Do you know what a pure and simple resignation of an inheritance is?
Patrick Gordinne Perez2024-10-30T17:23:04+00:00An heir is considering renouncing the inheritance so that his or her own children – grandchildren of the deceased – can receive the corresponding assets. Find out what is an outright waiver.
It is a fact that many people think that paying inheritance tax is paying twice for the same thing, and they are not wrong.
When a person buys a house they have already paid tax on the purchase and should not have to pay more. And it is very unfair to pay again when it comes to inheritance.
That is why it is necessary to plan the inheritance or the renunciation in favour of the children very well.
Find out how to avoid overpaying tax…
Best way to resign
To pay less Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD)
The heir has a large estate and does not need the assets that correspond to him/her in the inheritance.
For this reason, he/she is considering renouncing the inheritance so that the assets can be awarded to his/her children -grandchildren of the deceased-, thus avoiding duplicating the payment of Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD) -the tax that he/she would pay now and the tax that his/her children will pay for the same assets when he/she dies or if he/she decides to donate the assets to them during his/her lifetime-.
In order to achieve the intended tax savings, the heir must renounce in a specific way.
Waiver in favour of children
Thus, it is important to avoid making what is known as a renunciation in favour of a specific person (i.e. indicating in the deed of renunciation that it is in favour of the children).
In this case, the tax authorities consider that there are two transfers:
- Transmission by inheritance. A first one between the testator and himself, for which the Inheritance Tax Office will demand Inheritance Tax (i.e. as if the affected person had accepted the inheritance).
- Transmission by donation. And another, between the affected person and his children, in which the Inland Revenue will demand the Donations Tax (as if the renouncing person donated the assets to his children after inheriting them).
In this case, if there are assets other than money, this donation may also mean a higher cost for your friend in his IRPF (if there has been an increase in the value of these assets since the death of the father, having to declare a gain).
The renunciation will mean a saving in the ISD as long as it is pure and simple, and not in favour of a specific person.
Furthermore, it is necessary that the will of the deceased provides for the substitution of the heir in the event that the latter does not accept.
Waiver of inheritance outright
A single transfer
In these cases, it is best that the affected person makes a pure, simple and free renunciation; that is to say, that in the deed of renunciation of the inheritance he/she simply renounces it without further ado.
Thus, his children will become the new heirs of the deceased (the grandfather) and, when they accept the inheritance, there will only be a single transfer, so that there will only be Inheritance Tax on the transfer from the grandfather to his grandchildren.
Common Substitution (Very Important)
However, before proceeding to the renunciation pure and simple, it is important to make sure that the testament of the deceased includes a clause stating that, in case of renunciation, there is a vulgar substitution in favour of the descendants of the renouncing party for all the part that corresponds to him.
This is very important:
- If there is no will, the pure and simple renunciation prevents the renouncing party’s children from replacing him. It is the remaining heirs – the renouncing party’s siblings, for example – who benefit from the renounced portion.
- If there is a will but no such clause of vulgar substitution, it is considered that the renunciation also affects the children of the renouncing party, so that they lose the possibility of claiming the part of the inheritance that corresponds to their father. As in the previous point, it is the remaining heirs who benefit from this renunciation, unless the will establishes otherwise.
Relationship between the parties
In the case of pure and simple renunciation and with common substitution, the degree of kinship between the children of the renouncing party and the deceased must be taken into account when settling the Inheritance Tax (remember that the closer the family relationship, the greater the reduction for kinship).
On the other hand, with the renunciation in favour of a third party, the reduction is determined by the relationship between the renouncing party and the deceased.