It may seem that selling a home that has been rented is an operation simple and profitable. However, behind this procedure there is a tax trap that many owners discover. too late.
“If your house has been rented, you will pay more taxes when you sell it, and not many people know this,” warns David Jiménez, lawyer and economist. Thus, to the surprise of many, the income tax return reveals a much higher figure to pay than expected. provided.
In the words of the content creator, “When you sell a house, you will have to pay taxes on the difference between the purchase price and the sale price.” But when the house has been rented, the purchase price will have to be deducted from the accumulated amortizationmaking the acquisition price lower. Thus, one will have to pay more taxes on the tax return itself. rent.
While the home is rented, the Treasury allows the owners to declare that their house “wears out” with use. The way to compensate is subtract a part of the value of the property in the annual declarations: this translates into less taxes each year. This procedure is known as amortization and, at first glance, it seems beneficial. However, there is an unexpected twist.
When selling the dwellingthe Tax Agency does the math and subtracts all the amortized amounts from the original purchase value, although the owner has never applied them in his statements.
The result is that, in the eyes of the Treasury, the house cost less than what was actually paid for. Therefore, the profit obtained With the sale it seems much higher, which means paying more taxes. It is a kind of fiscal “boomerang effect” that can take by surprise to more than one person.
Considering how complex the tax regulations are and the lack of clear disclosuremany owners are not aware of this burden. Suddenly, it’s too late.
This is the reason why on social networks like Instagram or TikTok, more and more tax advisors They create their own content to warn of this situation. However, official information remains scarce and not very accessible to the public. average citizen.
David Jiménez’s warning, as reported by the newspaper Readingsis not alarmist, but preventive. “Good tax planning can make the difference between a profitable operation and one that becomes a headache,” he points out to the aforementioned medium.
Before selling a home that has been rentedit is advisable to consult with a tax advisor to calculate the impact of amortizations and explore possible strategies to minimize the tax burden.
Among the options being considered is reinvestment in primary housing. This reinvestment allows partial exemptionsor the sale at a more favorable tax moment. The best advice in this case is not to be carried away by intuition and to know well the rules of the game.
