Spain's Supreme Court Says Customers, Not Banks, Have to Pay Mortgage Tax
November 07 2018 - 3:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Alberto Delclaux
Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that customers, and not banks,
have to pay for a mortgage-related tax, a decision that potentially
saves Spanish lenders billions of euros in compensation.
Under a previous ruling in October, the court determined that
banks had to pay the tax, representing a change in past legal
doctrine. Until then, banks' clients had paid the tax.
The court met to make a firm decision and on late Tuesday, in a
15-to-13 vote, decided customers should continue paying.
Spanish bank shares had fallen sharply following the October
ruling, as the companies would have potentially faced significant
compensation payments were the decision to become retroactive.
Spain's budget minister said the estimated cost of the ruling,
assuming four years of retroactivity, could have amounted to 5
billion euros ($5.7 billion). Regional authorities would have had
to pay clients, and then claim the money from banks.
Write to Alberto Delclaux at alberto.delclaux@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 07, 2018 02:51 ET (07:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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