as always, thanks for replies, I generally come here when I am not sure! Will post once resolved and perhaps help others in the same situation. I agree, if hubby earns in UK and pays UK tax why should he then pay again in Spain? The law is the law here, so will need to dig deeper to keep ourselves correct.
Thanks again everyone for your replies

Linda

I look forward to hearing the resolution.

What you have to remember is that any income received from work in the UK is taxed in the UK irrespective of tax residency but income received from a UK company for work outside the UK may well be taxed in the UK but it does not follow, in either case, that it will not also be liable for tax in the country deemed to be the country of "tax residence" for reasons (other than number of days of residence) of the family/principal home situation. Dual taxation treaties between countries come into the equation and can be very complicated.

You do need good professional advice on this subject (which can be very difficult to find) and be very careful of opening the "can of worms" that Betris referred to.

Good luck!

do it the scouse way. deny everything and keep your trap shut.
no seriusly hubby must have some mates who are in the same boat who may be able to advise you based on first hand experiance.good luck

If anyone is interested - I got an answer. I do a tax return but don't pay tax. Hubby simply does tax return in Spain and will only pay tax on his half of our house, classed as holiday home for him due to limited time he is here. Thanks for all you replies - and to you Fred.

Where tax must be paid is governed by rules. We can't just pick a solution which suits us. If one pays tax in the wrong jurisdiction that does not absolve them from their liabilities elsewhere.

I have friends who live in Spain but chose to pay tax in UK. If the tax-man here looks into their situation they could be fined and made to pay the unpaid tax, plus interest.

The dual taxation agreements between countries varies, so knowing how it works between say UK and Spain possible has no relevance say between Spain and another country

In this case it is not clear where the tax should be paid and, as explained above, although there is the 183 day rule, there is also the main residence location and other factors.

As we know in Spain one can ask 5 experts and 6 different answers. On CDS I know one accountant who is, I believe, excellent although not cheap. I also know many other 'experts' who give incorrect advice. On one occasion when I was making my tax return in the Hacienda office I was given wrong info. When I questioned it the tax officer spoke to someone else and then changed his advice.

Linda, I suggest you try to find a qualified person whom you can trust and take their advise. Guessing, or asking the wrong person is not a good idea.


Addition:-

Originally Posted by linda Coyle View Post
If anyone is interested - I got an answer. I do a tax return but don't pay tax. Hubby simply does tax return in Spain and will only pay tax on his half of our house, classed as holiday home for him due to limited time he is here.

I would be very doubtful about that advice. It sounds like it came from a very run of the mill gestor who does not know the law. The main residence fact which Fred mentioned for one. I would suggest to try again.


Good luck

It is though theoretically possible (for instance) for a wife to be a Spanish fiscal resident, and a husband to be a UK tax resident. Some peoples circumstances are different I guess .

Yes I agree totally.

If a couple have their main residence in UK and the wife came to Spain and spent more that 183 days in total here in a 12 month period she would be taxable here.

If she broke up the stay, so that she left the country before she had been here 3 months, then despite being here in total 183+ days, she would not be required to register as a resident with the police.

To confuse matters even more. Where I live property owners who are on the Padron get 30% off local taxes. Thus many second home owners who only come for holiday breaks are on the padron but neither tax resident nor registered as residents, with the green cert.

When they framed the laws it would appear they did not consider, nor make any allowances for, people who do not comply with 'normal practice' i.e. live and work permanently in one country.

Making yourself totally legal in Spain, unless you live the most simple and uncomplicated of lives, is impossible. As long as you refrain from any illegal activity, keeping your head down is the best advice available.

As a widower, I committed the cardinal sin of remarrying a widow, in a foreign country. We are both residents in Spain and have enough legal documents between us to fill several cardboard boxes. We pay taxes both in the UK, and Spain, and for some ridiculous reason in the US – which I won’t go into here.

We’ve consulted several Gestors and Abogados, good ones, allegedly, and none of them can sort out our affairs to the nth degree and all of them have advised us not to even try.

HGB.


I don't wanna know your personal circumstances but I understand that if one is tax resident in Spain then the only income which is taxable in UK are government employee pensions, and income from property.

When one informs the UK tax office that they are resident in Spain they send a form which one takes to the Hacienda, who send it back to UK. From then on it should (has been for me ) plain sailing.

There is an inconvenience though if one has savings in a UK bank/building Soc which will not pay interest gross. In that case the UK Tax-man gets 20% of which one can claim back 8%, the remaining 12% can then be off set against tax liabilities in Spain. If one does not pay tax here then the 12% is lost.

I have a taxed Gov pension in UK and taxed Building Society saving.

The good thing about the Gov employee pension is that it is ignored in Spain, thus one gets the tax relief in UK on the pension, plus tax relief in Spain on the remainder of the income.

However, if one has a private pension from the UK that must be declared here, in which case, if one also has a UK retirement pension (OAP) the two are added with any other income but there is only one lot of tax relief.