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Practical Income Manual 2021.

Not derived from transfers of assets

Regulations: Art. 34.1.b) Law Personal Income Tax

In cases other than onerous or lucrative transfer, the amount of the capital gain or loss will be the market value of the assets or proportional parts , where applicable.

The incorporation of assets or rights to the taxpayer's assets that do not derive from a prior transfer must be included within this category of capital gains, such as, for example, the receipt of certain subsidies or aid for the acquisition or rehabilitation of the habitual residence, aid from the State in concept of basic emancipation income, those derived from the forestry exploitation of the neighbors in public forests, the interests of a compensatory nature originated by the delay in the fulfillment of an obligation, including that of the payment of salaries, as well as the prizes obtained for participation in games, contests, raffles or random combinations.

Specific assumptions:

In the case of subsidies the amount of said gain will be the monetary amount of the subsidy.

In relation to the awards it is worth distinguishing:

  • Cash prizes . These prizes are subject to withholding, so the amount countable as capital gain will consist of the entire prize without deducting the withholding borne, which will be declared as such in the section of the declaration corresponding to withholdings and other payments on account.

  • Prizes in kind. These prizes are subject to deposit on account, so the total computable amount will be composed of the sum of the valuation of the prize received, which will be made at its market value, plus the deposit on account, unless the latter had been passed on to the taxpayer.

In the case of judicial costs two situations must be distinguished:

  1. Taxpayer obliged—by court ruling—to pay the legal defense expenses incurred by the winning party in the process.

    This is a capital loss that will be imputed in the tax period in which the conviction becomes final, since it is in said tax period when the capital alteration that gives rise to it takes place. It is integrated into the general tax base in the manner and with the limits established in article 48 of the Personal Income Tax Law .

  2. Taxpayer who, as the winner of a judicial procedure, receives a certain amount for the conviction of the opposing party to pay legal costs.

    In this case, to determine the capital gain that the ruling of the opposing party to pay legal costs may mean for the winner of the lawsuit, the winning litigant may deduct from the amount received as costs the expenses incurred as a result of the lawsuit, deductible amount that may reach a maximum of the amount you receive, without exceeding it. Therefore, if the amount of the costs order corresponds to the expenses incurred—qualifiable as costs—there will not have been a capital gain for the consultant with respect to the costs. See the Resolution of the TEAC of June 1, 2020, Claim number 00/06582/2019 , relapse in appeal for the unification of criteria .

Note: The refund, in cash or through other compensation measures, of the amounts previously paid to financial entities as interest for the application of clauses will not be integrated into the tax base of Tax of limitation of interest rates on loans (the so-called floor clause), along with their corresponding compensatory interests, derived both from agreements entered into with financial entities and from compliance with judgments or arbitration awards.