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.
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.
British expats in the Netherlands are experiencing a difficult time at the moment. Not only do they have to deal with continued uncertainties over Brexit as well as government plans to overhaul the 30% expat tax break, they are also now having to digest news that the Dutch government is readying itself to publish new legislation regarding dual nationality.