Currency report

Have you sold a Spanish property between June 2004 and December 31st 2006

Important changes in Bulgarian legislation

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Currency report
Latest market commentary provided by Notary Co UK’s personal Pure FX broker, James Roberts As at 1st December 2009

Sterling Overview
Whilst the UK is the last remaining major economy still in recession the latest figures show GDP contracted by 0.3% which is 0.1% less than first thought. Also, earlier in the month Bank of England kept interest rates on hold at 0.5% and introduced an additional £25bn of quantitative easing (printing money) when the market was expecting £50bn. Both bits of data provided some much needed support to the pound. I mentioned in my last report the Bank of England is keen for …. click to download full report.

Top Have you sold a Spanish property between June 2004 and December 31st 2006?

It has been reported in the ‘Mail on Sunday’ and the May edition of OPP (Overseas Property Professional) magazine that British non-residents who sold their Spanish properties between June 2004 and December 2006 paid more than twice the amount of tax paid by Spanish nationals.

Spanish legal firm - Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Asociados - is challenging the Spanish government head on. A claim is being prepared for the European Court of Justice for what it describes as illegal capital gains taxes on overseas property owners. The firm have found that until 2007 a capital gains charge of 35 per cent was levied on property sold by non-Spaniards, despite the fact that the same tax charge was just 15 per cent for Spanish sellers. It is estimated that up to £37m is now owed to British former owners alone. What is more, Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Asociados say that Brits can now start the long process of getting their money back because, they suggest, it flies in the face of EU laws on discrimination. So if you were one of the 4,500 British citizens who sold Spanish property between 2004 and 2007, and were charged at the non-resident's CGT rate; you could be eligible for an average rebate of £11,000.

Do you qualify?

• Yes if you sold a Spanish property between June 2004 and December 31st 2006.
• Yes if you were NOT a fiscal resident in Spain when you sold it.
• Yes if the Capital Gain Tax was paid to the Spanish Authorities.
• Yes if you sold your Spanish property as an individual; not as a company
• Yes if you have, or can obtain, a copy of the Spanish Tax Form “Modelo 212” you completed when you sold the property

For more information see...

• http://www.spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk/
• http://spain.homesgofast.com/news/former-spanish-property-owners-owed-thousands-in-unfair-tax-I692/
• http://www.spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk/requirements.html

To instruct Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Asociados to be your legal representatives to reclaim the Capital Gains Tax from the Spanish Authorities, you will need to provide a Power of Attorney in Spanish; this must be notarised/witnessed by a UK Notary Public who will arrange for the document to be legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth office in London in order for it to be valid in a Spanish court of law.

Contact us or your nearest Notary Public for further assistance

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Important changes to Bulgarian legislation

How this may affect you

At the beginning of 2008, the Bulgarian government - in line with other European nations – introduced a central company registration system. This means that anyone who registered a limited liability company in Bulgaria to hold property with land will have to re-register the company or risk having all their assets forfeited. As you may be aware, only Bulgarian nationals or companies can buy real estate where land is involved – this is set to change in the next few years. Some apartments include a share of the freehold and will have been registered in the name of company; also some agents advise using a company to hold apartments ‘for tax purposes’.

Time limits
A three-year time limit has been imposed; so if you are not trading you need not panic; BUT you must not forget to put in hand the re-registration process. However if the company is trading and required to submit an annual accountancy report, (due date 30th June) you must re-register ASAP. Accountancy reports may not be submitted without re registering first!