Declaring Spanish Inheritance Tax is obligatory no matter if the end result is to pay or not.

It is a complicated proceeding which requires gathering a great number of documents and to perform a series of mathematical operations. To declare the Spanish Inheritance Tax it is necessary to have a wide understanding of the Spanish Law to avoid mistakes in determining the tax base, or those related in not including documents relevant to this tax return that could imply a bad determination of what is to be declared. The most notable features of this tax are:

Tax Base
The reason of the tax base of the Spanish Inheritance Tax is to acquire goods by inheritance, legacy or any other title in reference to succession; the acquisition of goods and rights by donation or any other free title of acquisition amongst living persons; receiving sums as beneficiaries of a life insurance if the person who entered this insurance is different from the beneficiary.

Term and Tax Due
The inheritors have a six moth term to pay in the Tax Agency the result of what is declared in the Spanish Inheritance Tax return. This term is counted from the day in which the person was deceased (term of tax due) or from the day the person who inherits acquires by other means this title.

Obligors
The obligors of the Spanish Inheritance Tax are those natural persons who acquire goods or rights from any inheritance, legacy or any other title in reference to succession, and those receiving sums as beneficiaries of a life insurance if the person who entered this insurance is different from the beneficiary.

Place to Present these Returns
If the deceased person had its common residence in Spain, the payment of the Spanish Inheritance Tax will be the Tax Agency of the Autonomous Community where the deceased had his last domicile. If his common residence was outside Spain in the Madrid Tax Agency Delegation (with some exceptions to this rule).

Way to Do It

There are two ways to pay the Spanish Inheritance Tax:

Presenting, before the Tax Agency of the Autonomous Community which corresponds to the case, a tax return, in the above said term of six months, which will indicate the quantity to be paid for the Spanish Inheritance Tax.

Self Return: The inheritors themselves present the return to the Tax Agency, filling the correspondent returns and making the payment of the Spanish Inheritance Tax.