The only way in which you can avoid paying the Inheritance Tax, according to a lawyer

Inheriting in Spain not only means receiving assets or money, but also means having to pay Inheritance Tax. This is responsible for taxing the transfer of assets after the death of a person. The truth is that the amount to be paid depends on different factors: the value of what has been inherited or the degree of relationship that exists between the heir and the deceased, among others.

What is Inheritance Tax

He Inheritance tax It is paid when there is a transfer of assets or rights from one person to another due to death and free of charge. It is what we usually know as inheritance. A citizen is obliged to pay this tax when there is a donation between people. It is regulated in Law 29/1987 and its regulation 1629/1991. However, through Law 22/2009 Both performance and regulatory power were transferred to the autonomous communities.

Hence, in recent years controversy has surrounded this tax. And it is that each region can set its own bonuses, reductions, rates and deductions within limits. For example, in some communities taxation is symbolic. This is the case of Madrid either Andalusiawhile in other parts of the country the cost is much higher.

However, when this moment arrives, many people wonder if there is any case in which they can avoid paying Inheritance Tax. In 20 minutes We have spoken about this matter with Isabel Merino by Debelare Abogados.

Lawyer Isabel Merino responds

The expert has recognized that the only way to avoid this tax is “renouncing the inheritance”. Merino explained that this taxation “aims to tax the transfer of assets, rights and obligations of the heirs of a deceased person.” However, he has warned that not all resignations are the same, because “only Anyone who renounces the inheritance purely and simply will be exempt from paying the tax.“.

In the pure and simple renunciation of the inheritance, the heir “does not take anything, but neither does he pay tax,” explained the lawyer from Debelare Abogados. Furthermore, he has stated that “since there is no transfer of assets, in this case, there is no tax to pay.”

And on the other hand, there is the renunciation of inheritance in favor of a third party. “In this case, as contemplated by Law 29/1987, of December 18, on the Inheritance and Donation Tax and the Civil Code, this resignation is understood as a “tacit acceptance”giving rise to two taxable events,” Merino highlighted. The first of them is “the tacit acceptance of the inheritance, which would give rise to the payment of the inheritance tax” and the other is the donation of “the part of the inheritance to a third party, which would give rise to the payment of the gift tax.”

The lawyer concluded: “The waiver must be expresssince there is a risk that the heirs may carry out actions that can be understood as tacit acceptance of it.”