04.22.09
Posted in Apartments for sale Benalmadena at 5:18 am by admin
Benalmadena has long been noted as one of the Costa del Sol’s hidden jewels with many loyal visitors coming back year after year. Located only a mere twenty kilometers from Malaga and just seven kilometers from Torremolinas and Fuengirola, Benalmadena is not wanting in the location stakes.
The great news for all Benalmadena lovers, especially those looking for that perfect apartment for sale in Benalmadena, is that a new development with has just been completed with amazing facilities and literally unbelievable prices.
You can secure yourself a beautiful and brand new two bedroom and two bathroom apartment for only 145,000 euros. These Benalmadena apartments have been very well finished with their own facilities of an eighteen golf course, swimming pools, kids area, gymnasium etc.
Offers like this only come about in hard times but are well worth snapping up now that the market is due for an upturn.
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04.08.09
Posted in Capital gains tax at 4:48 am by admin
A British couple have successfully taken the Spanish tax authorities to court, winning £10,000 after it was proved that they had been illegally charged more than twice the amount of capital gains tax that would have been charged to Spanish residents when they sold a property in 2004.
After a battle lasting more than a year, they have successfully reclaimed their overpayment and the case now paves the way for thousands of other Britons to make similar claims from the Spanish government.
Until recently, British residents who owned Spanish property had to pay thirty five percent tax on any gains made when selling on Spanish property. This compared to just fifteen percent paid by Spanish nationals. The European Union challenged the rules, claiming they were discriminatory, and since the beginning of 2007 the Spanish tax authorities have charged the same fifteen pecent tax rate to Spanish and overseas property owners.
The Spanish court ruled that the initial case put forward by solicitors Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates on behalf of Mr and Mrs Roy from the UK was so convincing that there was no need for it to be passed on to the European Courts of Justice (ECJ), which would be the usual procedure.
“Anyone else who believes they have been affected should come forward now with their cases,” said Emilio Alvarez, from the law firm. Six hundred other British couples are now putting cases forward, and all the cases will be decided separately by the Spanish court.
Whilst it is thought that thousands more British people could be affected, as a result of the Spanish legal system, claims can only be made if the tax bill was paid within the past four years.
Currency broker HiFX estimate that between 2002 and 2006 the average UK family selling property in Spain paid a tax bill of £14,000, compared with just £6,000 for a Spanish resident.
Taxpayers are also entitled to claim a refund for loss of interest at a rate of six percent from the date the reclaim is presented, making the total value of the claim even higher.
Mark Bodega, from HiFX, said “It is fantastic news that the first British couple has been successful and that a total of 600 other British claimants are now in the process of putting their cases forward. Between them they could reclaim £8.4m plus interest, based on the average reclaim figure at the moment of £14,100, but it is absolutely vital that anyone who believes they are affected comes forward to reclaim what they have wrongly been overcharged by the Spanish Government; £8.4m is a lot of money but really just a small fraction of what could potentially be reclaimed by Brits, which could be as much as £140m.”
The legal action up to now has been pursued on a ”no-win no-fee basis” with successful claimants paying thirty five percent of their tax reclaim to the lawyers. If clients were awarded an £11,000 rebate, they would end up with £7,150 after legal fees.
Derrick Howitt, 66, from Hampshire, is one of the property sellers effected who hopes to benefit from the ruling. “The Spanish Government is going to consider each case on an individual basis,” he said. “I hope they pay out soon, because the euro-sterling exchange rate is so good at the moment.”
Each case will be reviewed and decided upon by a Spanish court on its own merits and if you think you may be eligible the following are steps you can take to start the process.
1. Check you are eligible
You are if you sold a property in Spain between July 2004 and December 31 2006 and were not a fiscal resident in Spain when you sold it. You also have to have paid capital gains tax on the property to claim and need to have sold the property as an individual rather than a company.
2. Check you have the correct forms
You need a copy of a tax form called Modelo 212 or 210 to proceed. If you do not have this you will need a copy. The solicitors mentioned below can provide you with one.
3. Contact lawyers
Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates have been handling cases on a no-win no-fee basis. They take a thirty five percent commission if you win, and can be contacted on 0845 680 3849. Thousands of Britons who sold property in Spain in the past few years could claim a tax rebate worth £10,000 or more after a decision from the Spanish courts recently.
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Posted in Online property at 4:45 am by admin
The latest statistics from a leading overseas property portal have shown that Spain is still the number one destination for British buyers of overseas property, despite the effects of the credit crunch on the actual numbers of properties purchased. Property Index.com has released statistics showing that Spain leads France, Portugal, Turkey and Bulgaria in the number of enquiries for property in February 2009.
However, the effects of the global economic downturn have been seen in the average price of the properties searched on the portal. In 2008, the average price of property viewed in Spain was £235,223 – a figure which dropped to £211,343 in February 2009, a drop of around ten per cent.
Meanwhile, property in Spain remains much more affordable than in its closest rival in popularity. The average price of property viewed in France was £441,252.
Within Spain, property in Costa Blanca was the most popular, followed by Tenerife in the Spanish Islands then property on the Costa del Sol.
Lee Bramzell, Chief Executive of PropertyIndex.com said, “The British love affair with Spain is far from over, and our data suggests that when we emerge from the recession, it will be the first place on the list for Brits wanting to buy holiday homes and investment properties overseas. While property sale volumes remain low, there is no doubt that the British are keeping a beady eye on the Spanish market, waiting for the right buying opportunity. I expect to see considerable pent up demand when the economy recovers.”
“Tourism both on the mainland and in the islands remains strong and sensible Brits already owning property there will be aiming to maximise their rental income over the coming months while they wait for the market to stabilise. New buyers can get a real bargain – official data shows house price falls in the region of three per cent, but in reality reductions are much greater than this. We are seeing some developers offering discounts of as much as 40 per cent on some schemes. This more than compensates for the strength of the Euro which we expect to weaken against the pound throughout 2009.”
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Posted in Canary Island travel at 4:34 am by admin
When the going gets tough, the tough get going and, it appears, even when times are hard sun lovers keep flying. We all know that the pull of the Canary Islands keeps people coming back again and again and recent figures show despite the financial hardships many are currently suffering, they will still find a way of getting to their favourite holiday destination.
Recent figures show that the Canary Islands are the only place in Spain where flights with low cost carriers have increased in popularity.
During January, Spain as a whole received one million three hundred thousand foreign visitors on low cost carriers, which represents almost a ten per cent decrease on the same month the last year. More traditional air line companies also reported a fourteen percent fall.
In the Canary Islands, however, the use of low cost airlines during January went up by over seven percent. The biggest increase was in Lanzarote, which is up almost ten percent with an increase of over three percent at Tenerife’s south airport.
Tourism chiefs have been regularly pointing out the need to capitalise on the current trend and to work with these carriers to encourage even more low cost flights to the Canary Islands.
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