Tax Newsletter - December 2018 | Legislation of interest

Spain - 12 / 21 / 2018

New tax law on housing and rental

Royal Decree-Law 21/2018, of December 14, 2018 on urgent measures regarding housing and rental was published in the Official State Gazette on December 18 and came into force the day after.

In the tax field, the following new measures have been passed:

Firstly, an exemption from transfer and stamp tax has been introduced for lease agreements related to housing for stable and permanent use.
Additionally, in the field of real estate tax:

It has removed the obligation for authorities or public entities to charge real estate tax to tenants on the rental of properties for residential use.
Local councils with a surplus are now allowed to use that surplus to increase their supply of public housing. For these purposes, the law refers to the housing program known as “152. Vivienda” under additional provision sixteen (financially sustainable investment) of the Revised Local Finances Law, in effect from January 1, 2019.
Local councils are also allowed to establish a reduction of up to 95% to the real estate tax charge on homes rented at a restricted price.
It sets out the rules and safeguards related to the definition of “permanently unoccupied residential property”, for local councils to apply certain surcharges.

Form 900D to report changes to the cadaster for properties

Order HAC/1293/2018, of November 19, 2018, approving the form for reporting changes to the cadaster for properties and determining the graphic and alphanumeric information needed to make certain notifications to the cadaster was published in the Official State Gazette on December 5, 2018. It came into force on December 6.

This new form 900D includes and replaces the various forms in place to date (forms 901N, 902N, 903N and 904N) and must be filed remotely in certain cases, such as those of legal entities.

The Order removes the obligation to file documents that are already held by the Directorate-General for the Cadaster or original documents, although they may subsequently be reviewed.

Objective assessment method for personal income tax purposes and simplified VAT rules for 2019

The Official State Gazette of November 30, 2018 published Order HAP/1264/2018, of November 27, 2014, implementing for 2019 the personal income tax objective assessment method and the simplified special VAT scheme.

The Order came into force on December 1, 2018, and is effective for 2019.