Ilco

27.01.2010 - We have heard about a scheme offering to transfer our Tenerife apartment into a UK Limited company in order to avoid paying Spanish Inheritance Tax when we die.  We have no business interests in Spain or Tenerife.  Will such a scheme suit us and will the Spanish taxman accept it?

A: I have written at length about this topic on the various Tenerife Internet Forums.

For most property owners who don’t have other busi­ness interests and simply want to put their private Spanish property beyond the grasp of inheritance tax, the scheme can only work by hid­ing the true facts and status from the Spanish taxman.  If they informed the taxman of the true circumstances, the property would be deemed to be ‘personally owned’.

To make matters worse, most tax authorities are actively closing loophole schemes year upon year.  This type of scheme could easily become expressly prohibited, leaving clients with a further expensive bill to unravel it. There are very limited circumstances where this scheme can work, for instance where the client has genuine business interests here or in the U.K.  Alterna­tively, someone who is termi­nally ill with no time to make other arrangements may consider having nothing to lose by trying such a scheme. Each case has to be assessed on its individual merits and alternative routes/schemes may have to be considered as better alternatives.  It is there­fore important to take advice from a qualified solicitor or accountant, as the majority of companies offering this scheme are not qualified to provide legal advice. 

It is interesting to note that no solicitors, accountants or gestores in Tenerife appear to be offering this scheme as a global inheritance tax solution.

For those whose circum­stances do suit such a scheme, the legal costs should not dramatically exceed the typi­cal legal costs of a regular property transaction. As an example, we recently put together a similar scheme for a client for approximately €3,000 plus taxes and dis­bursements.

For advice and assistance regarding your property and Inheritance Tax affairs, why leave matters to chance?  Contact us today on 922 717845 (0871 218 0063 from the UK) or email us at info@tenerifesolicitors.com



This article appears in the print edition 608 of Island Connections

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