Moving from UK to Spain – how do taxes differ?

[achor]

Hello

I currently live in the UK and looking at moving to Spain, as it’d be a nice change for me but it’s close enough to my family here that I can still see them often. I haven’t been able to understand the Spanish income tax system yet so was hoping someone here could explain it to me? Hopefully it’s just me finding the wrong resources and it’s actually a super simple answer but I really don’t have a clue. The UK tax system is fairly simple, and easy to calculate with this online tool I’ve used before. Is there something similar for Spain? It’d be quite helpful in gauging what money I will have on what income.

(Also my apologies this isn’t the most ‘on-topic’ conversation – more real estate related ones will come soon after I figure out where I’m moving – maybe you lot can convince me that will be Spain? 😉 )

Thanks! 🙂

[HG]

Hello,

Taxes here are more complicated in my opinion than other EU countries.  The only thing that you might want to watch out for (applies in many countries as well), is that if you are a resident here you are taxed on your GLOBAL income. This means, for example, if you have an apartment in the US, Singapore, or wherever, you need to pay income tax to the Spanish tax agency.  Or, if you receive dividends/income from anything else in the UK, you need to pay the Spanish authorities tax if you are a resident here. Not doing so can lead to massive penalties.   Just something to know before making such a big decision.  Another one, is that if you sell any UK property you need to pay the Spanish tax authorities roughly 20% capital gains tax.

Thanks!

[Seumusin]

Also a recent law forces you to declare all assets held outside Spain in various categories: Capital (such as a house), bank accounts and so on. If any of these exceeds 50000 euro, you must declare it to the Spanish taxman. And of course just about any flat or house in the UK is worth more than that. I dont think they TAX you on these resources….yet.

For this reason, I, for one, think it may be better – certainly simpler -to be officially non-resident in Spain and not to own property there.

[HG]

If you rent out the property in the UK, and are a resident in Spain, then you are taxed over the income to the Spanish tax authority.  Exact taxes depends on your total income, but its definitely more than 20%!

[Author]

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