Habitat Costanera Commercial Properties

a) Payment of Taxes: In general terms, the first payment in public deed for a new home by a developer is subject to value added tax (at the reduced rate of 10% of the purchase price) and stamp duty (at the rate established in each individual autonomous community, and which is usually between 0.5 and 1%, in Madrid this is 1%). However, in particular cases and taxpayer situations, certain allowances and exemptions may apply. The reduced VAT rate of 10% will also apply to the purchase of up to two parking spaces per dwelling and annexes located therein acquired jointly in the same public deed. Otherwise, the purchase of parking spaces and storage rooms acquired individually will be taxed at the general rate of 21%. In the case of a second-hand property, the transaction would be subject to a property transfer tax called the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales Onerosas (at the rate established in each Autonomous Community, in Madrid this is 7%). The transfer of ownership would also require the payment of the Tax on Gains in Value of Urban Land (or Municipal Gains Tax) by the seller.

b) Legal Expenses: These are fees charged by the notary for the execution of the deed of sale, and are calculated in accordance with a tariff set by the government. These fees vary depending on the sale price as reflected in the deed of sale.

c) Registration Costs These are the fees charged by the registrar for the registration of the sale and purchase in the Land Registry. Like the notary’s fees, these are calculated according to a tariff set by the Government, and they vary depending on the sale price of the property.

d) Administrative or Processing Fees: These are the fees charged by the gestoría (this is a sort of agency that deals with official administrative processes in Spain) for carrying out the formalities subsequent to the signing of the deed of purchase (payment of taxes, registration, processing of capital gains, change in ownership of the property in the Land Registry). This may also include certain expenses prior to the signing of the deed, such as the verification of the title deeds and the state of encumbrances on the property.

The penitential deposit contract is a contract whereby the buyer proceeds to reserve, for a set period of time, the property that he intends to purchase, paying a certain amount as a deposit. The deposit is paid as a penitential deposit, regulated by Article 1454 of the Civil Code, which allows the contract to be cancelled unilaterally by the buyer, who agrees to forfeit the amount paid, or by the seller, who will be required to return double the amount received.

This is what is generally known as municipal gains tax It is a direct, municipal tax that is established on a voluntary basis by local councils, who are fully responsible for its management. It is levied on the increase in value of urban plots of land, as evidenced at the time of transfer and experienced over a maximum period of 20 years. This increase is determined by applying a percentage of the value of the land (which generally coincides with the cadastral value of the land as reflected in the most recent property tax bill), as determined in each case by the local councils, depending on the number of years that the property has been in the seller's possession.

This is a direct universally applicable tax that is mandatory for municipalities to levy, and management is shared by the state administration. The taxable event is constituted by the ownership of real estate, whether rural or urban, or by the ownership of certain rights in rem over the said property, and it is levied on the value of the said property. This will generally coincide with the cadastral value assigned to it, on which the rate of taxation established by the respective local councils will be based, within the limits of the minimum and maximum percentages permitted by law.

It is a tax that accrues annually, and is payable by the owner of the property or right in rem on 1 January each year. However, in municipalities such as Madrid, property tax (known in Spain as IBI) is levied between 1 October and 30 November.

The aim of a building record is to ensure that homeowners understand the building they are using, and have the necessary documentation and information they need for the proper use and maintenance of that building.

There are regulations regarding the content of the building record, and in general terms it will consist of:

1. Log books: general data on the building, the record of incidents and of maintenance and repair work carried out.
2. Technical specifications documents: These include the final works project, an annex with the most important technical data relating to the building and its components in the form of fact sheets, and the use and maintenance and emergency procedures manuals.
3. Document archive: This file contains the construction and occupancy licenses issued for the building, the quality control certificate, the building completion certificate, the acceptance of works report, the public deed of declaration of new works, and other documents relating to the building. If the property has been acquired by a single individual, that person will be responsible for keeping the building record. However, in the case of a community of owners, it will be the responsibility of the person who acts as the administrator of the property, or the president of the community, who will be the custodian of the building record.

Corpus certumis regulated by Article 1.471 of the Civil Code and it means that the price is not calculated or considered according to the surface area of the property being sold, or what would amount to the same thing, according to a price per unit of measurement, but according to the global sum agreed.

The energy efficiency certificate is an official document drawn up by a competent professional that includes objective information on the building’s energy characteristics. The energy efficiency certificate classifies the building by calculating the annual energy consumption required to fulfil the energy needs of that building under normal conditions of occupancy and operation. It includes hot water, heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting.

The energy certification process concludes with the issue of an energy performance certificate and the assignment of an energy label. The energy rating scale is a seven-letter one, ranging from A (most energy-efficient) to G (least energy-efficient). The energy label indicates the energy rating of a building by assigning one of these letters to it. This certificate is compulsory (with certain exceptions) for the owner of any individual part of an existing building (dwellings, offices or premises) that is the subject of a purchase or rental transaction.

This is the documentation that the owners of each of the homes within the building will receive on an individual basis. The manual is handed over together with the keys when the deeds are signed.

It contains information on the use and functionality of the property, the guarantees and operating manuals for household and electrical appliances, the commercial and installation plans for the property, and the necessary documentation for registering for the supply of utilities.