The dissolution of joint ownership is exempt of taxes provided the outgoing owner is paid the fiscal value of his share

Contrary to the Spanish Tax Office opinion, which is generally accepted, Gutiérrez del Alamo y Martos Abogados has recently won a case against the Tax Office of Marbella.

It started in 2009 when one joint owner (50%) sold his share of the property to the other joint owner, thus becoming the sole owner of the property. The Tax Office charged 1% stamp duty on the total value of the property.

We considered this transaction could not be subject to any tax as one of the requisites for the application of the Stamp Duty tax was not met (we omit the legal arguments behind this opinion as it exceeds the aim of this note).

As the Tax Office and later on the Court on Economic Affairs rejected our claim we appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice of Andalucía who ruled the case annulling the tax settlement proving us correct. The Judgment is dated on the 24th of June 2013.

This is the first case precedent from the Málaga division of this Court, followed by other case precedents from the Sevilla division being the last one ruled on the 30th of March 2012.

Despite these case precedents the Andalucía Tax Office keeps looking the other way.

We encourage taxpayers to challenge these tax settlements. Even those who paid the tax in the past (no more than 4 years back) have the right to claim their money back.

Gutiérrez del Alamo y Martos, Abogados can help them in this complex proceedings representing the clients through all stages. We charge a small fee at the beginning and a success fee. For further information you can contact the lawyer Adolfo Martos at amg@gam-abogados.com

By Eloise Horsfield | Property News | September 13th, 2013

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