Spain: Government To Amend Law So Banks Pay Mortgage Tax

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in a press briefing that “Spanish people will no longer pay mortgage tax, but rather banks will”. Sánchez announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a Royal Decree-Law on Thursday to amend Section 29 of the Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty so that banks pay this tax.

The government will take this measure following the ruling handed down on Tuesday by the Judicial Review Division of the Supreme Court to “reject the appeal lodged and return to the criteria whereby the taxpayer of Stamp Duty for mortgage loans is the borrower”. The change will come into force when it is published in the Official State Journal.

Sánchez stated that “the government respects the work and independence of the judiciary, but regrets the ruling handed down”. The government, added the Prime Minister, “has a commitment to legal certainty and to citizens’ interests”. For that reason, he asserted, “the government will guarantee a foreseeable and stable scenario in the interests of all the operators involved”.

In the same vein, Sánchez reported that the government will send Parliament a proposal on the creation of the Independent Authority to Protect Clients of Financial Products, which will seek to strengthen protection against abuse, improve the capacity to resolve conflicts and guarantee legal certainty.
Stamp Duty