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.
“International company structures, with some owned by double or triple vehicles involving a Spanish company belonging to a foreign company and, in many cases, a Trust on top, were the arrangement of choice recommended by leading international tax advisory firms to wealthy investors from the 70s to the 2000s,” explains Fernando Del Canto.
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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.
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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.
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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”.
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