Aragón, Asturias and Andalucía campaigners fight inheritance tax

Aragón Stop Sucesiones y Plusvalía and its counterparts in Andalucía and Asturias say more and more members of the public are 'waking up to the injustice' of having to pay taxes on property they inherit or which relatives gift to them in life in anticipation.

“Gradually, more and more associations of professionals are showing an interest in joining us in our quest,” says Francisco Langa of the Aragón branch.

Even though management, collecting and calculating inheritance tax is set by Spain's 17 different regional governments – some, like Andalucía, have recently scrapped it for immediate next of kin on properties valued at under €1 million – these taxes are payable to the State and it is the central government which makes the decision to charge them and would be responsible for changing the law to eradicate them.

Langa says the three regional groups plan to apply to European Union institutions to call for 'protection' for the Spanish residents who are 'suffering the injustice of having to pay these taxes'.

In Spain, inheritance tax has to be paid before the assets are transferred into the beneficiary's name, meaning they cannot sell or mortgage a property bequeathed to them to pay the bill.

And with inheritances left by non-relatives attracting the highest rate of tax, anyone inheriting a property from a deceased friend is likely to turn it down, leading to the estate going to the government if there are no blood relations.

Langa says a European Court of Justice (ECJ) verdict against inheritance tax already exists.

The Aragón association has raised a petition which already has well over 100,000 signatures.