Skip to main content
Practical Income Manual 2022.

Capital gains and losses

Determination of the amount of capital gains or losses: general rules

Capital gains or losses derived from lucrative transfers

Transmissions or redemptions of shares or participations in collective investment institutions regulated by Law 35/2003

Law 11/2021, of July 9, on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud, with effect from January 1, 2022, modifies article 94 of the Personal Income Tax Law in order to standardize the treatment of investments in certain Collective Investment Institutions, known as listed investment funds and companies (ETFs), regardless of the national or foreign market in which they are listed. Thus, the treatment of those listed on the Spanish stock exchange with respect to the non-applicability of the deferral regime is extended to listed collective investment institutions that are listed on a foreign stock exchange.

Please note that Law 11/2021, of July 9, on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud, in relation to Corporate Tax, established additional requirements so that variable capital investment companies (SICAV) can apply the tax rate of 1 per 100. This modification is accompanied by a transitional regime for SICAVs that agree to their dissolution and liquidation, which is intended to allow their partners to transfer their investment to other collective investment institutions that meet the requirements to maintain the tax rate of 1 percent in Corporate Tax.

However, Law 11/2021 itself added a new thirty-sixth transitional provision of the Personal Income Tax Law to establish a transitional regime that allows companies acquired in foreign markets before January 1, 2022 to continue applying the deferral regime, with the except that the reinvestment must be made in other collective investment institutions other than ETFs.

Perception of premiums paid for the granting of a purchase option contract

For the purposes of declaring capital gains and losses, it must be taken into account that Supreme Court Rulings numbers . 803/2022 and 804/2022, both of June 21, have established as an interpretative criterion that the income obtained by the owner of a real estate property in exchange for offering the right of purchase option on it (the contract premium) constitutes a capital gain that must be integrated into the savings income (and not into the general income) as it implies a transfer, derived from the delivery of powers inherent to the right of property that the owner temporarily renounces.

The grantor (owner) undertakes not to dispose of the property during the option period in exchange for a price and constitutes a real right of preferential acquisition in favor of the opter, inherent or implicit in the property right, from which it is separated, which which represents a transfer and as such generates a profit that is independent of what, if applicable, may be produced later on the occasion of the sale.

Capital gains or losses not derived from lucrative transfers

Aid of 200 euros to individuals with a low level of income and assets

Article 31 of Royal Decree-Law 11/2022, of June 25, by which certain measures are adopted and extended to respond to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, to address situations of social vulnerability and economic, and for the economic and social recovery of the island of La Palma, introduced, in order to alleviate the detrimental effect on prices caused by the energy crisis derived from the invasion of Ukraine, aid called " Direct line of aid to individuals with a low level of income and assets " which consisted of a single payment of 200 euros, for individuals with a low level of income and assets, who are salaried, self-employed or unemployed.  For its beneficiaries, this aid is considered a capital gain.

Young Cultural Bonus

Law 22/2021, of December 28, on the General State Budgets for the year 2022 ( BOE of December 29) created, with effect from January 1, 2022, the so-called “ Youth Cultural Bonus” aimed at facilitating young people's access to culture.

This is a one-time grant whose beneficiaries are those young people who turn 18 during the year 2022 and meet certain requirements. The voucher has a maximum amount of 400 euros per beneficiary and must be used by the beneficiary for the acquisition of cultural products and services offered by the entities that adhere to the program, during a maximum period of 1 year from its granting: After this period, the bonus is automatically canceled and the beneficiary will no longer be able to use the unused amount. For its beneficiaries, this aid is considered a capital gain in the amount that has been effectively used by the beneficiary.