Inheritance and gift tax

Receiving a property through an inheritance or as a gift is an emotionally charged situation that also has tax consequences. Understanding them before accepting or signing helps you make better decisions and avoid late-filing surcharges.

• Inheritance tax, filed with the Catalan Tax Agency.
• Municipal capital gains tax, charged by the town council where the property is located.

If you later sell the inherited property, you will also need to declare the sale in your income tax return.

Inheritance tax has deadlines that start to run from the date of death. It is six months from the death, extendable by six more if requested within the first five; late filing incurs surcharges and can mean losing tax reliefs.

Catalan legislation provides allowances and reliefs depending on the family relationship, the type of asset and other circumstances. Law 19/2010 provides reductions for kinship, the deceased's main home and family businesses, and a very high relief for the spouse; each has requirements that must be met. We check which apply to you and how they affect the result.

Some families consider gifting a property during their lifetime. Before doing so, it is worth comparing the tax cost of the gift with that of a future inheritance. In Catalonia, gifts between relatives can receive favourable tax treatment if certain formal requirements are met.

Gather the documents

• The death certificate.
• The certificate of last wills and the will or, if there is none, the declaration of heirs.
• The certificate of insurance policies covering death.
• The deeds and latest property tax (IBI) receipts for the properties.
• Bank balances at the date of death and a list of other assets and debts.
• The heirs' IDs and, where applicable, a disability certificate.

Value the assets

We determine the value of the properties and other assets for tax purposes.

Calculate and file the tax

We calculate the tax with the applicable allowances and file it on your behalf.

Register the properties

Once the tax has been paid, the properties can be registered in the heirs' names. We handle this as part of our Land Registry procedures.

• Waiting until everything is settled among the heirs and missing the tax deadline.
• Not checking which allowances apply before filing.
• Forgetting the municipal capital gains tax on each property.
• Selling the inherited property before the inheritance has been settled.

We explain the steps in order, gather the documents with you, calculate the taxes with the applicable allowances, file them and register the properties in the heirs' names. Where there are several heirs, we keep all of them equally informed.