Country Urged To Meet EU Rules

The European Commission’s decision to refer Spain to the EU Court of Justice in relation to its rules on gift and inheritance tax has been welcomed by legal experts at Irwin Mitchell’s Spanish offices.

At the end of October it was confirmed that the action had been taken as no amendments had been made to Spanish legislation despite the Commission requesting twice that the country comes in line with EU rules.

The current system, which is regulated at state level and the level of autonomous communities, means residents pay lower taxes than non-residents.

Irwin Mitchell’s Spanish teams, based in Madrid and Malaga respectively, include specialists in tax issues related to both those native to the country and expats.

Emilio Perez De La Blanca, a solicitor based at the Malaga office, said the Commission’s actions should be welcomed.

He said: “It is good news this is proceeding at commission level and we eagerly anticipate the outcome as we believe it is unfair that residents are treated differently when it comes to taxes in Spain.

“This is not the first time Spain has been reported to the Commission for discriminatory tax treatment of non residents. The last time it resulted in capital gains tax for non-residents being reduced from 35% to the same tax rates as residents at 18%. We hope a similar result is achieved this time around.”