Relocation to Spain Experience
- Thread starter Martynt74
- Start date
How do/will you present the paper trail of monies from the UK to the Spanish authorities
(I'd used hifx for some preferential smaller monetary exchanges between international accounts, but maybe need to transfer directly from a national eu bank, for transparency, a, chain of trust )
(I'd used hifx for some preferential smaller monetary exchanges between international accounts, but maybe need to transfer directly from a national eu bank, for transparency, a, chain of trust )
Not too sure to be honest. The one of the land plots (probably most likely purchase) is from an English seller, so it makes sense to just transfer GBP in the UK. I assume as long as they confirm receipt and we have proof of transfer then there shouldn't be a problem.
For the building work, we'll pay the builder direct so unsure if there's the same money laundering checks as in the UK.
Associate
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 1,378
- Location
- Portsmouth
I looked into moving to buying a place in Spain and couldnt believe how much they tax everything. Personal allowances are lower and they tax pensions and everything back home in the UK. I eventually bought a place in Turkey. They don't tax pension there. I might move there one day but happy to have it as a Holiday home at the moment. I also plan to keep an eye one Spain but things are harder moving there since Brexit. Always looking for somewhere recommended as my In Laws bought in the mountains near Iznaja and it's boiling in summer and freezing in Winter.
Yeah, i worked out i'll be taxed around an extra 13% compared to the UK. My wife is affected worse as her income is lower, but due to self employment fees taking a high proportion, she's taxed around 25% vs closer to 10% in the UK (once taking into account allowances etc). There are some up sides though, i got our electric bill yesterday and it was €58 for 2 months. Given we both work from home it's a fraction of what we spent in the UK!
We've still not had much cold yet. Yesterday was 23C. It gets cold inside the houses as it's the sun that's warm, but that's the driver being building a modern efficient house which will regulate temperature much better.
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Associate
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 1,378
- Location
- Portsmouth
While I was looking I came across this Video which has some good tips on Spanish Tax:
www.youtube.com
You may find it helpful!
How much tax will I pay when I'm in Spain 2023?
How much tax will I pay when I'm in Spain 2023?Skatz and the viewers ask tax expert Brett how much tax will they pay after moving to Spain in 2023, including...
www.youtube.com
You may find it helpful!
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using national banks for transparent fund transfer / conversion - just speaking to BNP/france counsellor who told me people using currencies direct for transfers -
why can't the banks offer competitive exchange rates (because they don't consolidate multiple clients exchanges ?)
why can't the banks offer competitive exchange rates (because they don't consolidate multiple clients exchanges ?)
It baffles me why banks aren't more competitive, especially those with an international presence like Santander/HSBC. I've heard of Currencies Direct. I should probably compare against WISE as even a small difference can add up quick on £100k. At the moment, fees are around £21 on a £5000 transfer.
Some good news recently. The builder has confirmed his guy at the bank has approved us for a mortgage based on being Spanish tax residents. Given i've spoken to around 5 brokers who've told me it's impossible without 12 months history, it's a nice relief. There's talks of the EU dropping interest rates too in 2024 so hopefully a mortgage comes in a decent chunk lower than expected by the time we need to draw it.
One thing i don't think i've mentioned. Is how nice it is to have longer days in winter. Even now at almost the shortest day of the year, the sun rises around 8am and it doesn't get dark until 6pm. Means i can finish work and do stuff outside before it's pitch black. I know the offset is now having the long days in Summer which i did used to love, but in reality there's no need for a 4am sunrise most of the time. From what i've heard it's more like 5am-9pm in July. Given the choice i'd take 10hrs a day in the winter over a slightly shorter summer day.
Some good news recently. The builder has confirmed his guy at the bank has approved us for a mortgage based on being Spanish tax residents. Given i've spoken to around 5 brokers who've told me it's impossible without 12 months history, it's a nice relief. There's talks of the EU dropping interest rates too in 2024 so hopefully a mortgage comes in a decent chunk lower than expected by the time we need to draw it.
One thing i don't think i've mentioned. Is how nice it is to have longer days in winter. Even now at almost the shortest day of the year, the sun rises around 8am and it doesn't get dark until 6pm. Means i can finish work and do stuff outside before it's pitch black. I know the offset is now having the long days in Summer which i did used to love, but in reality there's no need for a 4am sunrise most of the time. From what i've heard it's more like 5am-9pm in July. Given the choice i'd take 10hrs a day in the winter over a slightly shorter summer day.
Nothing wrong with shorter days in Spain. The benefit is the evenings start to cool down when the sun sets freeing you up to sit in the warm, and enjoy long evenings. After covering yourself in Deet natch.
Why they aren't using GM mosquitoes to control the population I have no idea.
Why they aren't using GM mosquitoes to control the population I have no idea.
Might set up a farm for these things on the plot!
Looks like we're settled on the La Romana plot. The other seller turned out to be mental, and jumped from 45k to 100k, unsure if this is because we're English, although she insists the price was wrong with the agents. What she actually wants isn't a bad price by any means, but at closer to market value we preferred the La Romana plot. It doesn't have electric and the cave house i liked the idea of, but it's much more sheltered from the wind which feels important!
(perhaps that's what you meant but ) similar monies I'd transferred electronically from france/BNP via HIFX(similar to wise) in the past hadn't attracted any bank fee, well, perhaps embedded in the exchange rate.
I don't currently understand for larger sums how you get the money to Wise since lloyds electronically has a £25K limit and BNP e6K / day, perhaps you have to physically visit the bank to do it ?
I just spoke with wise on the phone and they couldn't elaborate more than V https://wise.com/us/blog/transfer-money-to-buy-property-abroad, on the general principal
but think you may need to accumulate the total fund over multiple days at wise, with those limits.
Transfer limits can be set by providers and destination countries. If you’re sending a large payment you’ll need to double check if it’s possible with different providers. Some may allow you to send high values only if you provide extra verification documents to support your transfer.
... anyway that's probably further ahead for you.
e:https://www.worldremit.com/en/blog/finance/bank-transfer-limit-uk
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Little update. Not a huge amount has changed here.
Now onto the land. As i think i've mentioned. It's 3 plots of land. Plot 33 (19,000m2) ,34 (16,000m2) and 35 (5500m2)
The initial plan was to buy Plot 33 and build on it. However following a meeting with the architect, he believes Plot 34 is better as it has a good flat section to minimise groundwork costs and is slightly elevated for better views. Therefore we agreed to buy plot 34 and 35 initially with an agreement we'd then buy 33 later on. The price being €2.5m2 for the first 2 plots and then €1.5m2 for plot 33 to average close to €2m2 overall.
I then figured that the "extra" cost was only €30k and we can mortgage 50% of the land. So for a €15k initial outlay, it makes sense and is tidier for everyone to get it done and dusted. Once this plan was made, i decided that instead of a 50m2 garage, i'd change it's use to a 50m2 casita (little house) for guests with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. The builder agreed he could build this quicker than the main house, and so we could move into this ahead of the completion to save paying €1300 a month in rent.
Everything then sounded like it was going swimmingly. Until this morning when i get an email from the builder saying the bank may have an issue with building over 2 plots, and wouldn't mortgage the land at 50% for any land without a building on. I'm now seeing if i can structure the land purchase where the 15,000m2 plot costs €4m2 and the others at a low price. We then get a mortgage valuation at a higher price (€4/m2 is still a decent market price so shouldn't raise any eyebrows)
Now just waiting to hear back.
On other matters, this rental runs out at the end of June, and we're struggling finding anything for the summer months that aren't at huge summer holiday weekly prices. We might have something but will mean having to take it from March and giving notice on this place. We had one lined up but after initially giving a decent price, he decided to double it
- I had an email to ask for more info on my residency, giving me 10 days. Almost impossible to find a place to submit the documents as the online link in the PDF didn't work. *Think* i've sorted it. Just waiting for a response.
- We've settled on the big 40,000m2 plot of land. Currently in the process of negotiation and purchase structure - More on this later
- I bought a new car. A 2008 Kia Sportage. Has a towbar and roof racks. Is huge inside and will work nicely for long journeys and hauling stuff around
- The kids came out for Christmas. Weird sitting out on Christmas Day in 20C sunshine at a bar with a beer
- To encourage moves with the builder we signed the contract for the build and paid the initial deposit
Now onto the land. As i think i've mentioned. It's 3 plots of land. Plot 33 (19,000m2) ,34 (16,000m2) and 35 (5500m2)
The initial plan was to buy Plot 33 and build on it. However following a meeting with the architect, he believes Plot 34 is better as it has a good flat section to minimise groundwork costs and is slightly elevated for better views. Therefore we agreed to buy plot 34 and 35 initially with an agreement we'd then buy 33 later on. The price being €2.5m2 for the first 2 plots and then €1.5m2 for plot 33 to average close to €2m2 overall.
I then figured that the "extra" cost was only €30k and we can mortgage 50% of the land. So for a €15k initial outlay, it makes sense and is tidier for everyone to get it done and dusted. Once this plan was made, i decided that instead of a 50m2 garage, i'd change it's use to a 50m2 casita (little house) for guests with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. The builder agreed he could build this quicker than the main house, and so we could move into this ahead of the completion to save paying €1300 a month in rent.
Everything then sounded like it was going swimmingly. Until this morning when i get an email from the builder saying the bank may have an issue with building over 2 plots, and wouldn't mortgage the land at 50% for any land without a building on. I'm now seeing if i can structure the land purchase where the 15,000m2 plot costs €4m2 and the others at a low price. We then get a mortgage valuation at a higher price (€4/m2 is still a decent market price so shouldn't raise any eyebrows)
Now just waiting to hear back.
On other matters, this rental runs out at the end of June, and we're struggling finding anything for the summer months that aren't at huge summer holiday weekly prices. We might have something but will mean having to take it from March and giving notice on this place. We had one lined up but after initially giving a decent price, he decided to double it
does larger area of land purchase incur any significant ongoing yearly land/area based tax,
My wife has Irish grandparents so we applied for her citizenship back in 2022. Pension credits i need to look into, but she has 33/35 years and we can manually top up the 2 years.
I've got 18 years, which can count towards the Spanish pension requirements. The Spanish pension is massively better than the UK, so i should be good.
It does, but it's negligible.
Awesome. I know it's only 3 months so far, but i honestly don't see myself wanting to go back. Yes there's some frustrations and obvious problems with language which i'm not doing enough at the moment to improve on as we've been sorting so much other stuff out, but my quality of life is hugely improved.
If you work remotely, and don't have EU connections, then look at a Digital Nomad Visa. Once you have that for 5 years you can apply for permanent residency
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All i can say is do it
There's lot of good facebook groups covering most topics from Tax/Visas/General Moving questions which are an invaluable source of info.
Whoop got a rental sorted. It's about €450/mth cheaper than our current place too which gives us a good saving. Although by no means is it as nice so i can't use the backdrop for any pictures in the purchases thread for a while
A big relief though as there was a possibility of having nothing sorted for June-August. The owners of the new place are out in September but things should be calmer by then and we may even have a small guest house built on our plot to move into, which would be the dream.
A big relief though as there was a possibility of having nothing sorted for June-August. The owners of the new place are out in September but things should be calmer by then and we may even have a small guest house built on our plot to move into, which would be the dream.
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
- Posts
- 8,101
Well thats handy if you have some kind of EU citizenship that an enormous benefit as ex pats are being hammered by tax and other authorities atm from what I heard punishment for brexit though they deny it. According to my father though and I quote 'the weather, most public services and the cost of living is better here than the UK' so yeah things are so abysmally bad here if anyone can get out of this country, do it (bad for anyone who's not wealthy at anyrate, in which case you're probably sitting very comfortably indeed as this govt favours you immensely)