Following the death of a family member, the heirs have a period established by law in which to complete the necessary formalities for the settlement and distribution of the assets forming part of the estate. Inheritance and Gift Tax is a State tax whose administration has been transferred to the Autonomous Communities and is regulated by Law 29/1987 of 18 December.
In the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, the tax is regulated as follows:
- For taxable events occurring on or after 1 January 2022, by Law 5/2021 of 20 October on Taxes Transferred to the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.
- For taxable events occurring before 1 January 2022, by Legislative Decree 1/2018 of 19 June, approving the Consolidated Text of the provisions enacted by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia concerning transferred taxes. This legislation introduced a significant reform in Andalusia in this area.
Documentation required for the inheritance procedure:
- Death certificate of the deceased.
- Certificate of Last Wills and Testaments.
- Will or deed declaring the heirs.
- Identification documents of the deceased and the heirs or legatees.
- Life insurance certificates, where applicable.
- Bank certificates showing the existing balances, where applicable.
- Documentation relating to the theoretical value of shareholdings in legal entities whose securities are not listed on a stock exchange.
- Deeds or proof of ownership of real estate, vehicles, etc.
- Documents proving any charges, encumbrances, debts and expenses for which a deduction is claimed, the age of beneficiaries under twenty-one years of age and, where applicable, the theoretical value of shareholdings in legal entities whose securities are not listed on a stock exchange, as well as the title under which the deceased acquired the real estate included in the estate.
- Statement of the pre-existing assets of each heir, legatee or beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
If the deceased was a foreign national, the heirs must also obtain a Certificate of Last Wills and Testaments from the deceased's country of origin (or equivalent document) in order to establish whether or not a will was executed. This document must be duly translated and apostilled or issued in a multilingual format.
The death certificate must be requested from the Civil Registry corresponding to the deceased's place of residence. It may also be requested electronically. This procedure is completely free of charge.
If you do not know whether the deceased made a will during their lifetime, it will be necessary to obtain a Certificate of Last Wills and Testaments. This can be obtained from the public service offices of the Ministry of Justice or electronically. This document will indicate whether the deceased made a will and before which notary it was executed. At least 15 days must have elapsed since the death before this document can be requested.
If a will exists, you must contact the notary before whom it was executed and request an authorised copy. If there is no will, intestate succession or a declaration of heirs will be initiated. This procedure must be carried out before the notary corresponding to the deceased's last place of residence. Once before the notary, the documents referred to above will be required.
Preparation of the inventory
It will be necessary to accurately document all assets forming part of the deceased's estate, as a complete inventory of those assets will be required. Where there are several heirs, this will make it possible to determine which assets and rights correspond to each of them. It should not be forgotten that accepting an inheritance also entails accepting the corresponding obligations. Therefore, if the deceased had debts at the time of death, these will also be inherited by the heirs.
At this stage, it is particularly important to specify the assets in the “partition schedule” (“cuadro particional”) in order to ensure that you receive everything to which you are legally entitled. It is therefore advisable, in any event, to be assisted by a lawyer specialising in this field throughout all stages of the procedure.
Inheritance Tax must be settled at any Provincial Management Office or Tax Unit of the Andalusian Tax Agency and the relevant Tax Settlement Offices, or electronically using a digital certificate through the management platform of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía), which generally allows the tax settlement procedure to be processed more efficiently. It is advisable to entrust the settlement of the tax to a lawyer specialising in this field, who can complete the procedure electronically on your behalf.
The settlement of Inheritance Tax is carried out using Form 660, relating to the estate, and Form 650 for each individual heir.
Deadline for payment of the tax
The deadline for settling this tax is particularly important in order to avoid possible penalties imposed by the Tax Agency. The deadline is 6 months and may be extended by a further 6 months, provided that the extension is requested within the first 5 months following the death of the deceased.
For Inheritance Tax purposes, the taxable base consists of the net value of the individual acquisition received by each beneficiary.
Reductions and tax allowances
Depending on the family relationship between the heirs or legatees and the deceased, certain tax allowances and reductions may or may not apply. For the purpose of determining the degree of relationship, the following groups must be distinguished:
Group I. Descendants or adopted children under 21 years of age.
Group II. Descendants or adopted children aged 21 or over. Spouses, ascendants or adoptive parents.
Group III. Collateral relatives of the second and third degree by blood or affinity. Ascendants or descendants by affinity.
Group IV. More distant relatives and unrelated persons.
The Autonomous Community of Andalusia provides for different reductions that may apply depending on the circumstances of each individual case. In general, the reductions provided for by law are as follows:
- Main residence.
- Spouses and direct relatives.
- Taxpayers with disabilities.
- Sole proprietorships, professional businesses and shareholdings in entities.
- Agricultural holdings.
Tax-free allowance of €1,000,000 in Andalusia
Since 2018, the tax-free allowance for inheritances received by direct relatives (descendants or adopted children under 21 years of age, descendants or adopted children aged 21 or over, spouses and ascendants or adoptive parents) has been increased to €1,000,000 per heir. A 99% tax allowance is also established for acquisitions upon death (mortis causa).
Once Inheritance Tax has been settled, the registration of the existing assets in the name of the heir or heirs may be requested by submitting the necessary copies to the Land Registry.
Late filing
In the event of late filing of Inheritance Tax by taxpayers, a distinction must be made according to whether or not financial damage has been caused to the Tax Administration and whether or not the Tax Administration has previously issued a formal request for filing and payment.
A tax infringement occurs where the result of the Inheritance Tax assessment is zero, meaning that there is no financial loss or damage to the Treasury. As this constitutes a tax infringement, the penalty consists of a fine of €200, which is reduced by half where the Tax Administration has not issued a prior formal request.
If the Inheritance Tax assessment results in an amount payable and there has been no prior formal request from the Tax Administration, no financial penalty for a minor tax infringement will be imposed. However, a surcharge will apply, the amount of which varies according to the period elapsed between the date on which the self-assessment should have been filed and the date on which it is actually filed. Pursuant to Article 27 of the General Tax Law, the applicable surcharges are 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (late-filing surcharges), depending on the period elapsed before filing and payment:
A surcharge of 5% will apply if the Inheritance Tax is settled within 3 months following the date on which the self-assessment should have been filed.
A surcharge of 10% will apply if the Inheritance Tax is settled between 3 and 6 months following the date on which the self-assessment should have been filed.
A surcharge of 15% will apply if the Inheritance Tax is settled between 6 and 12 months following the date on which the self-assessment should have been filed.
A surcharge of 20% will apply if the Inheritance Tax is settled more than 12 months after the date on which the self-assessment should have been filed.
It should be noted that no interest will be charged for delays of up to 12 months. Once this period has elapsed, the corresponding surcharge will apply together with late-payment interest calculated from the twelfth month of delay.
If the tax debt and the remaining amount of the surcharge are paid, the latter will be reduced by 25%.
Repeated failure to comply with requests issued by the Tax Administration to the taxpayer or taxpayers for the settlement of Inheritance Tax constitutes a serious tax infringement. The penalty will consist of financial fines, the amount of which will depend on the number of times the deadlines granted in the requests issued by the Tax Administration have not been complied with.
In this regard, it should be noted that any informative communication from the Tax Administration addressed to the taxpayer, the purpose of which is to facilitate voluntary compliance with tax obligations but which does not meet the required formal requirements, will not be considered a prior formal request. However, any action formally notified to the taxpayer aimed at verifying, securing or assessing the tax debt will be considered such a request.
Our law firm will be pleased to examine your case in detail in order to ensure the proper settlement of Inheritance Tax. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information in this regard.
Author:
María Santos
Lawyer
CEO, Partner, Legal Director
info@sspartners.es
Tel: (+34) 951 12 13 06
Facebook I LinkedIn I Amazon
Stay informed! Follow us on:
(+34) 
