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Hi everyone really could do with some solid advice, my family and I are looking to move to Spain, my husband is employed else where so we won't need to look for work which is a bonus. We are hoping to move somewhere were there is a decent school lots to do and a choice of beach and city.... Just don't have a clue where.........Any advice of things to look out for or the best way to start this process would be great as am hearing so much good and bad and don't know what to where to start looking or what I should do first. My children are 13 and twins 11. :-)
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Only you know, after reading all these posts, whether it is a good idea to move to Spain. Personally, I would never bring children of those ages to Spain-too disruptive to their educatiion, unless you can afford private .Can you not wait until they have left school?
I often heard that having the equivalent of at least One year's salary in the bank is sensible.
The biggest concern is health care. If children have special needs it will not be easy. There is no such thing as "nursing care" if you are ill
What you read in books is often not the case in reality as regards laws.
Advice from experts is conflicting.
Tax laws are a nightmare.4 different accountants came up with 4 wildly different declarations-who do you believe.?
Getting justice is not as easy as the UK
Don't believe all you hear about it being cheaper to live in Spain. Electricity prices for example are horrendous.
Sun is not everything. Living in Spain has no relation to holidaying in Spain.
Those who won't hear a word against Spain are usually extremely wealthy ex military or civil servants cushioned from the realities.
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Thanks for advice, we would be putting the children to private school so hopefully that would help, we are considering moving as my hubby will be getting a promotion and will now have to pay 40% to the tax after being in the tax free zone, he will be out of the country for 6 months if the year.. U can understand why giving our kids private school a better climate would be an advantage.
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If money isn't a problem, then that's one major thing you won't have to worry about!
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Our main worry is finding the right area, that is safe, with a good school and somewhere we can hopefully become part of a nice community.
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I think your kids could get a lot out of an experience in Spain - but - how much are you expecting to pay for 3 kids in a private school in Spain? It may be cheaper than in the UK (it may.....), but it will not be insignificant. Forgive me, but if you are just moving into the higher tax band in the UK, and are only just going to be in it - I think private schools may be prohibitive. You need to look at costs before settling on an area, and I would start by making some enquiries to the international schools anywhere in Spain. Then go from there.
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we would be putting the children to private school so hopefully that would help, we are considering moving as my hubby will be getting a promotion and will now have to pay 40% to the tax after being in the tax free zone, he will be out of the country for 6 months if the year.. U can understand why giving our kids private school a better climate would be an advantage.
I might have misunderstood this post, but it would help if you described your circumstances a little, because it may be possible you are making your tax situation worse. If you are thinking that because you live in Spain, but your husband works abroad, and won't be in the country for more than 183 days, you will avoid tax here, you may need to think again. Days residence is one way of counting, another is if you have family ties here . i.e you spouse and children live in spain, you will be considered fiscally resident. I'm not clear where you currently live and where your husband works.
This message was last edited by KathysLad on 13/01/2013.
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KathysLad is correct in what he says regarding tax - income tax rates can be higher in Spain. Over €53000 income band is 47% and over €120,000 income is 49%. You should take specialist tax advice before considering Spain - and as KathysLad says, the fact that you and your children are resident here and that your husband's permanent place of residence would be Spain would make him liable to declare his worldwide income to the Spanish tax authorities, regardless of whether he spends more than 183 days outside of the country.
School fees are about €13000pa for your first (eldest) child, with maybe slight discounts for your other children (but not that much!). So you are probably talking at least €35,000 pa for basic school fees.
Personally, we moved here from the middle east just over three years ago (and we are not "extremely wealthy ex military or civil servants cushioned from the realities"), choosing Spain only because we had an apartment here and had no other interests in Europe (having spent decades outside of europe) and can honestly say it was for the best! We are settled here (our son is thirteen now) and, compared to the middle east, love being back in Europe and european culture!
I just wonder why you are thinking of Spain if you don't seem to know of any areas here. Have you visited any regions of Spain? Why Spain and not, say, Italy or France or Portugal, etc., etc.
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We thought Spain as we have been there a few times on holiday and really enjoyed the fact the climate is better but not to hot, it's only a few hours away from the uk so easy for family/friends to pop over and see us and not to far for us to travel if we wanted to go back to uk for short visiting holidays, I believe health care in Spain is slightly better than some of the other countries you mentioned. We would be exempt from paying tax so we are in a very lucky position. It's really about finding the right area that meets all our needs.
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Why do you think you would be exempt from paying tax?
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As kathyslad has asked, why do you think you would be exempt from paying tax? You really need to research your options - if you are resident in spain you are not exempt from declaring your income, worldwide or otherwise. Unless you are thinking about remaining under the radar!!
Healthcare is great if you are paying - I can't comment otherwise, as we have private healthcare cover and don't rely on state healthcare.
I don't want to seem patronising, but maybe you should research a little more - unless, of course, you aren't planning on declaring tax at all - as lots of expats seem to do here.
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I think it the expression you are using that has us all intrigued!! 'Exempt from paying taxes' is quite a statement. Spanish royalty? Those in the UK pay some taxes now so you can't be one of those!!
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i like the sound of that.
how does one get such a unique thing?
_______________________
i coldnt stay away from you miserable whining whingers for some reason
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A 2 week Holiday is a lot different to living here all year round. The houses are not built like the u.k so are very cold in the Winter, but great in the summer.
Like others have said exempt from tax don´t think so, unless you know something everbody else doe´s not know.
Health care yes is good and waiting lists are shorter then U.K, but unless you pay for private medical care, or pay into the system you will not get it.
with regards bringing the children of these ages to go to school they will fall behind unless they go to a international school, i would not put the older child into a Spanish school they will struggle, my daughter has been in the Spanish sytem for 10 years and doing great but she was the right age to start over here.
It would be a good idea if you new where you wanted to live,(inland,on the coast,NSEW,city, town, campo) Spain is a big country and though safe there is still crime over here like the rest of the world so you will not get away from that.
MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED HERE I THINK NOT THOGHT THROUGH
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I'm not sure I understand your post as you said your husband would be paying 40% tax and then you say he is tax exempt? I know that I have seen on various threads on this forum that even if something is tax exempt in the Uk it isn't in Spain. I'm no expert, there are many more on here that know an awful lot so maybe if you could spell out the tax bit and make it a little clearer it would help with replies. However you might also like to think about what you want. Do you want to live in a large Expat community or possibly a small one or maybe even in a more tradditional Spanish town? Inland is very very hot in the summer and can get very cold in the winter and they do have snow and frosts too! The coast tends to be warmer all year round and in the summer you have winds off the sea to help cool you down. Like someone else said on here generally Spanish houses do not have central heating, although you can have it put in.
As for areas, as previously stated Spain is a huge country. I don't have much knowledge of the northern parts but I do know that around the Alicante area and downwards right around along the coast there are nice areas and many with large expat communities. Myself I am moving slightly inland as I prefer to be in a smaller expat community and more tradditional town. There is a fair bit of research to be done I think. You might also want to be near ish (half hour to one hour) to an airport for ease of going away and visitors coming in?
Good luck. Try looking at some of the Blogs on here as some write about their experiences moving to Spain.
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