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Practical Income Manual 2019.

General scheme

Regulations: Articles 34 to 36 Law Personal Income Tax and 40 Regulations

Note: Take into account the summary tables of the general rules that are set out and which can be accessed at the end of this section.

The determination of the amount of profits or capital losses arising from the transfer, onerous or lucrative, of unaffected assets(1); It is determined by the difference between the transmission and acquisition values of the assets.

  • The acquisition value will be formed by the sum of:

    1. The actual amount for which said acquisition had been made or, when it had been for profit or free of charge (inheritance, legacy or donation), by the declared or administratively verified for the purposes of the Inheritance and Donation Tax, without this may exceed the market value.

      In lucrative transfers of companies or participations referred to in article 20.6 of Law 29/1987, of December 18, on Inheritance and Donation Tax ( BOE of 19), The acquisition value will coincide with the donor's original value since the donee is subrogated to the donor's position regarding the values and dates of acquisition of said assets.

    2. The cost of investments and improvements made in the acquired assets, without including, for these purposes, the costs of conservation and repair. For these purposes, the compensation that the owner pays to his tenant to vacate the property is considered an improvement.
    3. The expenses (commissions, Notary Public, Registry, etc.) and taxes inherent to the acquisition (Property Transfers and Documented Legal Acts, VAT or Inheritance or Donation Tax if the acquisition was made free title), excluding the interest that had been paid by the purchaser.
    4. From the sum corresponding to the above amounts, the amount of tax-deductible amortization will be subtracted, calculating in any case the minimum amortization. It is not appropriate to compute amortization for those assets that are not susceptible to depreciation, such as, for example, land, securities, etc.

      In relation to the calculation of amortizations, it should be emphasized that the "fiscally deductible" correspond exclusively to leased or subleased real estate or furniture, real rights of use and enjoyment of real estate, cases of provision of technical assistance that do not constitute economic activity and the leasing of businesses or mines or subleases. In these cases, the minimum amortization will be computed, regardless of its effective consideration as an expense.

      The minimum amortization is the result of the maximum amortization period or the corresponding fixed percentage, depending on each case. For leased properties, the amount of the minimum amortization is determined by applying 1.5 percent until December 31, 1998; 2 percent until December 31, 2002, and 3 percent from January 1, 2003.

      It should also be taken into account that the depreciation base for real estate acquired for profit is the amount of the taxes paid plus the inherent expenses, not the value for the purposes of the Inheritance and Donation Tax plus the expenses and taxes inherent to the acquisition.

  • The transmission value will be made up of:

    1. The actual amount for which the transfer would have been carried out or the declared value or, where applicable, the administratively verified value for the purposes of the Inheritance and Donation Tax when the transfer had been carried out for profit or free of charge, without this being able to exceed the market value.

      The amount actually paid will be taken as the actual amount of the sale value, provided that it is not lower than the normal market value, in which case the latter will prevail.

    2. Expenses and taxes inherent to the transfer may be deducted from the above amount, excluding interest, as soon as they have been paid by the transferor.

In summary, the components of the respective acquisition and transfer values of the different assets not affected by economic activities, depending on whether the transfer is for onerous or lucrative purposes, are those indicated in the following tables:


(1) The determination of the amount of the capital gain or loss that arises from the transfer of assets affected by is discussed in the following section of this same Chapter.(Back)

  1. Outline-Summary: onerous transmission
  2. Outline-Summary: lucrative streaming