The Inheritance Tax is the one imposed on the increase in wealth of a taxpayer when they receive an inheritance or a donation derived from a death. The payment of this tax can become a temporary problem when it has to be assumed by a person who does not have resources before receiving that inheritance or donation from, for example, a relative.
To do this, however, there is the possibility of taking a shortcut if part (or all) of the money in a bank account is included in what you are going to inherit. The reason is that, if in this situation, the taxpayer will be able to use the money from that future inheritance to pay the Inheritance Tax. In practice, this means making a small advance on that inheritance in order to pay the tax that will allow you to receive the remaining amount of said inheritance.
It is an operation that not everyone knows but that is nevertheless detailed in the Inheritance Tax Regulation itself, it is made clear that banking entities may “dispose of securities in the name of the deceased (of the donation and inheritance) and, with charge to its amount, or to the balance in its favor in accounts of any type, issue the corresponding checks in the name of the Public Treasury for the exact amount of the aforementioned settlements”.
The operation is simple: if a taxpayer is going to inherit part of the balance of a checking account due to the death of an acquaintance and does not have the funds to pay the Inheritance Tax, they can choose to deduct from the amount inherited what they have to use to settle tribute and be able to inherit the rest.
This, of course, without prejudice to the options for deferring and splitting the Inheritance Tax under the terms established by law, which allow the payment of the tax to be deferred for up to one year or divided into five annuities if requested within the statutory payment period and when the inventory of the deceased’s assets is of lesser value than the installments to be settled.
How the bank delivers the check to pay the tax
The Bank of Spain explains on its website that taxpayers who find themselves in the situation of needing part of the money they are going to inherit to pay the Inheritance Tax can ask the entity in which the deceased had their bank account to advance them those amounts.
In these cases, reports the regulatory body, “the entity will issue, at the expense of the deceased’s assets, a check made out to the Tax Agency for the exclusive purpose of paying said tax.” The amount of that check can only be the exact amount of the tax.
The documentation that must be delivered to inherit the money
In order to receive the rest of the inheritance, the taxpayer must provide proof of payment of the Inheritance Tax to the bank, since said entities are subsidiary responsible for the tax as explained in the Inheritance Tax Law.
But not only that, the heir or heirs must also provide the death certificate of the deceased, the certificate of the Registry of Acts of Goodwill, the copy of the last will or the copy of the declaration of intestate heirs if there are no last wills .
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