How do EU tax havens work?

Countries such as Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Cyprus attract large numbers of multinational companies by offering tax advantages that allow them to reduce their tax liabilities significantly. These cross-border tax avoidance practices drain resources from other EU countries and create tensions between member states.

Tax avoidance and tax evasion are legal concepts that may seem synonymous but have a completely different legal nature. Tax avoidance is using legal practices to avoid paying certain taxes or to minimise a tax bill. Although this practice is not illegal, it often exploits loopholes in the law to obtain certain tax exemptions, deductions, and allowances. On the other hand, tax avoidance also seeks to avoid or reduce the payment of taxes, but in this case, using illegal practices, therefore, it is a criminal offence.

A good example of tax avoidance is what many Spanish multinationals do by having subsidiaries in low-tax countries to reduce the burden of their tax architecture. According to the latest ‘Country-by-Country’ report republished in April by the Tax Agency, the most productive workers of Spanish companies are to be found in their subsidiaries in Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands.

The productivity of these subsidiaries in EU tax shelters owned by the 123 largest multinationals in Spain ranged between 1.2 million and 1.9 million euros per employee, while in other European countries that do not offer the same tax advantages, this indicator was around 450,000 euros per employee.

This is no coincidence, nor does it mean that the employees of these subsidiaries are much more efficient than their counterparts in Spain. These delegations are not production centres, but small, low-staffed offices that manage a lot of money. And this is where the high productivity figures for these workers come from. With these practices, Spain loses more than 4.7 billion euros in taxes per year.

Advantages of tax havens

The case of Ferrovial, which, despite having received public aid, changed its headquarters from Spain to the Netherlands by merging with its subsidiary to pay less taxes, revived the debate on tax havens in the EU.

The Spanish multinational claimed that it had chosen the Netherlands as its headquarters because of the country’s triple A (AAA) credit rating and ‘stable’ legal framework, but it is no secret that a more favourable tax and regulatory climate was the main trigger for the move.

While it is true that corporate tax is around 25% in both countries, the first 395,000 euros of income is only taxed at 15% in the Netherlands. Moreover, the tax treatment of dividends is less aggressive and there is the possibility of redirecting part of their taxable income to the Netherlands Antilles with a more favourable tax treatment.

Similarly, Ireland has established itself as a Mecca for large technology, financial and pharmaceutical companies, attracting more than 1000 multinationals in these sectors, partly thanks to its benevolent corporate tax policy, but mainly because until 2015 it allowed the creation of two companies: one in a tax haven with intellectual property rights, and the other in Ireland that was used to sell to the rest of the world while paying for these rights to the first.

A similar case can be found in Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus, where Spanish companies can pay less than 3% tax on their foreign business. These subsidiaries also stand out for having the lowest average number of employees. In Malta, the country with the second-lowest effective rate and where companies can be split in two, as in Ireland, there are 13 employees on average per subsidiary, while in Cyprus there are only 9.

Finally, there is the case of Belgium, where the General Court of the European Union found that tax exemptions granted to multinational companies constituted an illegal aid scheme, forcing the country to recover 700 million euros in unpaid taxes from at least 35 multinationals and to change its tax regime. An exceptional case in a European context favourable to tax havens that shows little sign of changing in the near future.

If you want to discover the best option to protect your savings, go to Preciosos 11Onze. We will help you buy at the best price the ultimate safe haven asset: physical gold.

When we talk about fairness in business, our legalistic alter ego soon comes out, and we say to ourselves, quite convinced that we comply with each and every law. We believe that by complying with the laws, no further moral assessment is needed whether the laws are right or should be updated. The implementation of justice cannot be left to ethicists or lawyers. We cannot simplify the assessment of what is just by making it concrete that it is legal. Practising ethics requires educating practical judgement.

Relatively recently, a leading jurist commented that if we had to wait to change legality with the permission of those who gain from current laws, slavery would still exist. And nothing could be truer. In fact, in business, laws are an absolute minimum, but justice, and above all, the fact of producing fair results in the distribution of resources, responsibilities, rewards and recognition, seems to go beyond these legal minimums. The task of managing companies includes assessing whether the business systems that allocate tangible or intangible resources are appropriate. This assessment takes it away from compliance with legality, and even more so from neutrality. A decision must be made that goes beyond purely technical considerations, making it necessary to assess the consequences of the decision, and whether these consequences are good for everyone.

The law is not enough, we must go one step further

Using a supposedly neutral technique (or positive law) leads us to overlook the fact that it is not neutral. We pretend that we are using economic science that is supposedly free from any moral evaluations. And we feed it into the technical content of many management programmes. This then ends up being implemented in the company. We think that the (technical) law is enough, and we go further, we delegate the moral aspects to ethical experts. And we justify this with a separation thesis that considers that facts can be observed without assessing them. Any value judgement is dismissed as unscientific, and this is done with arguments along the lines of “we are talking about factual things, we are talking about science, about objective things”. This neutrality with which they want to evaluate decisions is impossible. The separation thesis should be discarded as false rather than useless. The implementation of moral evaluations becomes necessary, and the criteria of justice are a necessary aspect to discriminate criteria to be used in decisions.

Economic laws do not stand alone, like the law of gravity, but are phenomena that act on people, who are willing, motivated and learn for better or worse. Using economic laws that pretend that people are neither motivated, nor willing nor learning, perpetuates the status quo, or makes it worse. Deciding which criteria should prevail when making a decision, discerning between options and being able to foresee the consequences that decisions have on others. The function of business for some economists is only to create profits, the more, the better. But there is no deterministic law that can force this function. In fact, looking at reality, making companies only have the social function of making profits has not taken us very far, and it therefore seems fair to propose others. Making their function one of generating justice and making justice an intermediary for the common good is absolutely necessary. Businesses must find their usefulness and their social function. If they end up focusing on the common good, promoting justice among all stakeholders, they will find many more followers than they do now, and they will perform a better function.

Companies of people for people

Another important factor to take into account, which often goes unnoticed, is that the company is like a community of people that participates in a wider community, where people can develop in it and find meaning, this allows it to bring a wider and more authentic legitimization to business activity and helps to understand the very existence of companies, their meaning. Seeing them as a tool for three to get rich makes little sense, which right now is starting to look very ridiculous to many people. And how can you distinguish companies that contribute to the common good from those that don’t? One simple way is to look at their mission, and above all at implementation: the facts. Actions speak louder than words.

To see if companies say they solve and solve real needs with their products and services (they contribute to a social common good), and to see how they do it, i.e. how they use resources and how they treat people (internal common good), becomes absolutely essential if we want to have a business fabric that also helps to change consciences. The contribution to the common good is what makes companies meaningful and allows them to realize their full potential.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

In an economic context of great uncertainty, inflation, and low-interest rates, guaranteed investment funds can be a good option for investors who want to diversify their savings and, at the same time, ensure a certain return on their investment.

As the name implies, guaranteed funds guarantee all or part of the capital invested, as well as a predetermined return over a period of time. This profitability is generally referenced to the evolution of a stock market index, such as Ibex-35, and will depend on certain previously established circumstances being met.

Therefore, it should be borne in mind that with the funds offered by Spanish banks, guaranteed returns are not always assured. The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) defines these products as funds that ensure that, at least at a certain future date, all or part of the initial investment will be preserved, and in some cases, they may also offer a certain guaranteed return.

Because of the low risk involved, these funds usually provide a low return and are intended for investors who do not want to worry about their money or investments, but are nevertheless a good alternative to fixed-term deposits.

Types of guaranteed investment funds

There are three different categories of guaranteed investment funds, depending on whether they guarantee the totality of the initial investment. Guaranteed fixed-income funds promise investors, as of the maturity date, the recovery of the initial capital and also a predetermined fixed return. These funds are particularly suited to investors with an investment horizon of between six months and three years, who value a high degree of stability for their investments at the expense of performance.

Guaranteed equity funds, on the other hand, only secure the initial investment as of the maturity date. In addition, they offer the possibility of returns linked to the performance of various financial assets or indexes. However, the investor has to bear in mind that if the performance is not as expected, the return may be zero.

There is a third category, partial guarantee funds, which, unlike the previous two, do not insure the entire initial investment, but a percentage, usually 90%. This higher risk is compensated by the possibility of a higher return on maturity, also linked to the evolution of equity instruments, currencies, or other assets.

Low-interest rates have popularised guaranteed equity or partial equity funds, which offer a good balance between security and profitability compared to more conservative funds, such as fixed-income funds, which are very safe but also offer very low profitability. But as always, before making an investment it is vital to assess the risk we are willing to take and to clearly define our investment objectives.

The question, therefore, is: is there any fund that generates high returns and guarantees 100% of the investment and returns?

If you want to know more about superior options to make your money profitable, go to Guaranteed Funds. From 11Onze Recomana we propose you the best options in the market.

11Onze Podcast launches a series of chapters to find out all about banking abuses, conversations with Arcadi Sala-Planell, Head of Legal at 11Onze. First chapter: les comissions.

“All traditional banks have jumped on the commissions’ bandwagon to make money, because banks can’t survive”, explains Sala-Planell in the first chapter of Abusos Bancaris. In several chapters, the lawyer will go through the abuses most commonly suffered by users of the banking system, in conversation with the Head of Contents of 11Onze Toni Mata.

“Banking commissions are regulated, but in practice financial institutions bypass this regulation“, says Sala-Planell, who recommends checking on the Bank of Spain’s website whether the commissions are irregular or not. “The banks abuse people because they know they won’t go to court for a commission,” says the CLO of 11Onze.

More 11Onze Podcast

In addition to the chapters on banking abuses, 11Onze Podcast will increase its content offering. It will do so with conversations on topics of interest around the world of money that will feature 11Onze agents and some of its managers.

Do you want to be the first to receive the latest news about 11Onze? Click here to subscribe to our Telegram channel

The multiple bank failures that took place during the 2008 financial crisis familiarised us with the concept of a bailout, a mechanism whereby a government uses public money to rescue financial institutions. However, there is another, less well-known option where shareholders, creditors, and depositors can take over the losses.

Big banks have become used to playing Russian roulette with money that is not theirs. If business is good, they keep the profits, while if it goes badly, the losses are socialised at the taxpayer’s expense. This is a globalised phenomenon that has been repeated over time and became evident with the multiple bank bailouts and financial sector restructuring that took place during the 2008 financial crisis.

Thus, to avoid the collapse of the banking system, the first option for many countries was to bail out ailing institutions or, in other words, use taxpayer’s money to cover the red numbers caused by the irresponsible financial management of the bankrupt institutions’ management teams.

In the case of Spain, major international organisations estimate the costs of the bank bailout at 6% of GDP. More than 64 billion euros in public money was injected into the banks, much of which has already been written off after the banks have only returned a tiny amount to taxpayers.

External bailout vs. internal recapitalisation

The two basic models currently used by the financial system to help struggling banks are the bailout or external rescue and the bail-in or internal recapitalisation. While in a bailout the state, i.e. the public as a whole, bears the cost of recapitalisation, in the case of a bail-in the losses are borne by shareholders, creditors and ultimately depositors, as happened in Cyprus in 2013. The concept of bail-in is based on the notion that if the bank needs to rebalance its balance sheet, it must first use its own capital.

Since January 2016, a bail-in system has been in force in the European Union. According to this resolution mechanism, shareholders receive the first blow. If this does not stabilise the bank, subordinated creditors take over. Next in line are the holders of senior bonds and, finally, uninsured depositors, i.e. those with more than 100,000 euros in their accounts, with preference given to the deposits of large companies over those of households and SMEs, while small depositors remain unaffected.

It is therefore a mechanism designed to minimise the possibility that the costs of resolving a non-viable institution will be borne by taxpayers, while at the same time ensuring that systemically important institutions are resolved without endangering financial stability.

Can the bank or the State take my savings in case of bail-in or bankruptcy?

Yes, if you have more than €100,000. If you have less than €100,000, you will be excluded from the bail-in and will be covered by the Deposit Guarantee Fund in case of bankruptcy. This body guarantees the return of money from savings accounts, current accounts and fixed-term deposits.

Let us remember that the FGD guarantees 100,000 euros per depositor and institution. Therefore, to insure higher amounts, it is advisable to have the capital distributed among different entities, without exceeding 100,000 euros in any one of them. Alternatively, if an account with 200,000 euros is shared by two people, each of them would have 100,000 euros insured.

Another option is to open a current account with a fintech such as 11Onze, which operates through an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and is required by law to insure 100% of its customers’ deposits in the event of bankruptcy, regardless of the amount.

Are there any real examples of bail-in?

In Spain, on 7 June 2017, Banco Popular was the first Spanish bank to be bailed-in under the European Union’s new framework for bank resolution. Shareholders and subordinated debt holders lost their investment, and the bank was sold for one euro to Banco Santander, thus avoiding the use of public money. In this case, depositors, even if they had more than 100,000 euros in savings, did not lose their money.

The bank bailout in Greece in 2012 led to the liquidation of Laiki Bank and the restructuring of the Bank of Cyprus through a bail-in. In this case, customers with up to €100,000 in savings did not lose their money, but big depositors lost a large part of their savings or, in some cases, this money was converted into shares.

If you want to discover the best option to protect your savings, enter Preciosos 11Onze. We will help you buy at the best price the safe-haven asset par excellence: physical gold.

Si tenim uns diners estalviats, i estem pagant una hipoteca, ens pot sorgir el dubte de si surt a compte retornar el préstec hipotecari abans del termini establert. Coral Santacruz, de l’equip de producte d’11Onze, detalla els avantatges i inconvenients de dur a terme una amortització anticipada.

La cancel·lació o amortització parcial o total del préstec hipotecari consisteix a reduir o pagar totalment el deute que tens pendent amb l’entitat financera abans del termini establert en el contracte. És a dir, fer servir els teus estalvis per a cancel·lar o pagar part del deute amb el banc. 

Tot i que a priori pot semblar una bona idea aprofitar diners estalviats per retornar o reduir un préstec hipotecari abans de temps, tot dependrà de les condicions d’amortització que s’hagin signat en el contracte de la hipoteca.

Reduir quota o termini d’amortització

Si ens decidim per fer una amortització parcial, podem reduir l’import de la quota (en referència al capital i interessos), o el termini (el temps que es tardarà a tornar el préstec). Per tant, “s’ha de valorar quina de les dues opcions és la més viable per a nosaltres, depenent de si volem acabar de pagar abans, o pagar menys cada mes”, apunta Santacruz.

Independentment de quina opció triem, haurem de comunicar a l’entitat financera la voluntat d’amortitzar la hipoteca i explicar la tipologia que volem aplicar. Hem de tenir en compte que aplicar aquest procés té un cost, com explica Santacruz, “és la comissió d’amortització anticipada, i a l’hora de signar la hipoteca ens haurem de fixar quines condicions ens ofereix l’entitat financera en aquest aspecte”.

Si vols conèixer una assegurança justa per a la teva llar i per a la societat, descobreix 11Onze Segurs.

Many people are wary of taking out insurance. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to pay off. But history tells us that it does. The whole point of insurance, beyond the small details, is to ensure that a financial misfortune doesn’t ruin our lives.

As 11Onze agent Pilar Oltra explains, insurance has generated an “uncomfortable” popularity because there is a tendency to think that “we’re taking out smoke and mirrors”. But the reality is that they have been with us since the Middle Ages, when communities began to work together in solidarity to guarantee food.

The Code of Hammurabi, written more than four thousand years ago in Babylon, devoted hundreds of clauses to the bottomry. And around the same time, Chinese merchants shared risks by exchanging goods between their ships in case one of them sank. The earliest surviving maritime policy dates from around 1300 and there is also a regulation of maritime insurance from 1435.

It was in the 17th century that the industry took another leap forward. The first fire insurance company was created in London, and Lloyd’s was also born. It coined the concepts of “insurance, policy and subscriber in documents very similar to those we sign now”, as Oltra explains.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it

Insurance protects us against calamities and unforeseen events. That is why, as they say, “it is always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it”. On the one hand, it provides us with “security” in the event of any eventuality that could happen and also lets us “reduce risks in both the personal and professional spheres”, as the 11Onze agent explains. That is why it brings “a lot of peace of mind”.

As Oltra points out, in a world without insurance it would be impossible to rebuild “a building after an accident” and there would be no one to assume “the costs after an earthquake”. “They make it possible for an uncertain world to be lived safely, and this leads citizens to invest and believe in the future”, concludes Pilar Oltra.

The 11Onze agent warns that it is impossible to save money for all unforeseen events and exemplifies this with an exercise in which we would have to put money in different boxes for the problems that could affect our lives, our house, our car… “Make a calculation with the cost of these situations that you or someone you know has suffered. How long would you need to get it? And once you have spent it, do you know when the claim will happen again? I assure you that we would be unable to keep the boxes full at all times,” Oltra concludes.

If you want to discover fair insurance for your home and for society, check 11Onze Segurs.

Quan se’ns parla dels diners es comenta que són covards, que busquen la inversió segura, que fugen de la incertesa, que s’amaguen en aquelles inversions que donen molt rendiment. Però això es basa en uns supòsits simplificats de la realitat que hauríem d’examinar abans de creure’ns tot allò que se’ns diu. I un d’aquests supòsits és permetre que la informació que circula sobre les inversions sigui transparent i fiable

Quan es discuteix sobre “com organitzar” sempre hi ha una certa tendència derivar cap a la macroeconomia. Per exemple, quan es discuteix la viabilitat de l’Estat català, es confonen termes relacionats amb el “mercat” i l’“organització”.  Es diu que Catalunya no és viable perquè no és atractiu el seu mercat per a invertir-hi, referint-se a la mida del territori o al nombre d’habitants. D’altres comenten les dificultats organitzatives, sobretot de manca d’economies d’escala per tenir costos assumibles. Altres, mirant el mercat del deute, diuen que les emissions de deute català no tindrien sortida.

Per començar, la decisió d’una empresa d’invertir a Catalunya pot valorar-se d’acord amb si troba sinergies entre el seu sistema de valors corporatius i els de la cultura catalana (aspecte organitzatiu). I això sí, haurà analitzat abans sí els mercats potencials la fan viable. Per exemple, si es tracta d’un centre comercial, quantificarà si la localitat on se situï té potencial suficient (res a veure amb els habitants de Catalunya, si no del poble o ciutat en qüestió). Una empresa de serveis mirarà si té accés a mà d’obra qualificada i si la situació geogràfica li dona accés a altres mercats.

Invertir amb consciència

Cal observar aquests dies que aquells que valoren les inversions per assessorar a on han d’invertir els diners aquells que en tenen, tampoc es posen massa d’acord. De cop i volta el bo espanyol es qualifica de bo “escombraries”, i la prima de risc s’enfila. Llavors les declaracions d’alguna autoritat competent fan que torni a baixar la prima i sembla que les aigües turbulentes es tornen més tranquil·les. En cas de tenir diners, els invertiria seguint altres consells menys volubles, però suposo que les agències de ràting les formen persones que valoren la informació que reben, i la deuen fer circular de la millor manera possible, és a dir, en realitat, no deixen de ser persones que miren les notícies i les interpreten a la seva manera. Mirem el cas de Catalunya, tots podíem llegir a certa premsa internacional que havia demanat un rescat a l’Estat Espanyol.

Això sí que fa riure. Seria com si jo ingressés el meu sou a un compte de la comunitat de veïns, i la comunitat de veïns em digués que em rescata quan li dic que em doni diners per a pagar la quota de la comunitat. 

El problema arriba quan aquesta informació que es fa circular potser no és tan confiable com caldria, i les opinions acaben essent certeses que tenen conseqüències molt greus en l’àmbit dels interessos que s’han de pagar pels diners que ens deixen.

Tornem a un exemple casolà, seria com si el rebut de la hipoteca d’un mes a l’altra passés de 800 a 1200 euros perquè el meu veí li diu al banc que no podré pagar, i ho diu perquè un botiguer li explica al meu veí que em va fiar la darrera vegada i li dec la factura de la verdura. En aquests moments m’alegro que la meva hipoteca estigui ben firmada davant d’un notari i inscrita al registre de la propietat! També m’alegro de no haver de fer una ampliació d’hipoteca en aquests moments que el veí i el banquer es troben per conversar sobre les meves minvades finances. 

Més organització o menys mercat

Potser la clau és començar a parlar més de direcció d’organitzacions que d’economia de mercats. Perquè la realitat supera la teoria dels mercats perfectes i una de les raons de ser de l’organització anomenada “Estat” és precisament veure com es poden utilitzar els mercats com un instrument per millorar la vida de les persones. Acceptar que els mercats no són espais perfectes d’intercanvi entre individus, sinó que moltes vegades falta oferta, falta demanda, o bé totes dues.

Així que més que dir que els diners són porucs, podríem dir que depèn. Depèn de qui els té, i com és aquella persona, depèn de si creu en la inversió, o senzillament es tracta de diners sense ànima buscant maximitzar beneficis a curt termini, minimitzar riscos i no comprometre’s amb cap projecte concret. 

Molts petits empresaris utilitzen els diners que guanyen per a poder tirar endavant la seva autoocupació i l’ocupació de les famílies que en depenen, arriscant el seu patrimoni, i fins i tot, invertint quan no hi ha finançament garantit per les entitats que l’haurien de garantir. Aquests diners no els veig porucs, sinó més aviat al contrari, són valents. Però anem a pams, moltes de les opinions que escoltem del món empresarial, les fan moltes vegades grans directius, que no arrisquen el seu capital, i que no són estrictament empresaris.

Suposo que els empresaris, sobretot de PIMES, es troben ocupats treballant i intentant treure forces i recursos d’on sigui per a continuar vius i amb esperança. Ja està bé de parlar dels diners porucs i covards, i comencem a centrar-nos en les persones que els tenen a la butxaca i mirem què en fan. Això portaria a un debat molt més fructífer i productiu. I més autèntic.

11Onze és la fintech comunitària de Catalunya. Obre un compte descarregant l’app El Canut per Android o iOS. Uneix-te a la revolució!

Only 13% of customers receive financial advice on products tailored to their needs and situation. An alarming figure that warns of the vulnerability in which many consumers around the world find themselves.

Going to the bank is synonymous with complex speeches where you never know for sure if they are selling you a good product or simply telling you its positive features. The lack of information and transparency favours, in many clients, the feeling of being deceived. According to a survey by Finance Watch, 87% of customers are in this situation, and only the remaining 13% hire products that they understand and adapt to their requirements. Below, we will give you the keys to recognizing if you are receiving the right advice.

First step: inform or advise

The first thing to keep in mind when talking about financial advice is that the European MIFID II regulation (2017), created to protect the investor, clearly differentiates the functions of informing and advising. 

• Informing can be done by any bank employee, and consists of presenting the product information to the customer in a clear, precise, and detailed way. The more information the customer has, the more ability to make a good decision. But let us remark that it is only limited to presenting information, not recommendations or personal opinions.
• Advising, on the other hand, requires assessing the customer’s situation and needs in order to advise the most appropriate product. Advising does influence the client’s final decision, and therefore can only be done by people authorised and certified to do this task.

Requiring pre-contractual information

As specified in Article 7 of the 22/2007 Law, any contract made with a bank must provide the customer with pre-contractual information. The cost of the contract must be clearly detailed, as well as the conditions and risks of the contract to be signed. Without this, it is considered that the client does not have all the information at his disposal and therefore the contract may not be adequate. 

In Spain, most entities have become commercial banks, and cross-selling or reactive selling has taken centre stage. They take advantage of the customer’s presence in the office -or even by telephone- to promote certain bank products. A sales process in which written information becomes secondary and advice, according to the survey’s figures, appears to be more focused on the bank’s interests than the customer’s needs.

Understand everything you sign

In this new scenario, the contracting process is usually quick and based on recommendations. Pre-contractual information loses prominence and is often skipped, moving directly to contracting. Only 40% of customers consider that they can choose wisely; the rest do not fully understand the information they receive. 

In addition, digital signature systems are an added difficulty for customers, who often sign on a screen without even having access to the pre-contractual document. It is precisely at this point, in the understanding of products, where we must pay more attention as consumers and, as any jurist would recommend, not sign any product whose characteristics we do not know and understand.

Online advice, an added difficulty

Finding personalised advice online is virtually impossible, as many banks simply offer a platform that facilitates contracting by customers. There is no advice, but the client’s decision is guided from actions as simple as the presentation of information. 

First, the basic information is presented very concisely, which contributes to irrational sales. They highlight those key data that will make us click to have, for example, an instant loan on irresistible conditions. Once the interest has been captured, the pre-contractual and contractual information appears in a long and dense document which explains the real conditions of the product and the involvement of the consumer. 

The difference is obvious: very few data to make the decision and multiple pages to detail the contract that lead the consumer to sign it without reading it, remaining with the initial data, and the risk that this entails. 

Lack of financial advice, or lack of independence from it, can be considered bad practices if they condition the client’s final decision. Knowing this information is the basis for identifying these possible situations and understanding that, in any contracting, the customer must have the last word.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

Quins són els passos a seguir per a tramitar una herència? Quins impostos he de pagar i en quins tinc reduccions? Què passa si hereto un immoble? Resolem tots els dubtes en aquesta guia ràpida per a tramitar herències.

El primer que cal tenir en compte és que cada cas pot tenir particularitats concretes segons la massa hereditària, la situació familiar o la comunitat autònoma on es trobi, de manera que serà convenient buscar assessorament personalitzat. Tot i això, cal conèixer els passos per a tramitar una herència i tenir en compte la següent informació abans d’iniciar el tràmit.

Quina documentació necessitarem?

Comptarem amb tres documents que ens acompanyaran al llarg de tot el tràmit:

• Certificat de defunció, on s’indiquen les dates de defunció i de registre i les dades del causant. Es pot obtenir al Registre Civil, sigui presencialment, per correu o de forma telemàtica des del Ministeri de Justícia. 
• Certificat d’últimes voluntats. És el document que indica si el causant havia atorgat testament o no, i en cas d’haver-ho fet, a quin notari, de manera que ha de concordar amb el testament real. Es pot obtenir a les gerències territorials del Ministeri de Justícia, per correu, o des de la web del Ministeri.
• Testament. En el cas que n’hagi fet, serà el document base des d’on es nomenaran els hereus, les parts que els corresponen i els béns a heretar. Si no existeix testament, es crea el document abintestat, en el qual s’adjudica l’herència per rang sanguini tal com dicta la llei.

Impost de successions: com calcular-lo?

En primer lloc, cal calcular el valor imposable, és a dir, el valor real de l’herència, i en cas que hi hagi béns immobles, es valorarà segons el preu actual del «mercat». També s’inclouran les assegurances de vida. Al valor imposable caldrà restar-hi deutes i càrregues deduïbles, que en el cas dels immobles a Catalunya es poden reduir fins al 95 % si es compleixen els requisits sol·licitats per l’Agència Tributària de Catalunya, amb un màxim de 500.000 euros.

La base imposable menys les reduccions oportunes donaran l’import de la base liquidable, és a dir, l’import final a pagar. A Catalunya, l’impost de successions i donacions oscil·la entre el 7 % i el 32 %, en funció de la quantitat heretada, i s’ha d’abonar en un màxim de sis mesos des de la data de defunció. 

Els deutes també s’hereten?

Sí, els deutes s’hereten, i també ho fan les hipoteques. En cas d’heretar un immoble amb hipoteca, al pagament de l’impost de successions caldrà sumar-hi els impostos municipals de l’immoble i les quotes mensuals corresponents al préstec. El canvi de titularitat d’hipoteca serà gratuït. Avui dia, però, la majoria d’hipoteques i préstecs personals compten amb assegurança de vida vinculada i, per tant, en cas de defunció del titular la mateixa assegurança abonarà la quantitat pendent. En cas que la hipoteca heretada tingui clàusules abusives, el nou titular les podrà reclamar perquè siguin anul·lades.

Qui pot reclamar la llegítima?

L’article 425-9 del Codi civil de Catalunya reconeix el dret a la llegítima, en el qual els descendents poden reclamar el 25 % de l’herència, independentment de les últimes voluntats del causant. En cas de no tenir fills, seran els ascendents, pare o mare. Encara que s’hagi especificat un hereu universal, aquest només tindrà accés al 75 % de l’herència, excepte si els legitimaris renuncien a la llegítima. 

Què passa si renunciem a l’herència?

En cas de no poder-ho assumir (amb préstec o sense), les persones que hereten tenen l’opció de renunciar-hi. Una renúncia pura no té cap cost, més enllà de l’impost de successions que anirà a càrrec de la nova persona que hereta. En funció del parentiu amb la persona difunta, aquest impost serà més o menys alt. Si es renuncia a favor d’una persona determinada, aleshores sí que caldrà abonar l’impost de successions, ja que cal acceptar l’herència per a després poder-ne fer la transmissió.

Per a tenir més informació concreta sobre el procés d’herència i els impostos vinculats podeu consultar la guia de l’Agència Tributària de Catalunya.

11Onze és la comunitat fintech de Catalunya. Obre un compte descarregant la super app El Canut per Android o iOS. Uneix-te a la revolució!