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Regional inheritance tax

Regional inheritance tax finally reduced after public pressure

The new rules mean that children and spouses who inherit up to one million euros in Andalucía won’t pay regional inheritance tax to the taxman

Regional inheritance tax
Regional PSOE and Ciudadanos politicians celebrate the lower-tax deal.

The Junta de Andalucía has finally agreed to change the rules over local inheritance tax this week.

The level of the regionally controlled tax, known as the Impuesto de Sucesiones y Donaciones, has been at the centre of public controversy for some time as Andalucía charges significantly more than some other parts of Spain.

Opposition politicians, buoyed by public petitions and demonstrations, have been calling for it to be reduced, as they say it is unfair on people on modest incomes who inherit property and wealth from parents.

In many examples, families have been forced to sell property as they haven’t been able to afford the tax on it, while other people have taken to falsely registering their place of residence as another region of Spain to avoid the levy. 

As part of a parliamentary-support deal with the Ciudadanos party, the PSOE-controlled Junta de Andalucía government has agreed to change the rules.

Ciudadanos had said that it wouldn’t support the Junta’s annual budget unless the tax was repealed.

From 1 January 2018

From the start of next year children and spouses who inherit up to a million euros won’t need to pay any inheritance tax and those who inherit over that amount will only be taxed on the difference.

This, and other new measures, mean that 95 per cent of inheritances in Andalucía won’t have to pay tax.

The region now charges less inheritance tax than the Madrid area, which was cited as proof of the success of the public campaign to reduce it.

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