International company structures established in decades gone by to help wealthy owners of property in Spain avoid tax are now a ticking time-bomb for some, as the Spanish tax authorities set their sights on them.
There was a time in which not a single Spanish law firm that prided itself would pass on the opportunity to heartily recommend its affluent non-resident client base (and even foreign residents) to acquire and own property in Spain by means of corporate structures ranging from the simple to the overtly complex often involving a multijurisdictional approach.
Three years ago, the previous centre-right coalition government unveiled new property tax laws that resulted in numerous home owners and prospective investors in Portugal taking their money elsewhere. But according to the 2007 state budget tabled for voting this week by the Socialist government, owners of real estate registered through an offshore company can look forward to considerable property-related savings as from next January.
THE SOVEREIGN PORTUGUESE PROPERTY PURCHASE PLAN Since 2002 there have been various reforms of property taxation by the Portuguese authorities, including the introduction of a penalty tax rate which increased the level of Municipal Tax (rates) payable in respect of properties held by companies included on the Portuguese Finance Ministry “blacklist”. That tax rate is now set at a flat 7.5% of the “Valor Patrimonial” (Rateable Value) making the tax payable unacceptable for most properties. The same changes also imposed a tax on a presumed rental income calculated at 1/15th of the “Valor Patrimonial” in the case of a property held by such a blacklisted company.
