Supreme Court upholds tax on empty homes in Catalonia, Spain

SUPREME COURT upholds tax on empty homes in Catalonia, it confirmed Wednesday, June 8

The court has confirmed the dismissal of an appeal by the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), according to 20 Minutos. 

Catalonia approves the anti-eviction law that extends the obligation of large landlords to offer social rentals.

The Supreme Court (SC) has confirmed the dismissal of an appeal by the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) against the regulation of the tax on empty homes in Catalonia, which it has endorsed with this decision.

In the ruling, the court concluded that this tax does not contravene the Constitution and ratifies the ruling of the High Court of Justice (TSJC), which in December 2019 already ruled in the same sense.

The appeal was for the alleged violation of the constitutional principles of equality, economic capacity and prohibition of arbitrariness of public authorities, but the judges have ruled it out.

The judges argue that the structure of tax “does not distort its extra-fiscal purpose, does not represent an arbitrary selection of the taxpayer, disconnected from the legitimate extra-fiscal purpose of the tax, and configures a system for determining the taxable base and the quota”.

They added that the regulation of the tax on empty dwellings “responds to the legitimate sphere of the exercise of the autonomous legislator’s taxation powers.”

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