Protection News & Insights

If you've moved overseas or have a second home in France, you may be used to calling several places home. After all, living in France won't always mean completely cutting ties with your country of origin as you may still have family living there or own other property.

But when you own property abroad, it's crucial to stay up to date with any tax legislation and law reforms in that country, or you could be in for a nasty shock. That’s why it’s so important to take charge of your wealth management to make the most of your second property in France.

2018 has brought good news for many expats tackling the idiosyncrasies of finance in Spain and, especially for those who want to manage their legacy planning successfully.

This is because British and other EU citizen expatriates in Spain have received a boost in relation to succession tax laws.

Under the Spanish regional system, expats in Spain (but not those from outside the EU or EEA) can avoid costly Spanish state succession rules on passing; instead they are able to take advantage of kinder regional laws, such as those just implemented by Murcia and Andalucía.

In these areas, if you have Spanish assets but have not quite yet become a fully-fledged expat or indeed if you have Spanish property but still reside full-time in the UK; your heirs, wherever they may live, are entitled to the full range of succession tax reliefs offered by the region in which your assets are invested. Sometimes this may be as much as 99% succession tax relief or, in some cases, total exemption.

As it stands, its been nearly a year that expat retirement transfers of pensions have incurred a charge when moving to or between Qualifying Recognised Offshore Pension Schemes (QROPS), with only expats living within the European Union or a select group of 13 other countries immune to this charge.

However, British expats across the world have recently joined forces to question the fairness of the charge and to lobby parliament for its removal.

It's easy to see why they have taken this course of action – the charge for overseas expat retirement transfers comes in at 25% of the value of the pension fund; plainly a crippling and punitive amount for people who have already worked hard and paid their taxes in order to prudently fund their retirement.

In September 2017, it was announced that the Portuguese Government, following pressure from Sweden and a number of other European countries, was looking to water down the country's non-habitual residency (NHR) tax regime, potentially bringing to an end a programme that has worked in the interests of expats since 2009. The uncertainty this proposed move provoked certainly threatened to put a dampener on the financial plans of quite a number of expats and would-be expats as they moved into 2018.

However, the budget proposal presented by the Portuguese government in November seemed to allay these fears. There was not a single mention of the scheme, which would have seen the introduction of a flat rate of tax of either 5% or 10% on income drawn from the pensions of NHRs.

In all probability any such move would have seen the pensions of existing expat NHRs unaffected; however, it would have presented a significant stumbling block to the retirement plans of many looking to move both their wealth and their residence status to the country.

Hacienda, or the Spanish taxman to you and me, has granted significant tax advantages for savings & investment plans held by Spanish Tax Residents, under certain conditions.

The advantages are considerable and further compounded as the Hacienda treats non-compliant investments negatively with extra reporting and punitive taxation every year.

Are your existing investments safe from punitive tax?

Back in 2015, the introduction of the non-domiciled (non-dom) tax resident status as part of the Cyprus tax system paved the way for new opportunities around tax planning and savings, as well as opening the door for potential inheritance tax benefits. The opportunity is, however, not that straight forward, as the tax agrement requires careful individual attention. 

When you move abroad to a popular expat destination, whether that's to France, Italy, Spain, or Grand Cayman, good wealth management is key to ensuring you'll enjoy your life abroad to the fullest.

Proper financial planning should ensure you have enough saved for retirement, but some people are always looking for ways to boost their pension pots. One of the key methods used by many expat retirees to accomplish this is by owning a UK property and renting it out.

However, expats who rely on rental profits from buy-to-let properties back home for a steady stream of income may face issues thanks to new tax changes, which apply to all landlords letting out UK property regardless of where in the world they themselves reside.