Andalucía Inheritance Tax
Andalucia has always been one of the most attractive places in
Europe to buy property, with a wonderful climate, culture and
beaches. Now it also has one of the most favourable
inheritance tax regimes for spouses, children and families.
from outside of Spain, and meant that non-resident
beneficiaries often paid much more inheritance tax than
residents would. This was changed in 2014 by a European
Court of Justice ruling (C-127/12) which held that the regional
allowance where the deceased had the majority of their assets
in Spain will apply as long as the beneficiary was resident in
the European Union.
At the start of 2018 the region massively increased the
inheritance tax allowance for a spouse, child, parent or
grandchild of a deceased person to 1,000,000€ per beneficiary.
This means someone with a spouse and three children could
leave an estate of up to four million euros to them completely
free of inheritance tax.
This was good news for people resident in Spain or who
owned properties in Spain, as their beneficiaries now received
the regional allowances as long as they resided anywhere in the
European Union. It wasn’t so good for beneficiaries who
resided in countries outside of the EU such as the United
States, Australia, etc, and we had thought it would adversely
affect beneficiaries living in a post-Brexit United Kingdom.
However, the Supreme Court of Spain has now declared that
the allowances will apply to any beneficiary wherever they
may reside.
There have been several beneficial changes in the last few
years in inheritance tax provisions generally, one of which is
the recent judgment of Spain’s supreme court in February
2018. (Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo 242/2018 de 19 Feb.
2018, Rec. 62/2017).
Spain has many autonomous regions, all of which have
different inheritance tax allowances - some more generous
than others. Previously these allowances were only applied
when both the deceased and the beneficiaries are officially
resident in Spain.
Please contact us for more information and a confidential
consultation.
De Cotta Law (De Cotta McKenna y Santafé)
Mijas-Costa / Calahonda – Coín – Nerja – Tenerife
Nerja Office: - Calle Diputación 11, 29780 Nerja
Tel: +34 952 527 014 - Fax: +34 952 523 428
www.decottalaw.com
E-mail: [email protected]
In the case of residents, the tax rules of that particular region
applied. If either the deceased or the beneficiary is non-
resident then the State inheritance tax rules applied. This
includes cases where Spanish residents receive an inheritance
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