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V5410-16 21 December 2016 · SG de Impuestos Patrimoniales, Tasas y Precios Públicos Criterion in force
ISD · donación

Depositing separate funds into a joint account is not a gift if there is no intent to donate

A taxpayer sought clarification on whether depositing redundancy pay into a joint account held with a domestic partner would constitute a taxable gift. The Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) ruled that joint ownership only grants access to funds, rather than legal ownership of them.

The question raised

Whether the act of depositing the compensation into an account held by both parties entails the accrual of Inheritance and Gift Tax as a donation, and whether this could be avoided by depositing it into an account held by the consultant in which their partner was authorized. If so, it is inquired whether the yields generated by the said compensation should be imputed in equal halves to the two joint holders of the joint bank account.

The DGT's ruling

For a donation to exist, three requirements must concur: an act of disposal with the intent of liberality, acceptance by the donee, and knowledge of said acceptance by the donor. The mere deposit of separate funds into a joint account does not imply a donation, as joint ownership only grants dispositive powers towards the bank, not ownership of the funds. Therefore, the generated capital yields must be taxed by the exclusive owner.

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