5 ms·

The thing I learned recently that happens in Spain is that if you have a property sitting empty, the government will calculate a "virtual rent" so to speak and

The thing I learned recently that happens in Spain is that if you have a property sitting empty, the government will calculate a "virtual rent" so to speak and charge you based on that (normally lower than actual market rate, but not much). If you rent it out, you get taxed based on what you actually make and not on this potential rent. Real estate taxes are apart/independent. This makes people really want to rent out places, and you see a much higher occupancy than in other countries (you still have squatters, which is a big issue, pushing in the opposite direction so it's still not perfect).

6510 5y ago
It should be much more harsh. If you own a building where a store should be but aren't using it as such you should be made to pay an insane tax for lowering the value of the entire shopping area.
- 6510 5y ago
  I live in a block with around 6000 people and no stores. That what should be the mall was held hostage for decades by a supermarket chain who have a store 10 km from here. They didn't want their competitors to have it. Eventually the entire thing was changed into a giant day care.
infogulch 5y ago
Oh that's a great idea. Especially if the owner is insisting at only renting at a ridiculous price per area -- ok, fine, set your rates at whatever you like even if nobody is remotely willing to pay that, but you'll pay taxes at that rate so best not inflate it too much, hm?
hanniabu 5y ago
Sounds like a good opportunity for a business to get paid to rent out your place for a profit that's a fraction of the virtual rent. The owner saves money ahead can kick you out when they find a good client
- franciscop 5y ago
  Yes, or a family member to rent it out for cheap. The thing is that you pay a % of the rent, so you'd have to rent it out really cheap for it to make sense. I don't know if you can have an inspection or something happen if you rent it ridiculously cheap. Example: you rent a place valued at 100k€ (mkt price: 160k€) for 1000€, or the "taxes for the virtual rent" is calculated at +0.9% of the value yearly, which is 75€/month in taxes. Let's say you pay 10% taxes on the rent, so it's either 100€ or 75€. That means the company would need to rent a 1000€ apartment for under 75€/month for it to make sense to you. The sane thing here would be to rent it out normally, you just need to put some effort to avoid squatters (no credit system in Spain). This applies for normal residencies, I don't know about comercial real estate (though I would expect the same applies). In construction, allowing family to live there, land, etc do not have these taxes.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

6510 5y ago

It should be much more harsh. If you own a building where a store should be but aren't using it as such you should be made to pay an insane tax for lowering the value of the entire shopping area.

6510 5y ago
I live in a block with around 6000 people and no stores. That what should be the mall was held hostage for decades by a supermarket chain who have a store 10 km from here. They didn't want their competitors to have it. Eventually the entire thing was changed into a giant day care.

infogulch 5y ago

Oh that's a great idea. Especially if the owner is insisting at only renting at a ridiculous price per area -- ok, fine, set your rates at whatever you like even if nobody is remotely willing to pay that, but you'll pay taxes at that rate so best not inflate it too much, hm?

hanniabu 5y ago

Sounds like a good opportunity for a business to get paid to rent out your place for a profit that's a fraction of the virtual rent. The owner saves money ahead can kick you out when they find a good client

franciscop 5y ago
Yes, or a family member to rent it out for cheap. The thing is that you pay a % of the rent, so you'd have to rent it out really cheap for it to make sense. I don't know if you can have an inspection or something happen if you rent it ridiculously cheap. Example: you rent a place valued at 100k€ (mkt price: 160k€) for 1000€, or the "taxes for the virtual rent" is calculated at +0.9% of the value yearly, which is 75€/month in taxes. Let's say you pay 10% taxes on the rent, so it's either 100€ or 75€. That means the company would need to rent a 1000€ apartment for under 75€/month for it to make sense to you. The sane thing here would be to rent it out normally, you just need to put some effort to avoid squatters (no credit system in Spain). This applies for normal residencies, I don't know about comercial real estate (though I would expect the same applies). In construction, allowing family to live there, land, etc do not have these taxes.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]