Six FAQ's on taxes and public prices linked to owner's community
The Communities of Owners allow to organize the response to the needs that, over time, will arise among the co-owners of a property through the Board of Owners that can be 'natural persons' - with flesh and bones- or 'legal persons' -firms-.
Having clarified this, in this text we will answer six FAQ's about the relationship between an owners commnities and the Tax Authorities.
1. Do Owners' Communities have legal personality?
No. The Owners' Communities (hereinafter OC) are an entity without legal personality because they do not have enough capacity to contract obligations or carry out activities.
The concept of 'legal personality' is defined by the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana as:
'Capacity held by a juridical person to be the subject of all legal relations, except those proper to human nature (such as kinship or marriage) (...)'.
2. Does the absence of legal personality imply that the OC a cause for not paying taxes?
No: they are two unrelated facts. Let us think about it, if, due to the fact of not having legal personality, an OC did not pay taxes, the following asymmetry of law would be created:
On the one hand, there would be individuals or legal entities, with legal personality, that would pay taxes for obtaining economic returns from certain economic activities -stipulated to the corresponding law-. At the same time, there could be other entities, which, because they do not have legal personality, would not pay taxes for these same activities and the same economic returns that the entities with legal personality achieve.
In addition to this reason there are to constitutional principles: the duty to contribute and the general interest that is set forth in Article 31.1 the Spanish Constitution which states the following:
'All (citizens) shall contribute to the support of public expenditure in accordance with their economic capacity through a fair tax system inspired by the principles of equality and progressiveness which, in no case, shall have confiscatory scope'.
As can be observed, the constituent writes "all shall contribute to the support of public expenditures". The lawmaker does so with a deliberately inclusive tone, that is, without going into whether this 'all' has legal personality or not -or into any other legal consideration about the particular nature of the person who pays taxes-.
3. To which main taxes is a OC subject?
a) To the Value Added Tax (IVA in Spanish): The forms 303 correspond to it, in this link you can access to the regulations of this one, and 390, in this link you can access to this document.
b) Personal Income Tax (IRPF in Spanish): The corresponding withholdings must be made. This tax obligation arises from the taxable event of having suppliers or workers hired by the CP. Then, quarterly it is necessary to present the models 111, in this link you can accede to its instructions and 190 in this link you can accede to all the necessary one on this document.
c) To be paid for the extra income: In this supposition it will be necessary to impute the part of benefit to each owner. It will do it in proportion to the quota of property of each owner.
It is necessary to communicate this imputation to the Treasury annually and to deliver to each owner the corresponding certificate. The President will have to make the Model 184, here you can access to everything necessary to complete it. If for whatever reason the President is not authorized, the Vice-president, the Secretary or any other Delegated Person is authorized to substitute him: the Vice-president, the Secretary or any other Delegated Person.
d) When the transactions are superior to 3005,06€: it is necessary to present annually the model 347, in this link you can accede, this one registers the operations of the OC with third persons.
4. When it comes to identify the OC: Which is the correct term NIF or CIF?
The right term is 'NIF' (in Spanish) for Tax Identification Number. Many citizens use the terms NIF and CIF for Tax Identification Code as synonyms, but, since the approval of the Royal Decree 1065/2007 of July 27, 2007, the term CIF does not exist.
5. Can the OC open current accounts?
Yes, it can do so in order to pay taxes.
In short, whenever a law clearly stipulates a taxable event, the OC has to meet its obligations to the company.
6. What are the variations of public prices in Barcelona this 2024?
Every year the prices of municipal services in Barcelona are updated. It should be noted that there are only two public prices that can affect OCs.
Firstly, in the 'Pla Endreça', the cost of cleaning graffiti will be passed on to the offender. Thus, the price will vary depending on whether the element is catalogued or not:
Non-catalogued buildings: 107 euros per hour of cleaning.
Façades or elements of buildings classified as B, C or D: 208 euros per hour of cleaning.
Secondly:
a) 'The commercial collection continues with the same prices.
b) It has increased the rate of the special services of cleaning and collection that may be demanded punctually by private companies for special needs, in an average of 20%'.
Source: Ajuntament de Barcelona website, here you can consult additional information.
At Finques Feliu we want to answer your questions because this gives you autonomy.