You have to pay it because, legally speaking, in Spain there is a property-owners’ imputed income tax charged on secondary homes. And yours is clearly the case since your principal dwelling is abroad. The same applies to residents in Spain who own more than one dwelling.
Yes you can. In fact, banks are forced by law to provide to their clients such binding offer, listing clearly and unequivocally what are the basic terms of the Loan & mortgage with time enough in advance of the meeting at the Notary. for the “Escritura” to be signed These basic conditions and terms include: Interest rate, commissions, charges, penalties, early redemption fee, cancellation fee, insurance requests, etc
There is no legal reason for you to have a second will made in Spain. Anyhow, it is highly advisable to have a will in Spain concerning your assets in Spain as this shall avoid your inheritors time-consuming and expensive legal procedures. In addition to that, a will made in Spain does not oblige you to follow any of the Spanish probate rules and it will be your national law the one that applies.
Yes, you can. Private contracts, as opposed to public contracts (the ones signed in front of Notaries) also have validity and completion force in what refers to any permissible condition they include and are perfectly binding for you and your seller.
However, according to the Spanish legal system these contracts have no legal effects for/against third parties not knowing that such contract exists, such as banks, creditors, tax authorities, claimants, etc. Bearing this in mind you would understand how important it is that a purchasing contract is made “public”, and in Spain this is only legally possible through a Notary’s “Escritura” jointly with the registry at the Property’s Registry of the town where the property is situated. By means of this Escritura and registry, there is no third party who can allege the contract has no effects for/against him.
Part-time employment in Spain rose 1.2 points in September 2009 
compared to the same period the year before, while in the EU, the increase stood at 8.0. The greatest increase took place in Ireland with a raise of 3.3 points upward which made this Country reach 21.2% of the employed population. Spain, according to the report stands as the sixth European country having less use of such contracts, followed by Portugal (10%), Poland (8.1%), Hungary (5.9%), Greece (5.8%) and Czech Republic (5.4%). The opposite of Spain placed Italy (14.1 per cent) and France (17%). Holland, with a 48.1% of the total number of part-time employees leads the generalization of this type of occupation with wide gap, followed by Sweden (26.2%), Germany (26.1%) and UK (25.9 per cent).
Yes, you are, since the law says the expenses will be deemed as general even if they are not imputable to one or various properties within the community, nor shall the non-usage of a facility bring exemption from the fulfilment of the maintenance obligations. However, you may want to have a look at the community’s bylaws and/or approved rules or decisions of the Owners General Meetings in the past, as these could have validly changed such general rule.
Angry expats in Spain hope to pit the country’s political parties against each other in an attempt to save their homes from demolition.
Protest group AUAN wants to put pressure on politicians in Andalucia by recruiting thousands of supporters in a voter registration drive. It aims to stop the junta regional government knocking down illegally-built houses owned by foreign residents.
“There are elections in May 2011 and we want to turn this into a do-or-die issue for the government by registering people to vote,” AUAN’s president, Maura Hillen, told OPP.
“There is some recognition by the opposition parties of the damage this is doing to the construction industry but the government shows no evidence of budging an inch. One of our objectives is to politicise the issue and to make it a problem for political parties in local towns so that it filters back up to the junta.”
More demolitions
Spain’s image as an overseas property destination has been hit repeatedly in the last few years by government attempts to counter widespread illegal building along the coast.
Five foreign residents living in Albox were handed demolition orders last week. Eight more from the town await a court hearing – despite hundreds of Malaga expats demonstrating in support for them last month.
Hillen said many more people could be persuaded to join the cause and AUAN is teaming up with similar groups such as SOHA in Axarquia to build support.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she said. “There are currently 300 households in our group but we estimate this affects around 5,000 in the area, so there could be a lot more publicity.
“The biggest problem we have within the expat community is apathy. Few people have yet woken up to the fact that this is a problem for them but the truth will out in time.”
The problem isn’t likely to disappear soon, she added. “The junta wants to solve this on a case-by-case basis and God knows how long it will take through the courts. It’s taken seven years to decide they are illegal and it could be several more before a decision is made on the demolitions.”
By Stephen Harris of www.opp.org.uk
No you cannot, as you are entitled to have and enjoy one permanencia in a calendar year. If you ask for a second permanencia in February 2.011 this would mean having two permanencias in the same year.
Concerning to the Income tax of Individuals, the percentages of general tax scale stay the same but the rate applicable to savings in personal income tax has increased. The applicable rate will be 19% for the first 6,000 Euros of yield, and 21% on the excess. These tax rates, in harmony – this time – with the EU rules, are applicable to non-residents income tax payers in the case of dividends, interests and economic gains obtained in Spain, which shall be taxed at the flat rate of 19%.
The retention rate in personal income tax rises up to 19% in order to equal the new tax rate in what refers to:
a) The capital formation yields.
b) The capital gains arising from transmissions or refunds of shares and participations on collective investment enterprises.
c) The income from lease or sublease of urban real estate.
This new type of retention will also apply to retentions and advanced tax payments relating to corporation tax.
Equally controversial than when it was approved has been the removal of the 400 Euros tax deduction applicable to income from work performance and economic activities for those taxpayers with taxable amount exceeding 12,000 Euros. The effect we have seen in the payroll of Spanish workers from last January.
To encourage recruitment, the new rules in the area of personal income tax and only for the 2009-2011 tax periods bring a tax reduction on the NET performance of economic activities in case of creation or maintenance of job. This measure has retroactive effect as of 1 January 2009. In order to qualify, the next requisites are needed: I) exercise of an economic activity, II) business total turnover for all economic activities performed of less than EUR 5 million, III) less than 25 employees, IV) maintenance or creation of employment in such exercises. The new rules implement a reduced type of tax charge for 2009 to 2011 periods if the above requirements are met. The scale of tax applied to these entities is as follows:
I) Tax base between 0 and 120,202.41: 20%
II) Excess: 25%
Could the Spanish Football League still attract the best in the world once the special legal arrangements for Inpatriated people or “Beckham law” has been modified with effect 1 January 2010? In this respect the novelty is that those workers whose predictable fees will exceed 600,000 Euros per year shall not be eligible for the special scheme of taxation (flat rate of 24%).
It is provided that with effect from 1 July 2010, despite criticism emanating from all sectors, an increase in the rate of general Value Added Tax from 16% to 18% is taking place. On the other side, the reduced tax rate will raise from 7% to 8%.
The recently approved new Reform of the Law for Leases ( Ley 19/2009) has solved this old dilemma. It clearly indicates that in case the parties have not stated otherwise, the tenant’s address for official notices is the rented property. And this is so regardless your tenant is not there when the notice is properly sent, therefore as a consequence your notice shall have legal effects even if it does not reach the receiver.