11.03.09 17:17 Age: 1 yrs

Overtaxed EU property owners in Spain get repaid by the taxman

By: Andreas Fürlinger

A British couple went to court against the government claiming to be overtaxed selling their Spanish home and won.

In 2006 under the pressure of the European Union the Spanish government changed their laws regarding gain taxes selling property. Formerly selling foreigners who owned a holiday home in Spain and had no permanent residence had to pay 20% more gain tax than Spanish nationals. The EU interpreted this as discrimination which is forbidden. Nowadays this tax rate in Spain is equal at 15%.

The sucessful first case of a British couple shows that if an European citizen sold a Spanish property between mid-2004 and 31st December 2006 and paid Capital Gains Tax (CGT) at 35 %, he can reclaim legally the overpaid tax with 6 per cent interest.

People who believe they have a claim can log on to www.spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk