Van Hire in Albox

Hi there. This is a message to all of you lucky ones that have already completed and have moved over to Spain lock stock & barrell!!!

So much emphasis is put on getting an 'independant' solicitor when buying abroad. We went to 'A Place in the Sun' exhibition on Sunday and I don't know if was intentional to get custom but at one of the seminars they put the fear of God in us with regard to getting the proper financial advise. Thet stressed that you need an INTERNATINAL solisitor who is fully aware of both English and Spanish law so that you get the right info with regards who to put the name of the house in. They also said something about if you leave any money in PEPs &  ISAs over here you will pay tax on it in Spain and many other things.

Our house is up for sale and when sold we intend to come over and rent for a while. Does anyone know if we can invest the money here and just transfer what we need when we need it or do we have to put it in a Spanish bank account.

Could anyone who has 'Been there, done it and now wears the t-shirt' give us any clear advise about all the matters I've mentioned.

Thanks

Tony & Pauline

Hi Tony and Pauline

We have bought at San Cayetano and completed over a year ago. We used a firm of Solicitors by the name of Fuster and Associates based at Los Alcazares. Should you wish to contact them email maria@fuster-associates.com     You will find them very helpful and English speaking.

With regard to investments we do not live in Spain full time as yet but we do have a Spanish bank account at Cajamurcia. We keep the bulk of our money in the UK because interest rates are far more favourable and transfer it as we need to either via Currencies Direct, for large sums, or we take a sterling cheque over and deposit it in our Spanish account on one of our visits. I cannot believe that you will be expected to pay tax in Spain on income earned in the UK. We don't.

Colin and Gill

Tony and Pauline,

I also cannot stress enough the importance of using an independant solicitor, and please be aware that if you appoint a UK based solicitors the fees will be higher as they will need to use a representative, for completion, in Spain and they need paying to!

I can also recommend Fuster Associates as I have worked with them before.

With regards to paying tax, I think they are referring to the wealth tax declaration, where you are meant' to declare your worldwide assets - I am no expert on this but I am pretty sure you only pay tax in the country where you are domiciled.

Depending on what lender you use for the mortgage (if any involved) it is possible to have the facility of free transfers.

Hi everybody,

For your interest and information, we have received our first Spanish tax demand. This is the non-resident tax, also known as the Wealth Tax or simply Form 214. I quote from our solicitor's letter:

'The non-resident tax is computed based on deed price, the number of owners, and the number of days you own the property. Therefore the tax will be calculated from the day the property was signed. Generally, the tax on the year of purchase is lower, but thereafter, the tax will be calculated using the entire year. If a mortgage from a Spanish bank was used to purchase the property, the outstanding balance of the mortgage at the end of the taxable year would be considered in the computation of this tax, thus making the non-resident tax lower'.

We completed on a quad villa at the end of February 2007, and our tax bill for 2007 is 577.61 euros, to give a 'ball-park' figure. This sum was calculated by our solicitors purely on the above criteria, with no reference to other assets.

In addition to this there is the Suma tax (council tax).  I quote:

'If a newly-built property has been purchased, normally it takes 2-4 years before you receive the Suma bill. But the property will be taxed from the year it was purchased to the present, hence, the first Suma bill is a lump sum charge of several years'.

The Suma bill apparently can be between 100 to 250 euros per year, depending on the purchase price and location of the property.

I hope this helps.

Kevin