again I would rent and not buy. Property doesn't appreciate much , if at all, and there are so many problems with the quality of many buildings it can be very expensive to maintain and improve them ( walls, exterior paintwork, leaky pools, rising damp to name but a few common problem areas). If you buy a property on a complex then you are spared some of the maintenance work but not the cost as that will come out of community fees which can be increased without your approval and if there's a big job needing done and there isn't enough in the kitty you'll be ' asked' to stump up. This happened in quite a few communities last spring after 2 months of red rain buildings desperately needed repainting. Friends of ours had to pay 4000 Euros for this! Other benefits, well, if people move in next door with noisy dogs or the council decides its turning your quiet road into a dual carriageway you can just move. Downside though, you can never do all that you want to the property and you're stuck with the energy supplier your landlord decides upon. Best of luck.
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 4:26pm
Juliet Diaz wrote on Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:17am:
If I had my time again I would rent and not buy. Property doesn't appreciate much , if at all, and there are so many problems with the quality of many buildings it can be very expensive to maintain and improve them ( walls, exterior paintwork, leaky pools, rising damp to name but a few common pro...
Read more...
...blem areas). If you buy a property on a complex then you are spared some of the maintenance work but not the cost as that will come out of community fees which can be increased without your approval and if there's a big job needing done and there isn't enough in the kitty you'll be ' asked' to stump up. This happened in quite a few communities last spring after 2 months of red rain buildings desperately needed repainting. Friends of ours had to pay 4000 Euros for this! Other benefits, well, if people move in next door with noisy dogs or the council decides its turning your quiet road into a dual carriageway you can just move. Downside though, you can never do all that you want to the property and you're stuck with the energy supplier your landlord decides upon. Best of luck.
Thank you very much. This is great advice Juliet.
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