Brussels files for Spain for harming foreign landlords

Brussels files for Spain for harming foreign landlords

The European Commission is also investigating this country and eight others for having failed to comply with its obligations to provide information on the environmental status of its marine waters

  The European Commission opened on Thursday a file to Spain for not allowing non-resident citizens to benefit from a reduction for income tax purposes for the rental income of real estate, according to a statement.

That is, according to Brussels, investors from other EU countries are subject to different treatment that "unduly" restricts the free movement of capital. And is that residents enjoy a reduction of 60% of the net income obtained by the rental of real estate used by the tenant as a home , but does not allow non-residents can benefit from it.

At the moment, Brussels has sent a letter to the Government reminding him of his obligations. It gives you a period of two months to adapt the rules and, if not, it will give way to a mechanism that can end with economic sanctions and even a complaint in the Court of Justice of the EU.

In addition, Brussels opened another case for the discriminatory treatment of citizens of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for taxation on the capital gains derived from the transfer of shares.

Likewise, the European Commission has denounced Spain before the Court of Justice of the European Union (TEU) for not correctly applying all the requirements established in the directive on energy efficiency, specifically in relation to individual consumption meters in apartment buildings. .

This is the last step of an infringement procedure that the Community Executive opened in October 2017 with the sending of a letter of location. Brussels sent a reasoned opinion to the Spanish authorities in March 2018 in which it warned of the possibility that the case would end up in the European Justice if the necessary measures were not adopted.

European regulations require the installation of individual heating, cooling and hot water meters in all apartment buildings and multi-purpose buildings whose occupants receive these services from a collective installation, such as a common boiler. In addition, it establishes that this requirement is applicable, as long as it is technically viable and profitable, to all existing buildings.

The European Commission has denounced Spain because the transposition of the directive into national legislation only imposes this requirement on new buildings, that is, those built after 2007.

But in addition, the directive establishes that calorimeters installed in each radiator should be used in those buildings in which the consumption meters . "This requirement has also not been correctly transposed by Spain," Brussels said in a statement, which recalled that European standards should be incorporated into the national legislative framework at the latest on June 5, 2014.

The measurement and billing requirements for heating, cooling and hot water included in the 2012 energy efficiency directive are intended to offer consumers incentives to effectively regulate their energy consumption and the possibility of reducing their energy bill.

In general, this regulation establishes a set of binding measures to help the EU bloc achieve its 20% energy efficiency target by 2030. The EU has already approved its goal for 2030, of 32.5%, although it is a Indicative percentage.

Marine waters
Also, Brussels has opened a file to Spain and eight other EU countries for having failed to comply with its obligations to inform on the environmental status of its marine waters , as required by the framework directive on marine strategy, reported Thursday in a release.

In addition to Spain, Brussels has sent letters of location to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta and the United Kingdom . It is the first step of the infringement procedures that the Community Executive opens to countries that fail or partially comply with European standards.

These nine countries now have a period of two months to give explanations to the EU authorities on the matter, which could end up in the Court of Justice of the EU if any of the capitals continues to violate the rules.

The Member States had undertaken to review and update, before 15 October 2018, their assessment of the environmental status of marine waters, the impact of human activities, the determination of their environmental status and their environmental objectives .

"The countries in question did not submit reports to the Commission by the deadline," the European Commission regretted.