New rules on NIE and Residencia

What's my situation ? -- I have a Tenerife apartment but hop over and back on different times during the year. Does my NIE stay the same or will I have to get changes over to a residentia ?

Please can anyone clarify for me ?

 this has been done to death residencia no longer exists

 Hello Wyattboy, Residencia as stated by Stillgoin, does not exsit.

If you are not more than 3 mts living in Spain, you do not need to do anything, you continue with your N.I.E. If you go ahead and register, HACIENDA, will be sending you a letter to do your tax returns !!

Many thanks evento

Can you please clarify?  Does the three months mean an accumulation of two/three week trips throughout the year or one three month trip?

Thank you.

 Hello Madmau, As I understood and read 3 months consecutive, but please check.

Don't forget the medical requirment in Spain when driving here, they are more strict here and you have to take a medical to be able to drive on a uk licence

Only if you are resident in Spain!

lavge.

It's exactly the same rules for you as someone tenth generation Brit.  I stood in a queue where a girl was being refused an account to bank her first paycheck because she lived at home and has no utility bills.  I heard the whole story and the girl behind the counter was her own sister!  I intervened and explained that the Know Your Client rules she was strictly following were only a guideline from her own compliance department. It was not law as there are no fixed rules about how you ascertain who someone is and her sister's passport on file should suffice as she herself could vouch for her but no, she said unless she made the 100 points required there was no way she would open the account. Oh, and a mobile phone bill doesn't count for one single point! So if you can't get an account open from your own sister God only knows how you get the chicken and egg situation sorted.

Meanwhile regarding driving licences, it's alright knowing the law but when a pair of 6ft police officers carrying guns are telling you what you know to be wrong it's quite difficult to argue with them. My Aussie licence usually gets me a hire car and is never queried on the couple of occasions I've been stopped by police but I know Brit licences sometimes cause the Spanish and/or French police to moan a bit.  This is more so however if the driver is in a Spanish car registered to themselves at their Spanish home or as my friend keeps getting, his own left hand drive but British reg car which the locals know is there permanently.  In which case I guess he does ask for it!

Is there a grey area with being resident  and just living in Spain all the time, there are many many people  here who just flout the Spanish law and moan if or when they do something wrong. They pay there taxes in the uk even when they have lived in Spain for years.

I am resident in the UK and pay my tax there.  Used to be whichever country you spend most time in that got the tax (I think 6 months was the cut off point).  However, I sometimes spend more than 3 months in Spain.  So, as I understand it, I now have to notify the Spanish authorities and they will want me to complete a tax return for all my UK (as well as my Spanish) assets.

So, what is the tax situation?  I pay all the Spanish taxes due on my Spanish bank account interest and also pay the property taxes.  However, the UK  stil want to tax me there because I spend more time in the UK than in Spain and I'm guessing that the Spanish will then want to tax me again.  Surely that can't be right !!!  Can anyone clarify this for me please?

 as i understand it all eu countries have bilateral tax arrangements which means if you are taxed in one country you cannot be taxed in another

given my experience with hmrc you will have to speak to them in words of one sylable for them to understand

apparently the spanish tax people sent a letter to all non residents to complete a tax return in november 2011 so if you didnt get one it would seem you dont need to do one and the bilateral tax arrangement means you would not have to pay twice so it would seem to be a waste of time if they wanted a form from you 

Thanks stilgoin - I didn't receive a letter from the tax people but am now wondering which address they sent it to.  Correos doesn't deliver to my house so I have a postbox in town - that address is registered with the Ayuntamiento, my bank and everyone else I pay money to over here.  If they sent it to the property address, then it would never get here.

The UK tax people have always been very helpful but I've had a lot of problems in the past with Spanish authorities and my Spanish isn't good enough to argue the toss.  Now I'm worried!!!!

 There seems to be some confusion here as to the difference between an NIE and Residencia  they are two difference things and you need both of them below is explanation of the two which we hope will help

An NIE number is essentially a tax number for foreigners in Spain. You need one if you are going to buy a house or a car, if you are going to work for a Spanish company or if you want to apply for residencia (a residency card). If you are an EU citizen, you no longer have to apply for your NIE number separately - you will be given one when you register as a foreign resident as detailed below.

Non-EU citizens still need to apply for an NIE number. To get one, you need to go to the extranjeros department at your nearest Comisaria (the police station for the national police force, not the local police).You will need to take your passport. The forms are fairly straightforward and you will have your NIE number within 2-6 weeks of applying.

Residencia

The rules on residencia cards in Spain have been changed several times recently.

Briefly, if you are an EU citizen, you must now register at your local Oficina de Extranjeros - usually in the local Comisaria. You will need to complete a form and pay a fee, and you will be rewarded with a certificate which shows your name, address and NIE number.

If you are not an EU citizen and you are not married to an EU citizen, then you will need:

•  
• Proof of income (a job, pension etc. a healthy savings account will probably also work, but the actual amnount you need is likely to vary from place to place.)
• Proof of social security registration or private medical insurance
• Your passport
• Finally if you are married and one of you will be dependent on the other, you will need your marriage certificate.

If you are not moving to one of the coastal areas you may need official translations of your documents. It's a good idea to check

Does the registration still apply if you are resident in other EU country though?  I'm still not clear on whether I need to do anything or not given I spend less than 6 months a year in Spain and am resident in the UK.

 well hrespana they did send out 300,000 loetters so will take some time to get through the bag log so i imagine no imminent dangerif you have to there is a company called i think arcos or something similar who will deal with this for you for i think 40 eu

best i can do i'm afraid

sorry to be continuing with this thread 

BUT why did we have to take the original and a copy of our 'residencia'  to Social security last week  (in Fuengirola)when we signed up for the Spanish healthcare system,  if it no longer exists  ?

It also says in the same paragraph you should check with the  driving licence authorities in that country for information about driving and exchange of licences which possibly means dont just keep driving on your British licence because you might be breaking their laws
 

You are not breaking any laws. It is an EU license. It has validity in ALL EU countries. Simple as that. If you are resident here, you should also get the medical exam. If you are not resident - not necessary.

Residence has two meanings.

The first, is that under Spanish law if you remain for more than 90 consecutive days, you need to register. If you stay 89 days, leave, then come back and do another 89, you do not. It is based on consecutive days in the country, not cumulative.

Then, there is 'tax residecy' which is totally different. That is based on cumulative days. Normally (there are exceptions, and you need to check with a qualified advisor) if you spend more than 6 months a year in a country, you will be regarded as tax resident there.

The rules on tax residency and domicile status for tax purposes are quite involved. If you are in doubt on this do get professional advice. Do not rely on advice from a forum. There are many variables and apparently small details that make a big difference... if you are not tax resident in the UK, you may still have to complete a UK tax return, but there are boxes to state that you are non-resident. They do ask how many days a year you spend in the UK, for example. The rules on this are likely to change (again) next year. However, if you only visit the UK for short periods you are almost certainly tax resident in Spain (like it or not).

No Spanish official should ask for 'Residencia'. If they do, then they are out of date and badly informed. The 'Residencia' has not existed for several years for EU citizens. They probably mean a certificate of registration for EU citizens..... but are using incorrect terminology. Maybe!