Do I have to include an inheritance in my income tax return?

You may have inherited money, or a flat, or something else, and now you are wondering whether you have to include it in your Income Tax Return. Well, the answer is short and easy: No, because you have already declared it in the Inheritance Tax. Of course, now you say, "but I haven't paid any inheritance tax", and I tell you that this has nothing to do with it. If you have not paid anything, it is because, depending on the degree of kinship with the deceased and the amount you have received, the inheritance tax law in the Autonomous Community where you live exempts you from paying, but it is one thing to declare, and another to have to pay. Note that in the Renta, for example, it is quite normal that, having to declare, not only do you not have to pay, but you get a refund (I know it is because you have already paid it before, but it is just an example).

However, when you will have to declare, it will be when what you have received gives a profit, or fruit. For example, if you have inherited a flat, (or part of a flat), and you sell or rent it, you will have to declare the capital gain or the rent paid to you. Or if you have received money, when the bank pays you interest, and so on.

So, the rule is that inheritances are not declared in the income tax when you receive them (when you inherit them), but when they bear fruit or profit, for the amount of the benefit that it has brought you.

Don't forget that if you still have any doubts, you can ask me at dtierno@icacordoba.es

David Tierno García

Attorney at Law.