Some of you are saying they will never find out if I don’t declare, again you are very, very wrong. From 31st May 2017, all EU countries plus the UK and its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, have automatically shared all financial information on all financial assets held in their countries by tax residents of another country with the country they are known as being resident in. Please note, if your bank, building society , investment company, pension company etc etc, has a Spanish address for you on their file then whether you like it or not they are obliged by law to report any assets you hold to the HMRC and in turn HMRC will report this to the Spanish tax authorities.
They will report the value of all bank accounts, insurance policies, shareholdings, investments, Trusts etc. (no matter what the balance) as at 31st December each year. Plus they will notify them of what withdrawals have been made during that year and also if an account has been closed during that year.
From May 2018 over 130 countries worldwide will automatically be sharing all financial information on an annual basis. The goal is to allow tax authorities to obtain a clearer understanding of financial assets held abroad by their residents, for tax purposes, and is primarily aimed at preventing tax evasion.
There are ways to ease this reporting burden and to ensure you stay on the right side of the taxman, whilst minimising your tax liabilities, one such way is to use a tax compliant investment bond – for more information contact us today.
This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, investment recommendations or investment research. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this communication is correct, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
This week we put the Spotlight On…Rosemary Sheppard who is a Blacktower International Financial Adviser in France, based in the Dordogne.
France is the world’s most visited country, with over 89 million tourists pouring in every year to sample the many attractions it has to offer. Its culture is known and revered around the globe: couture fashion houses, the art of the impressionists, winemaking and of course, French cuisine. Paris, the capital city, sees over 17 million visitors yearly, who come to take in the sights of one of the world’s most beautiful cities. But tourism isn’t the only thing that France does well; it also regularly scores highly in global polls for quality of the healthcare system.