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.
In my business, when I think about what’s important for clients, it´s about getting to the heart of the most important issues and understanding the most pressing concerns, be that now or in the future.
One of the most frequently-asked questions asked by many of the 300,000 Expats living here in Spain is ‘am I resident or domicile?’ It is a good question, and one worth finding the answer to, as your residential status when living abroad affects the way in which you pay tax and how much you pay.