EDITORIAL |
Do you want to know what is the imputation of real estate income? Keep reading because, next, we are going to talk about this topic.
What is imputed real estate income
Among the numerous doubts that the citizenship usually has, there is the one of if it is necessary to pay taxes to have an empty apartment. The answer to this question is yes, since owning a house without renting it is a burden for the IRPF. This is what is known as imputed real estate income, and it is what we are going to talk about in this post.
Thus, article 85 of the Personal Income Tax Law 35/2006 establishes what an imputed real estate income is and, in addition, defines what type of properties will be affected. If we analyze said law, we can establish that it is an income that, for the purposes of the income tax return, we will have to declare, since it is an empty dwelling that is not the usual one. The Treasury, after all, considers that any property that is not the habitual one can generate some type of income, and as there is the possibility of obtaining benefits, a minimum must be paid at the time of making the income tax return.
How to calculate the real estate rent imputation in 2023
Normally, the amount of the imputation in a real estate income will be 2% of the cadastral value of the same, value that must appear in the Real Estate Tax. However, there are two exceptions to be taken into account:
- In homes whose cadastral value has been revised or modified after January 1, 1994, the amount will be 1.1% of the cadastral value.
- The amount will be 1.1% of its value in the Wealth Tax when the property has no cadastral value or the Treasury has not previously communicated it.
How it is applied in some doubtful cases
Although the law is clear in this regard, sometimes situations arise that may raise doubts as to whether the imputation of real estate income should be made. Below, we will see some of these situations.
When the property is inherited, but the acceptance of the inheritance has not yet been formalized.
Generally, those who are named as heirs must pay Inheritance and Gift Tax. If such inheritance includes any real estate, it is possible that they may also have to pay some municipal capital gains tax. However, in the case of inheritance in lieu of inheritance (i.e., when the act of acceptance and partition of the inheritance has not been carried out), real estate income must be imputed for those dwellings that form part of the inheritance. The persons called to the inheritance, then, are the ones who will have to pay the real estate rents according to the proportion of the inheritance that corresponds to them.
When the purpose of the property is the economic activity of one of the spouses
It may be the case that the dwelling is related to the economic activity of only one of the spouses. In these cases, the question often arises as to whether the other spouse, the one who does not carry out any related activity, should impute real estate income.
The taxation of 2023 indicates that it does not. The imputation of the income does not proceed when the spouse is not related to the economic activity carried out in the property, something that has been ratified by the TEAR of Castilla la Mancha.
When only the bare ownership, or usufruct, of the real estate is held
The 2023 taxation establishes that, in those cases in which the taxpayer only owns the bare ownership of the property, he/she is not obliged to impute income.
However, the situation is different in the case of the usufructuary. When there are rights in rem of enjoyment in a property, the rent will correspond to the holder of the right in rem of usufruct, who will have to pay a real estate rent for the 16.66% of usufruct.
When the property has rented rooms
If a part of the dwelling is rented (generally a room), the imputation of real estate rent will only take into account the part of the dwelling that is not affected by such activity. In other words, rent will only be imputed for those areas of the property that are not rented.
When the property is abroad
When we are talking about a property located in a foreign country, taxation establishes that the imputation of real estate income must be made. In these cases, the property will not have been assigned a cadastral value, so the income will be 1.1% of its value for Wealth Tax purposes.
When the property is in the process of being vacated
Another case that usually raises many doubts is when the property to be treated is occupied, which prevents its owner from using it. If there is a judicial procedure to recover its possession, the taxpayer will not have to impute any type of real estate income.