Who Is Liable For Local Taxes (Suma) In A Year A Property Is Bought/Sold - Taxes in San Pedro del Pinatar: Suma, NIE and general tax advice - San Pedro del Pinatar forum - Costa Cálida forum in the Murcia province of Spain
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Who Is Liable For Local Taxes (Suma) In A Year A Property Is Bought/Sold

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:35pm
8 replies164 views5 members subscribed
Kevin329

Posts: 29

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Joined: 14 May 2018

Hi,

I would be very grateful for advice on local taxes in the San Pedro Del Pinatar area. I would imagine the same "rules" apply in other areas so any information from anywhere in the Costa Calida would be welcomed.

I bought a property in Lo Pagan in June 2018 and have just received an email from my Solicitor to say I have to pay local taxes (Suma/IBI?) of 354 euros and he will soon be doing this on my behalf (he has power of attorney).

I have done some research which seems to say that whoever owns a property on January 1st is liable for the taxes for the whole of that calendar year i.e. in my case the previous owners. I was not informed that any taxes were outstanding when I bought the property in June.

Could anyone help me with what exactly the legal position is?

Thanks very much

Kevin

Sunnyspain

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:09am

Sunnyspain

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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:09am

Hi Kevin. We bought last month. The previous owner received the Ibi bill and they paid the bill in October for ibi for the yearJan 2019 / Jan 2020. We won't have to pay until next October when 2020 is due. Your previous owner would have paid for 2018 in 2017. I believe as you bought in June before the bill was issued you are due to pay for 2019. As a new owner I may be wrong though. 

Kevin329

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:30am

Kevin329

Original Poster

Posts: 29

13 helpful points

Joined: 14 May 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:30am

Thank you for your reply.

Last night I questioned this with my solicitor and he had had a mix up with his receptionist!

He now says I have to pay IBI pro rata for the amount of time I have owned the property i.e. from June onwards. This makes my share of the bill approx 195 euros and he is going to pay the remainder out of retentions he made at the time of the sale. I too was hoping not to have to pay IBI until next October but I guess pro rata does seem fair.

My previous owners had not paid the IBI for 2018, but they had not paid one or two things that should have been paid. Your seller is a good egg if they have kept all the bills up to date!

Thanks again for your help and hope you enjoy your new home.

Rascalmate

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:31pm

Rascalmate

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Posts: 167

180 helpful points

Location: Sucina

Joined: 1 Oct 2018

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:31pm

I sold my villa in October 2018. I had to pay the IBI for Sept to Sept 2019 absolutely no chance of escaping even though the property was no longer mine. 

All other bills had to be paid up to date and I had to pay the full year of community fees of another seven months.

In my case it was down to an Agent who did not give a toss.

I had previously sent a list of bills paid and due from date of completion, which " apparently I did not discuss as part of the acceptance of the offer" according to the Agent and was not taken into account.

I made the mistake of trusting the Agent and not dotting the i's and crossing the t's when the offer was put on the table.

In hindsight I should have known better when dealing with a Rattlesnake.

I hope others in the process of selling read this example and learn from it.

My offer accepted, cost me nearly 900€ in bills I had to pay in advance for trusting the Agent come Rattlesnake.

rma44

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:15pm

rma44

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Posts: 709

406 helpful points

Joined: 2 Mar 2016

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:15pm

Whoever owns the property at the time the IBI has to be paid, pays the bill for the year. If the property is sold within that year, i.e. before the next year's deadline, the new owner does not have to pay anything until the next year's deadline. The Council don't have to be paid twice! That's my understanding and it has worked for me twice. Hope that helps.

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sexystevieb

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:16pm

sexystevieb

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Posts: 691

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Location: Balsicas

Joined: 30 Jul 2017

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:16pm

Kevin329 wrote on Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:35pm:

Hi,

I would be very grateful for advice on local taxes in the San Pedro Del Pinatar area. I would imagine the same "rules" apply in other areas so any information from anywhere in the Costa Calida would be welcomed.

I bought a property in Lo Pagan in June 2018 and have just received an email from my Solicitor to say I have to pay local taxes (Suma/IBI?) of 354 euros and he will soon be doing this on my behalf (he has power of attorney).

I have done some research which seems to say that whoever owns a property on January 1st is liable for the taxes for the whole of that calendar year i.e. in my case the previous owners. I was not informed that any taxes were outstanding when I bought the property in June.

Could anyone help me with what exactly the legal position is?

Thanks very much

Kevin

You pay pro rata, so your solicitor is correct

rma44

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:16pm

rma44

Helpful member

Posts: 709

406 helpful points

Joined: 2 Mar 2016

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:16pm

A lot of confusion on this topic. I have never paid pro rata for the IBI.

sexystevieb

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 3:32pm

sexystevieb

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Location: Balsicas

Joined: 30 Jul 2017

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 3:32pm

No neither have I until they changed the law (either early this or late last year), I bought a property in the Murcia region in March this year the IBI was 251 euros, previous owners had to pay 100 euros and I paid the 151 euros, my solicitor questioned this but was found to be correct.

rma44

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:23pm

rma44

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Joined: 2 Mar 2016

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:23pm

Thanks for that info Steve, it'll save me money when I sell!

While we're on the subject of tax, does anyone know if the tax payable when taking money back to the UK has changed? I'm sure I read somewhere that our dear government have introduced capital gains tax on the sale proceeds when selling up in Spain and transferring back to the UK. That would be on top of the Plus Valia!

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