{"id":35651,"date":"2026-10-27T10:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/?p=35651"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:41:26","slug":"gifts-made-in-contemplation-of-death-with-immediate-transfer-catalunya-changes-its-tax-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/gifts-made-in-contemplation-of-death-with-immediate-transfer-catalunya-changes-its-tax-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Gifts made in contemplation of death with immediate transfer: Catalunya changes its tax position"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What is a gift in contemplation of death?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Under Article 432-1 of the Catalan Civil Code, a gift in contemplation of death (<em>donation mortis causa<\/em>) is a gift someone makes with their own death in mind. The recipient must accept it while the donor is still alive. <strong>The donor isn\u2019t bound by the gift and can revoke it on their own at any time during their lifetime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As a rule, ownership doesn\u2019t pass until the gift becomes final, which happens when the donor dies. However, the parties can agree that ownership passes straight away, which is known as \u201cimmediate transfer\u201d (\u201c<em>Entrega de present\u201d)<\/em>. The donor can keep a life interest (usufruct) in the asset or give it up entirely. Either way, the transfer can still be unwound, it is subject to a subsequent condition that is triggered if the donor revokes the gift or if the recipient dies first.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>How was it taxed until now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Since Resolution 6\/2010 of 7 June, issued by the Directorate General for Taxation and Gaming, the Catalan Tax Agency has treated gifts in contemplation of death as inheritances for tax purposes. The exception was immediate transfer: because the recipient gained rights over the asset while the donor was still alive, the Agency applied the rules for lifetime gifts instead. In practice, the recipient paid tax when the gift was made and the assets changed hands.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What changes with Law 11\/2026 of 9 July and Resolution 3\/2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 13 July 2026, the Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC) published Law 11\/2026 of 9 July on fiscal, financial and administrative measures and the public sector. The law came into force on 14 July 2026. It repealed Article 632-1.4 of the Catalan Civil Code, which had allowed the tax-base reductions for lifetime gifts to be applied to gifts in contemplation of death as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 14 July 2026, the Directorate General for Taxation and Gaming also issued Resolution 3\/2026. This resolution reverses the position Catalonia had taken until now and brings it into line with the Spanish Ministry of Finance\u2019s Directorate General for Taxation (see, among others, binding rulings V0532-25 and V0823-26). Under the resolution, a gift in contemplation of death:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>Is always taxed as an inheritance.<\/strong> No matter when the assets are transferred, a gift in contemplation of death is a succession arrangement. It therefore falls under the inheritance rules of Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD), including those on the taxable event, tax base, reductions, tax due, accrual and filing requirements. Tax accrues when the agreement is signed, but because it is a succession arrangement, you have six months to file and pay instead of one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Is added to the estate.<\/strong> If the donor dies four years or less after making the gift, the gift is added to the inheritance (Article 30.2 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Isn\u2019t subject to personal income tax.<\/strong> Since the gift counts as a succession arrangement and not a lifetime transfer, a gift in contemplation of death with immediate transfer doesn\u2019t create a capital gain for the donor under personal income tax (IRPF). This follows from the exemption in Article 33.3.b) of the Personal Income Tax Act, which applies to gains on transfers on death and is commonly known in Spain as the <em>plusval\u00eda del Muerto<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Doesn\u2019t trigger tax on the subsequent condition.<\/strong> The revocation or predecease condition isn\u2019t subject to Transfer Tax (ITPO) or to Inheritance and Gift Tax. If the condition is triggered and the gift is unwound, the recipient or their heirs can claim back the tax they paid.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Is no longer governed by Resolution 6\/2010<\/strong>, which is now void, along with any rulings that conflict with the new position.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Keep this change in mind when planning future estates. If your current estate plan already includes this kind of gift, we recommend reviewing it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>addwill<\/strong>\u2019s Civil Law team can help you assess how this change affects you.<\/p>\n<p>Author:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cristina Esteruelas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Manager, Civil &amp; Real Estate Department, addwill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; What is a gift in contemplation of death? Under Article 432-1 of the Catalan Civil Code, a gift in contemplation of death (donation  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1416],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civil-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35661,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651\/revisions\/35661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/addwill.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}