Reducing taxes significantly as applicable to foreigners and in particular those looking to become a resident from abroad is a proposal that has the full support of Marbella Ayuntamiento (Local Council), as this will help to encourage the property industry and attract investors.
This shift in policy is the result of a study published by a panel of experts that has advised the government to make the fiscal system less complex and more attractive to people from other countries looking to buy property in the area.
In particular, the report illustrated that Andalucía was losing out to neighbouring Mediterranean regions as a result of high taxes. The panel of experts concluded that there are ‘serious disincentives when it comes to deciding the location for pensioners or real estate investors in Spain’.
Furthermore, the panel found that there was a sense of nervousness amongst potential investors resulting from the need of the Spanish authorities to know about their business activities back in their home country. The experts highlighted this and said that this ‘has caused a well-founded discomfort amongst foreign residents in Spain because they perhaps find it somewhat surprising that the Spanish government requires more information from them than that of [the government] of their own country’.
If passed, the new tax regime will remove one of the main obstacles to the flow of investment into Andalucia.
