Skip to main content
Practical manual for Income Tax 2023.

Affected heritage elements

Specific valuation standard

Regulations: Articles 37.1.n) Law IRPF and 40.2 Regulation IRPF

Without prejudice to the application of the specific valuation rules discussed above that may be applicable, in order to determine the capital gain or loss derived from elements allocated or disassociated less than three years prior to the date of the transfer, the following clarifications must also be taken into account:

1. The acquisition value of the transferred item is constituted by its book value . This value is made up of the following components:

Note: As of January 1, 2015, the monetary correction coefficients provided for in the Corporate Tax to update the acquisition value of the transferred asset in these cases disappeared.

  1. The acquisition value, if the item was purchased from a third party .

    This value will be the actual amount for which the same would have been carried out, including the additional expenses incurred until it is put into operation, as well as the financial expenses accrued before the asset is put into operation which, being susceptible to activation according to the General Accounting Plan, would have been capitalized or activated.

  2. The cost of production, if the item has been produced by the taxpayer's own company .

    This value will be the acquisition cost of the raw materials consumed and other elements incorporated, as well as the proportional part of the direct and indirect costs that must be attributed to their production.

  3. In the case of assets that have been affected by the activity after their acquisition, the following cases must be distinguished:

    • Affectation carried out after January 1, 1999 . In this case, the acquisition value will be taken as the value of the asset at the time of the allocation and the acquisition date will be the date corresponding to the original acquisition.

    • Impact made before January 1, 1999 . In this case, the acquisition value should be taken as the one resulting from the criteria established in the Wealth Tax regulations at the time of the allocation and the acquisition date should be the one corresponding to the allocation.

  4. Whichever value prevails among the above, its amount will be increased or decreased by the following amounts:

    (+) The cost of investments or improvements made to the transferred item.

    (-) The amount of tax-deductible amortization, computing, in all cases, the minimum amortization.

    The elements affected by economic activities that are transferred after March 31, 2012, are excepted from this last rule, when they have enjoyed the freedom of amortization with or without maintaining employment provided for in the Thirtieth Additional Provision of Law IRPF . 

    Precision: In relation to the amortization of intangible assets with an indefinite useful life, it should be noted that, while in the direct estimation methods, both normal and simplified, amortization must be done in accordance with the regulations of IS , in the objective estimation method there is a specific tax amortization regime with maximum amortization percentages of 15% and minimum of 10%, which does not distinguish between intangible assets of definite or indefinite duration and which has remained unchanged to this day. However, outside of the objective estimation method, the regulation of the amortization of intangible assets with an indefinite useful life has undergone profound modifications both in its commercial and accounting aspects and also in the tax aspects of IS . In the latter, until January 1, 2016, the tax deductibility of the amortization of intangible assets of indefinite duration was not admitted, so it is not possible to speak in relation to periods prior to said date of a "minimum amortization" of such assets in the sense mentioned in article 40 of the Regulation of the Personal Income Tax (Resolution of the Central Economic-Administrative Court of February 10, 2020, in unification of criteria).

    Less the amount of any partial sales that may have been made previously, as well as any losses suffered by the asset.

    In summary:

    ACQUISITION VALUE (OR PRODUCTION COST OR EFFECTIVE VALUE)

    (+) IMPROVEMENTS

    (-) AMORTISATIONS + PREVIOUS DISPOSALS + LOSSES

    = ACCOUNTING VALUE OF THE ASSET ITEM

2. The reduction coefficients of the transitional regime are not applicable to the capital gains obtained.

Note: For the purposes of applying the reduction coefficients of the transitional regime, assets not affected by economic activities will be considered those in which the de-affectation of these activities has occurred more than three years prior to the date of transfer.