The Treasury takes advantage of the ambiguity with which it modified the Wealth Tax last December to tax non-residents who have real estate in Spain through foreign companies and now clarifies that these investors will have to pay the tax not only for the assets they have in our country, but also for the rest of the real estate assets that make up the company. Of course, only those companies that have 50% of their assets or more in Spain will pay the tax.
For example, if a non-resident has a company in Germany with which they acquired a 3 million apartment in France and another 2 million in Spain, they will not have to pay Wealth Tax, since 50% of the assets are not in our country. Likewise, the new Tax on Great Fortunes will also be applied to these investors because it is a copy of the Wealth Tax that comes to complement it, especially in the Autonomous Communities where it is subsidized, such as Madrid and Andalusia.
Non-residents, whether Spanish or foreign, who acquired a property in Spain through a company not located in our country, before January 1, 2022 did not have to pay Wealth Tax. The Executive, when it approved in December the banking and energy tax and the Solidarity Tax for Great Fortunes, modified in that text section 1 of article 5 of the Wealth Tax to tax non-residents who had real estate assets in Spain through foreign companies.
When the rule was approved, there were doubts, because the text was “confusing” about the assets on which these people had to pay taxes. But after a German citizen consulted the General Directorate of Taxes (DGT), it has clarified that he must pay taxes for the total value of the company, provided that more than 50% of the assets are in our country. “If the main asset of this German company is a property located in Spain, then it is understood that the entire German company is located in Spain and now, with effect from 2022, this person must pay taxes.” To the extent that the applicant is a tax resident in Germany, “the Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Federal Republic of Germany will apply to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion”.
Non-residents who have real estate in Spain through companies will have to pay the Tax on Great Fortunes for 2022 in July of this year, since the tax was approved last December, leaving these investors with no time to reorder their strategy. to escape the tax. However, this year they still have time to plan their investment to avoid paying that of 2023. This tax is levied on assets over 3 million euros with a rate that ranges, depending on wealth, between 1.7% and 3.5%
