Spanish holiday home owners hit by tax hike

In what has been described as a "mystifying move", governments in the autonomous regions of Catalonia and Valencia have increased the levy on buying a resale property from 8% to 10%. At 10%, the tax is now the same rate as VAT on new homes, which the national government increased from 4% to 10% at the beginning of the year. The Catalan administration hopes to raise an extra €50m from the increased tax to plug its regional deficit, while Valencia is looking to bring in an extra €30m this year, and €75m next year. The tax applies to all homes whether they are worth €100,000 or €1m. ...