UP TO 70´000 MAY BE ENTITLED TO TAX REBATE

PALMA
UP to 70'000 Britons could be entitled to a rebate from the tax authorities on the sale of Spanish properties.
Emilio Alvarez, the project leader of the law firm that is taking a class action against the Spanish tax authorities for charging non-residents 20 percent more than residents on the sale of their properties, believes that tens of thousands of Britons may be entitled to a rebate.

Alvarez has been working on a test case of an Italian who sold a property in Spain for the last 12 months. The case is currently before the regional Supreme Court in Valencia. But Alvarez believes the case will be referred to the European Court of Justice in the next couple of months.

Research carried out by the law firm's UK partners puts the number of British people that could be entitled to a rebate at 5'000. However, Alvarez believes that is a conservative estimate and that the true figure could be closer to 70'000.

He believes that 37 million pounds could still be claimed by British people.
The case, which is expected to take at least another two years, is based around differing rates of capital gains tax applied by the tax authorities before 2007. Up until the beginning of that year, Spanish residents were charged 15 percent capital gains, while non-residents were charged 35 percent.

In 2005, the legal services division of the EU started an infringement process against Spain. A uniform rate was introduced last year.
Valencian law firm Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates believe that non-resident sellers charged the higher rate before the introduction of the new rate may be entitled to a rebate.

However, given that there is a four-year statute of limitations, anyone who sold property in Spain before 2004 is ineligible to claim a rebate. Alvarez said that “every day that passes” Britons were “losing the opportunity” to take part in the claim.

A UK hotline has been set up for interested parties: 0845 680 3849.