Reporting of Assets Outside Spain and UK Rental Income.

So what should we do now ? 

Wet our pants and cry, just in case something bad happens?

I don't think so.

Err.. no.

Most sensible, rational people would begin planning their financial affairs to minimise the effects any such eventuality.

This is (incidentally) what competant financial advisers are suggesting. They are absolutely right.

File under the heading of 'Better Safe than Sorry'.

I do believe it's very hard to think of what happened to Cyprus could happen to England, but that is what we are all doing wrong, the mess England is in according to our leaders is no way as bad as what some make it out to be, and that is another problem on our part, why should we be the only ones that are not in trouble, Yet,  big America is, as is most other countries, how are we so clever that it wont ever affect us. American is not so affected by the EU yet still it cant cope with it's own problems, and the worlds problems. I speak with plenty of Americans and not one tells of how better it's getting, worse yes, better no.

We spend billions a year on the NHS but are cutting it to the bone, some say to make it more efficient, how does that work then? we spend billions on benefits and keeping people out of work, which costs us more to finance then we get in tax returns from workers, and so on, the actual list of paying out with no visible returns is endless.

Somewhere...somehow this has money has to come from somewhere, right now it's mostly all from borrowing's...that cant work for ever, i said this before that when interest rates have to go up...and they have to go "Up" sometime, they cant go down past rock bottom...or can they? that will be the time when we wake up and see the light.

I have always believed that blair and co, including brown, wanted to get out when they did, they knew who ever came into power could never ever fix the problem they had caused,  just like when we were kids and kicked a ball through next doors window...we ran away. 

Might be very old news.

I have just seen that Germany has bought a CD containing secret Swiss bank account details, Germany paid 4 million €'s for the disc and expects to get back 500 million €'s back in unaccounted for tax, supposed to have done 200 raids so far against suspects. Not for the first time Germany has bought these "Stolen" CD's.

I must say, Arthur Conan Doyle was a very perceptive gentleman.

A hundred years passes, but litlle changes....

Johnzx, you talk about "exaggerated guesses" - but we're all guessing. 

You are quite clearly a trusting fellow.  Possibly you would have been the last person in Cyprus to believe that the government, under presssure from the EU and IMF, would chose to steal money from people's bank accounts.  But now that they've found the secret source of eternal money do you really think they'll stop there?  There has to be a fair chance that these European Kleptocrats will carry out similar stings throughout the PIGS countries - deficits sorted and the precious euro saved for a while longer.

Acer

                                     ………………..  but we're all guessing. 

Johnzx,

I'm getting the feeling that you disagree on principle!

But my "guess" or "gut feeling" call it what you will is that there is likely to be a reason behind the Spanish governments sudden desire to update their records on assets held by their citizens/residents.  I'm only familiar with the outline of the Patrimonio tax, but I believe that the amount is applied at the discretion of the individual autonomous regions to Residents.  So bearing in mind the diabolical state of the economies of some of these regions you have to be a bit wary.  Well I would, but clearly I'm not as trusting as you.

One thing I've learnt in recent years is that in the UK we take fairness for granted.  It's so easy to wrongly assume that we'll be treated in the same way wherever we travel.  I love Spain in most respects, but I've owned property in Spain now for over 10 years and found that there are some dubious practices that are ignored, a general absence of consumer protection and people walking the streets that would be rightly imprisoned in the UK.  So personally I'll stay on the wary side.

Dear Johnzx,

I sincerely apologise.  I am told that my last post could easily be taken as me being hostile, which was really not the intention.  I was actually being a bit flippant. 
These postings can easily be taken the wrong way, perhaps I should use more smilies   . 

Apologies and best wishes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22374923

Acer

In this week's  Costa Blanca News, southern edition, p 31 there is a full page article which expresses very well what  people think of the assets law.

Bet you can guess the content!

A key problem with this law is that it is very poorly designed and equally badly drawn up. If the intention was (which is fair enough) to catch people out taking bribes and dealing in 'black money' and salting it away in tax havens, then sadly, it misses the mark. Instead, it draws in a whole lot of totally innocent people who have nothing to do with such activites. I have given a couple of examples already. Here's another.

For example, you are exector of a deceased relatives (or friends) estate. You are now in the invidious (and ludicrous) position of having to declare those sudden assets as your own. They are, of course, most categorically not your own. You are merely an executor with strictly temporary charge over them (subject to other strict legal restraints on what you can do with them, with oversight by the courts). This law, though, because you are now a signatory (jointly or otherwise) to the deceased bank accounts, requires you to report this fact - yet gives you no proper or correct way to differentiate the sum (or assets) from your own personal property. In the event of a 'wealth tax', are those non-assets going to be used to base a charge against you on? Your guess is as good as mine, but the wording and requirements of this law are, frankly, incompetant and fail to comply with accepted international standards with regards to such matters, where there is a very clear line of demarkation in respect of trusts and estates.

There is none here, and that is simply ridiculous.

Johnzx, you said

In time we will know what Hacienda's intention really was, so we don’t have to guess, have gut-feelings , use crystal balls, tarot cards etc.

then you say

I think the new law will be workable and achieve it's objective.

So have you now sussed what it's objective is?

So have you now sussed what it's objective is?

Poppy if you read my previous posts you will see that I have explained  my opinion a number of times.

I have read your posts John but when you say you think the law will be workable and achieve it's objective that sounds quite definitive to me rather than just an opinion.