As if things weren't bad enough in the property market

[Albatros]

Britons who have sold Spanish homes are facing a four-year fight to get back refunds for tax charged on the sale of their property.

Daily Mail Article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2344091/Its-years-sale-villa-owed-5-000-The-Brits-owed-thousands-Spanish-taxman.html)

[cressrt]

Nothing new, we have been waiting for a refund from the property we sold over 3 years ago as we were both not financially resident at the time. Apparently there is only 1 person now dealing with the refunds here so there will be a long wait. We were recently told by our Gestor that a client had just received their refund after 7 years waiting.

[Goldenmaniac]

Some clients I have applied for the rebate for got theirs 3 months after the deadline (after the end of the fiscal year in question) that was in April of this year - So yes if you sell at the beginning of the year you can wait a year for your rebate. But they got paid interest for the delay for the extra 3 months - it's useful to micromanage the process because if there is a letter requesting any kind of further info for example that goes astray this can seriously dis-rail the process, so you need to make sure contact phone and addresses are spot on and of course that you have paid the non-residents taxes right up to date including pro-rata for the year of sale otherwise that will stop the rebate as well.

The article doesn't mention the interest paid for the delay which is due under Spanish law if it's their fault things are taking longer than they should, and also implies that the 3% rebate is a given which is not true as it depends on the capital gain calculation and of course as I said above if any other taxes or debts are owed to the Spanish government.

[garlicbread]

I think you'll find that Goldenmaniac will know a great deal more about this than any hack employed by the Daily Mail.