Apartment owners who rent them from this month will see their tax burden increase, as a result of the entry into force of the new Housing law. Until now, private owners who rented an apartment for habitual residence could deduct 60% of the net income in personal income tax, a percentage that with the new law has been reduced to 50% for contracts signed as of December 1. January.
Legal sources recalled that the Housing Law, in force since last May, plans to increase these bonuses, which could reach up to 90% in areas that are considered to have a stressed real estate market. However, until now no autonomous community has declared these areas.
Catalonia is, for the moment, the only community that has presented a proposal to the Government, last September, to declare 140 municipalities as stressed real estate zones, but the process has been pending until the report is provided to justify the measure.
According to a report prepared by Lefebvre, a company specialized in legal information, the 50% deduction in the net rental income may increase in these areas, and be up to 90% for owners who reduce the rent by 5% or more compared to the previous contract. It may be 70% for the first rental of a home to tenants between 18 and 35 years old, public administrations or non-profit entities. In addition, the deduction will remain at 60% for homes that have been rehabilitated in the two years prior to the date of the lease contract.
Sources from the Idealista portal recalled that to be entitled to these increased deductions, these initial conditions must be maintained. Furthermore, they can only be applied to owners who voluntarily declare rental income to the Treasury, not when that declaration is made after an investigation or inspection by the Treasury.
Idealista pointed out this Monday in a report that the gross rental profitability can reach 7.1%. This rate does not include taxes (VAT or property transfers, in second-hand homes as well as the IBI), community expenses, nor does it compare purchase and rental prices in homogeneous market areas. With these limitations, the data handled by Idealista indicate that the highest profitability is achieved in Lleida (8.5%), followed by Murcia (7.9%) and Huelva (7.3%).
