Do I have to file at home while living in Spain?
For most people the answer turns on whether the ties that made them resident have actually ended. For a US citizen or green-card holder it does not: the return is due in Spain exactly as it would be at home. Everything else on the file follows from which of those you are.
Is there a treaty between my country and Spain?
Treaty networks change with each protocol and each multilateral-instrument position, so we confirm the treaty in force for your specific year with the issuing authority rather than relying on a published summary. Where there is none, unilateral relief and domestic law do the work instead.
I own property in Spain. Where is the rent taxed?
In Spain, because that is where the property sits. The complication is the base: gross-rent withholding takes no account of mortgage interest, tax or repairs, so a leveraged property can face tax on turnover. An election onto net profit, where it exists, is what fixes that — and it has its own timing.
What tax do I pay when I buy a property in Spain?
The purchase itself attracts a transfer charge, and which charge applies, and at what level, depends on whether the property is new or second-hand and on the autonomous community it sits in. Because the communities set their own position, the cost of buying the same flat is not the same everywhere in the country. Beyond the purchase charge sit notary, registry and professional costs, and those matter later: they form part of what you set against the price when you eventually sell. Keep every invoice from the purchase in one file from the start. Reconstructing them years afterwards is the hard part.
Why is part of my sale price being held back by the buyer?
On a sale by a non-resident owner, a slice of the price is commonly retained by the buyer and paid over on account of the seller's tax. It is worked out on the price rather than on the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax actually due, and it can be taken on a sale that produced no gain at all. Recovering the excess is a separate claim, made after completion, with the purchase evidence attached. Sellers who cannot produce their original purchase costs usually recover less than they should, which is why the deed and the invoices matter so much.
Do I have to declare a Spanish property on my tax return at home?
The property, and often the account that funds it, are usually reportable at home whether or not they produce income. That is a disclosure obligation and it is separate from tax. Rental income is reportable too, in the year it arises, with relief for what Spain has already taken. The two systems rarely measure that income the same way, so the figures on the two returns will not match line for line, and they are not meant to. What matters is that the same income is not taxed twice and that the disclosure forms are not simply left out.
Can I deduct the costs of buying when I work out my gain?
Generally the acquisition costs form part of what you set against the sale price, and so do the costs of selling, but only where you can evidence them. That means the deed, the receipt for the transfer charge, the notary and registry fees, and invoices for improvement work as distinct from repairs. The line between improving and repairing is where most of the argument happens, and it is decided by what the work did to the property rather than by what the builder wrote on the invoice. Assemble the file before you market the property, not after you have accepted an offer.
I sold at a loss. Is there still anything to deal with?
Very possibly, because the retention taken from the price takes no view on whether you made a gain. A sale at a loss can still see money withheld, and it is recovered by filing and proving the position rather than by asking for it back. There may also be the annual non-resident obligation covering the part of the year you still owned the property, and a report to make at home, where the loss may or may not be usable depending on the rules there. A loss does not close the file; it opens a claim that has to be made properly.
How long should I keep the paperwork from my Spanish purchase?
Until well after the property is sold and both countries' filings for the sale year are settled. The deed, the transfer charge receipt, the notary and registry invoices, the improvement invoices and the community records are the evidence for everything you will claim at the other end, sometimes decades later. Scanned copies kept somewhere you will still have access to are enough for most purposes, though the deed should exist on paper as well. Owners who lose this file do not lose the right to claim what they spent. They lose the ability to prove it.
What happens when a non-resident sells Canadian property?
The buyer or their solicitor is obliged to withhold on the purchase price unless you obtain a clearance certificate, so the practical work happens before closing rather than after. The certificate application reports the disposition and the gain and fixes the amount the authority requires to be held. Apply late and the withholding is computed on the gross price, tying up cash until a return recovers it. See the section 116 clearance certificate.
How do I report the sale of a foreign property?
On your residence-country return, as a disposition, with proceeds and cost base converted at the rates for their own dates. Separately, the country where the property sits may require its own return and may hold back tax at closing until a clearance or certificate is issued — Canada does this for a non-resident vendor, and the United States withholds on a foreign seller of US real property. Those steps have their own deadlines, often before closing. See clearance certificates on a property sale.
