On 12 October 2023, the Belgian Official Gazette published fines on non-declaration or late declaration of acquisition or disposal of foreign real estate. Therefore, we discuss the penalties on foreign KI.
Declaring your property abroad
You must declare any acquisition or disposal of property abroad, as well as any conversion thereof, to the Belgian tax authorities. For a purchase, for example, you have four months.
Specifically, you should report the 'current normal sale value' in the tax return. So you can enter the purchase price in the case of a purchase and the acquisition value as stated in the deed in the case of an inheritance or gift. For Spain, this is the tax reference value.
After that, the taxman converts the sale value to its value in 1975. On this amount, we take 5.30% to obtain the final KI.
Any form of ownership should be declared, except bare ownership. As a couple, each partner makes an individual declaration for the full amount based on the division of ownership (e.g. 50/50).
You can find more information on the declaration requirement at the FPS Finance website.
Here you can find more information on How to file the return yourself.
Fines foreign KI
The penalties below are in force. For the non-declaration or untimely declaration of the acquisition (e.g. a purchase or inheritance) and/or disposal (e.g. sale or donation) of a foreign property with a KI smaller than 745 euros, you risk a fine of 1,000 euros. For property with a foreign KI from €745 to €2,500, the fine is €2,000. Finally, the fine is EUR 3,000 for property with a foreign KI above EUR 2,500.
You risk a fine per plot. So be sure to pay attention to the declaration of land as well.
Automatic data exchange
The Belgian authorities are aware of your property abroad thanks to automatic data exchange between EU countries. Non-declaration therefore makes no sense.
Do you have questions about buying or selling your property in Spain? If so, please feel free to contact on.
