The inheritance tax in Catalonia (updated to 2021)

The taxes to receive an inheritance vary from one community to another, there are some communities where it is more economical to receive an inheritance compared to others.

As the Inheritance and Donations Tax is constituted, it is one of the taxes that grant the tax authority, that is, they have been transferred to the Autonomous Communities In April 2020, Law 4/2020, of April 29, on budgets of the Generalitat of Catalonia for 2020, which was published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya on April 30, 2020 and which entered into force the day after its publication.

In this law in its title II it is structured in four chapters and in chapter II the measures referring to the inheritance and donation tax are included, with which Law 19/2010, of June 7, regulating the tax is modified. on inheritance and donations.

In this case, with the help of the specialist lawyers of the Forcam Abogados law firm, we are going to analyze a little more about the tax regulations that apply to inheritance in Catalonia.

What are the cases in which you have to pay inheritance tax in Catalonia?

In this case, you are obliged to present and pay the Inheritance and Donations Tax in the following cases:

When the deceased has habitual residence in Catalonia. If the deceased had his habitual residence in Catalonia, regardless of your place of residence, you will have to pay taxes in Catalonia.

Habitual residence of the donee in Catalonia. When what is received as a donation is, for example, money (personal property) and you reside in Catalonia, you must pay taxes in Catalonia, regardless of where the donor resides.

Donations of real estate located in Catalonia. When what is donated is, for example, an apartment in Catalonia (real estate) you will have to pay taxes in Catalonia, regardless of where you live.

Let us analyze in depth the modifications to the Inheritance Tax in Catalonia, that is, when the deceased person resided in Catalonia.

What are the aspects that change with the new inheritance law in Catalonia?

First: In principle, the bonuses that are applied in installments are modified, since the percentages for the installments are reduced, always maintaining the fixed installment of 99% corresponding to the spouse.

Second: As a second modification we have, that those inheritances in which there is an individual company, or shares and participations of companies, in which the reduction for family business is applied - that is, what leads to a reduction of 95% of the value of the company- and therefore there is in the inheritance personal assets not affected any activity, in this case it could be money, shares, real estate among other assets that may exist.

Third: The patrimonies of the deceased and the heir are taken into account as multiplying factors. In this way, the inflection point is modified, which was close to 2 M euros (which made it more expensive to grant a donation than to inherit) and with this reform of April 2,020, this inflection point has dropped to the figure of 500,000 euros.

The inheritance tax in Catalonia has seen a series of modifications granted by law, which make it more convenient to grant living donations than to inherit, which leads the deceased to order their assets very carefully and thus grant a donation as foresight to its underlying causes.

Said donations must consider the nature of disposing, of making conditional donations and the power to specify the nature of the donation, in addition to the fact that many lawyers who are experts in inheritance and donations in Catalonia point out that the capital gain of the capital gain should be taken into account. Personal income tax in the case of donation.

People belonging to GROUP I. (that is, those under 21 years of age) will continue with the scale of bonuses that had been applied until now, therefore, this contingent is not affected in any way by the reform of the law, since with regard to bonuses as of May 1, 2020, in inheritances in Catalonia two bonus scales will coexist, I and II, for GROUPS I and II respectively.

Contact us, and our lawyers specializing in civil law will study your specific case. 

At Forcam Abogados we have offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Reus.