Reclaim - General Issues
Documents
Legal
Costs and Legal Consequences
Procedure
RECLAIM – GENERAL ISSUES
1.Placing an actual figure on the amount of people affected by this is very difficult, as the Spanish Government has not yet disclosed this information.
However, one of the UK’s leading currency specialists, HiFX, believes that thousands of British people are affected, plus thousands more residents in other European countries, each paying an estimated average of 47.500 € (£37,000 approx.) in capital gains, having sold property in Spain over the 4 year period.
Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates are in the process of helping 60 – 80 clients reclaim their CGT. As a result, they have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people asking them for help to reclaim their CGT and have therefore decided to publically support this large class action.
Until now, no single corporate has had the size and reputation needed to support such a large class action on this scale.
Understandably, the Spanish Tax Office is rejecting all the cases being brought before them. The UK Government would do the same given the huge amounts of money they potentially will have to pay out!
Once the Tax Office rejects the reclaims, the next step is to go to the Spanish Courts. Again, the Spanish Government will want to reject the reclaims. However, in a case like this, Spanish Courts must then consult the European Court of Justice and the Spanish Government will act in accordance with the Court’s decisions.
The European Commission has said that the 20% overpayment contravenes European Community Treaty discrimination rules.
It considers that the “difference in the tax treatment of the two categories of taxpayers, in so far as it results in a higher tax burden on non-resident individuals in situations objectively similar to those of residents, constitutes indirect discrimination on the grounds of nationality prohibited by the Treaty”.
Yes they are, if the non-resident is an EU citizen. Both are now charged 18 % tax on Capital Gains (after the Spanish Parliament changed the law on 1st January2007).
6.Simply register with us via this website and one of our team will contact you. Alternatively, you can email us (info@spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk) or call us on 0845 680 3849.
7.If you think you are entitled to claim, simply register with us via this website or e-mail or call us:
Any decision rests firmly with the Courts and so we cannot guarantee you will get your money back. However, as the legal basis is so solid and the violation of the European Treaty is so clear, the probability of winning this case is very high. For this reason we have decided to help clients on a No win, No Fee basis.
9.No. However there are a number of test cases currently being processed.
DOCUMENTS
1.A Power of Attorney is a document by which you grant to another person (in this case to one of the lawyers of our Firm, named the “Attorney”) a series of legal powers so that the Attorney can act on your behalf. In this case, the Power of Attorney will allow us to file actions on your behalf in the Spanish Tax Office and Courts.
For the Power of Attorney to be valid, it must be granted before a Public Notary and must be in Spanish, and include The Hague Apostille.
Notaries are international lawyers who have special training to enable them to give Notarial certificates which are used overseas. They will be able to talk you through the Power of Attorney and Engagement Agreement. If you want to proceed, they will also be able to sign the relevant forms including The Hague Apostille.
For more information visit the Notaries Society websites listed below in the FAQ: “What is a Public Notary?”.
The Spanish authorities, to whom we have to present your claim, demand that the Power of Attorney be in Spanish (as in UK legal documents must be in English).
For an English version of The Power of Attorney please refer to the Documents area of this website. Please note that this translation is for REFERENCE ONLY.
The Power of Attorney must be signed by the owners (and their spouses) and by the Notary with The Hague Apostille stamp attached. It should then be sent to us with your Client Code.
The Power of Attorney costs approximately £100. Once you have signed it, the Notary will give it back to you within 2 – 3 days with The Hague Apostille.
In accordance with The Treaty of The Hague which deals with legal foreign documents, a Power of Attorney must have The Hague Apostille stamp to be legally valid in a foreign country.
Please refer to the Documents area of this website as there is a link to an example of The Hague Apostille.
IMPORTANT: Please remind the Notary to get The Hague Apostille. We cannot present your reclaim if the Power of Attorney does not include it.
Please, remind the Public Notary that The Power of Attorney must include The Hague Apostille. The Notary will obtain it for you.
5.The Power of Attorney with The Hague Apostille costs approximately £100.
6.It should take no longer than 2-3 days for the Notary to give you the Power of Attorney document with The Hague Apostille.
7.Notaries are international lawyers who have special training to enable them to give Notarial certificates which are used overseas.
Notaries exercise what is called “public faith” with regard to legal issues, documents, etc. and can authorise legal relationships arising from Private Law.
In this case, the Public Notary gives “faith” by virtue of his intervention, authorising the Power of Attorney and the identity of the person(s) who sign(s) the document and the date upon which it is granted.
To find your nearest Public Notary please refer to the following websites:
http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk (For England & Wales).
http://www.lawscot.org.uk/contact_us (For Scotland).
http://www.lawsoc-ni.org/notaries.htm (For Northern Ireland).
Important: Please remember to take your identification documents (Passport, etc) when going to the Public Notary to sign the Power of Attorney.
Yes. Only in this case the Power of Attorney does not have to include The Hague Apostille.
Remember that the Power of Attorney must be in Spanish.
The Engagement Agreement is a private contract between you (the owner(s) of the property sold) and our firm Cas Legis S.L. (legally operating as Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Asociados). Specifically it outlines the relationship between you and us regarding the reclaim of your Capital Gains Tax in Spain.
The Engagement Agreement is in the Documents area of the website. Please read it carefully and make sure you understand and accept its terms and conditions.
Both documents must include the identification details and signature of ALL the owners of the property including spouses, if married when the property was sold.
Therefore ALL the owners of the property including spouses need to go to the Public Notary to sign the Power of Attorney.
Yes. You can do it by clicking the links to those documents in the Documents area of our website.
12.Form 212 is titled “Modelo 212. Agencia Tributaria. Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes”.
Please refer to the Documents area of this website to view an example.
This document contains all the information we need to present your claim. Please try to locate it as soon as you can. If you don’t have a copy of this Modelo 212 (we only need a copy) please contact us and we will obtain it for you with no charge.
Form 212 shows the Capital Gains arising from the sale of the property. It lists:
Yes. Form 210 is also valid for our purpose, if it includes the payment of the Capital Gains Tax for the property you sold.
Form 210 is used to pay different taxes in Spain not only Capital Gains Tax on property.
Note: If you don’t have either of these, please contact us and we will obtain it for you with no charge.
Not at the moment, but please register with us as we may be able to help you once the final court decision has been made.
Registering on our web site automatically generates a Client Code and Password for your case, and we can then contact you if you have the right to reclaim at a later date.
Form 211 is the document which contains all the details regarding the money received by the Spanish Tax Office (5% of the selling price prior to 1st Jan 2007, now 3%) upon the sale of a property if the vendor is not a fiscal resident in Spain.
Currently, the reclaim can only be presented with a copy of Form 212 (or Form 210) and you do not have sufficient documentation showing that you completed the tax payment process with the Spanish Authorities.
Please register on our website and:
A copy of Form 210 is also valid for our purpose, if it includes the payment of the Capital Gains Tax for the property you sold. If you have declared Capital Gain Tax after selling your property to the Spanish Tax Authorities with Form 210 instead of Form 212, we do not require Form 212.
LEGAL
1.Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is a tax on capital 'gains'. If and when you sell or give away an asset and it has increased in value, you may be taxable on the 'gain' (profit).
More specifically, Capital Gains Tax is:
No, thousands more residents in other European countries have also been effected.
Yes. You can make a claim if the property you sold was in either the Balearics or the Canaries as they are under the same tax laws and regulations as properties in the rest of Spain.
Due to stringent legal restrictions, people who bought at the beginning of 2003 have already missed out on reclaiming, as claimants must register within 4 years of the date when the Capital Gains Tax was paid.
Thousands of British can still join forces and fight to get the Spanish Tax Authorities to pay back the money owed.
You cannot reclaim as you are under the new law and, therefore, you didn’t pay more CGT than any other EU citizen (Spanish nationals included).
6.People who have been affected are essentially entitled to a 20% rebate. Conservative estimates put this figure at around £21,000 per person.
7.If the case is successful, you will get a complete refund, plus 6% interest per annum from the moment you paid the tax.
Of course if the reclaim is unsuccessful, you will NOT have to pay any legal fees as Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates are working with clients in this case on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Having carefully looked at all the legal and tax aspects relating to the ruling including EU Treaty and Directives, Spanish tax laws, foreign countries tax regulations and International tax agreements, Costa, Alvarez, Manglano and Associates (lawyers and tax advisers) are so convinced of success that, for the first time, we as a company have decided to offer our clients our services on a No Win, No Fee basis.
The only investment you have to make is to obtain a signed Power of Attorney (only valid in Spanish) from a Public Notary in the UK (costing about £100). Once obtained, all you need to do is to forward this with a copy of Form 212 together with the Engagement Agreement to us, and we do the rest.
If your claim is successful, as stated in the Engagement Agreement, we will charge a fee of 35% on the amount we recover plus two minor expenses: the Spanish Attorney’s fee (about £150) and the Bank's commission for transferring the funds to your account.
We estimate that the whole process will take around 2 years, from the moment we present your reclaim, until the final Court decision. This is just an estimation as it is almost impossible to predict when a Court decision will be taken. In any case, remember that from the moment we present your claim, the amount we are reclaiming on your behalf will include, by law, 6% interest annually (from the date the Capital Gains Tax was paid). This could increase the amount you recover on average by 25%.
There is no catch! If you meet the following criteria you are entitled to make a reclaim:
We estimate that the whole process will take around 2 years from the moment we present your reclaim until the final Court decision.
11.You may have paid more than the Capital Gains Tax as declared on Form 212 due to a Tax Audit in Spain.
Therefore, please send us a copy of the Tax Audit resolution where the Spanish Tax Office declares their decision. Normally in this case, we will reclaim a higher amount than the one declared in Form 212.
Yes, if you were an EU citizen and not a fiscal resident in Spain when you sold the property, you can reclaim.
COSTS and LEGAL CONSEQUENCES
1.In our contract we guarantee that you will not have to pay any costs or payments during the reclaim period.
2.We work for you on a No win, No fee basis.
As stated in the Engagement Agreement, if your claim is successful we charge:
If the final Court decides against your reclaim you will not have to pay us anything.
3.The only cost you will have to pay is the initial fee for the Power of Attorney which is approximately £100.
As the legal basis is so solid and the violation of the European Treaty is so clear, the probability of winning this case is very high. For this reason we have decided to help you on a No win, No Fee basis.
PROCEDURE
1.Where possible, you must put the exact date you paid the tax (which is on your Form 212) rather than the date you sold the property.
If you don’t have a copy of Form 212 please register giving an approximate date.
Yes. It is important you do so. However, please understand that in some specific situations we may not be able to help you.
Your case may be very close to the expiration date and you then need to present documents quickly. Our system warns you about this when you register.
The system also provides you with a Client Code and a Password when the registration process is successfully completed to protect your contact details. Both are needed to enter the Private area of our website.
IMPORTANT: When contacting us or sending documents to Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates, please include your Client Code.
Yes.
If you have any questions or require further information, phone us on 0845 680 3849. One of our team will help you.
Yes.
Our website offers you all the information, documents and links to UK Public Notaries’ websites, you need to make a claim.
You can also complete your property and personal data in the documents required online. You will then be able to print them and save them on your computer.
If you have any questions or suggestions, you can e-mail or phone us on:
If you declared the Capital Gains of your Spanish property with Form 212, then you were not a fiscal resident in Spain at that time.
If you declared with Form 100, then you were fiscal resident in Spain at that time.
Remember that you can only reclaim if you were NOT fiscal resident in Spain at the moment you sold the property.
Although not mandatory, you may speed up your claim by sending us a copy of the property deeds and a copy of the NIEs or passports of all the owners (including spouses, if married when the property was sold).
By law, we only need the three following documents:
Once you have registered on our website, we suggest you send us the documents as soon as possible together with your Client Code.
Remember there is a limited period of time to present the reclaim under Spanish Law. Although the law was changed in January 2007, in Spain you can only reclaim taxes within four years from the date of the sale of the property.
By entering the date you paid the Capital Gains Tax in the Calculator on the Home Page of our website, the system warns you if your case is close to the expiration date or if you cannot make a reclaim.
In the Requirements area of the Home Page of our website, the first requirement is that your Spanish property was sold between MM / YYYY and December 31st 2006, where:
By entering the date you paid the Capital Gains Tax (you will find it on Form 212) in the Calculator on the Home Page of our website, the system warns you if your case is close to the expiration date or if you cannot make a reclaim because it is too late.
If you don’t have a copy of Form 212 please enter an approximate date.
As soon as we present your reclaim to the Spanish Authorities on your behalf, the process has officially begun and the expiration date is no longer important.
You need to send us the following documents with your Client Code as quickly as possible:
Yes. We can present your reclaim immediately with the correctly completed Engagement Agreement and a copy of the Spanish Tax Form 212.
Within one month, by law, we must present the Power of Attorney (with The Hague Apostille), only valid in SPANISH.
Without the Power of Attorney we cannot proceed with your reclaim.
Both documents must include the identification details and signature of ALL the owners of the property including spouses, if married when the property was sold.
Therefore ALL the owners of the property including spouses need to go to the Public Notary to sign the Power of Attorney.
Yes. You can do it by clicking the links to those documents in the Documents area of our website.
13.You, as inheritor, can also reclaim. You should then provide a copy of the owner’s last will where you are declared as the inheritor. That copy must be legalized by a UK Public Notary and must also include The Hague Apostille to be valid in a foreign country. Contact a UK public Notary for further information.
14.We estimate a period of 2 years from the moment we present your reclaim until the final Court decision.
It is important to realize that from the date we present your case, the amount we are reclaiming on your behalf is generating, by law, 6% interest annually from when you paid the tax until you receive your reclaimed money. This could increase the amount you recover on average by 25%.
The News area on our website will be continually updated with news regarding the reclaim. The final Court decision will be clearly communicated to you and the funds then transferred into your account as agreed in the Engagement Agreement.
It is normal that there be periods of time when nothing happens and therefore no news is generated. This does not indicate that the case has stopped or has been cancelled.
In addition, you will receive e-mails from us regarding any specific issue affecting your reclaim.
Whilst not necessary, we suggest you keep all relevant documents on file. We will of course keep copies of the following:
If you need any document returned, please let us know.
17.Yes. An owner has the right to reclaim tax generated from more than one property sold within the tax reclaim period. We require:
- Form 212 for each property sold.- One Power of Attorney. As in all situations, this must be in SPANISH, with The Hague Apostille attached, signed by all property owners.
- One Engagement Agreement, listing the number of properties and location (for example, 2 properties in Javea, 1 in Malaga or 2 in calle Goya, nos 12, 14)
At the end of the registration process, you will receive an e-mail containing your Client Code and Password.
19.Check that your Client Code and Password are correct.
Click on the “Forgot your password?” facility of the Home Page.
If you continue experiencing difficulties, e-mail or phone our team on:
