I have been told that there is a Q and A in the Euro weekly news, which I haven't seen yet, asking if you had to pay CGT in spain, on a house you sold in UK, then moved to Spain afterwards in the same year, before July 2nd, therefore becoming a tax resident, as being in Spain more than 183 days. The answer was -yes. I bet this is something many people would not have thought about before coming to Spain.What will happen to all those who have done this over the years, not realising they had to declare this on their tax declaration the following year.Bet Fred knows!

Yes it's a good move in the UK but many people assume it's the same in Spain.

Unfortunately it isn't the same, as gift tax, which is broadly the same as IHT is applicable at the time the gift is made.

Also some of the special allowances that may apply to IHT in certain regions may not apply to gift tax.

You can't take it with you and you can't even give it away!

There is some excellent advice on that thread from eight years ago, starting with the very first post from the Spaniard.

What he and some sensible others predicted has all come true, with bells on. Concerning excellent advice on forums such on this, that advice is still out there for everyone who wants to listen.

But the brutal truth is that people generally don't (listen), the flood of eager expats buying properties in Spain probably reached new heights after 2005, and the great majority of those have lost some 40% on the value of their purchases since.

Why didn't they listen to Ivanmax and the others?

Yes that's true.

The problem is that if you become tax resident in Spain under the 183 day rule, you are deemed tax resident for the whole of that tax year so he was Spanish tax resident when he sold it.

The UK deal with this differently as they do allow, by a special concession, to allow split tax years. That means that you become non resident the day you leave the UK and conversely you become tax resident on the day you arrive, not for the earlier part of the year.

I believe most countries do the same as Spain. The UK has some very strange tax rules especially with regard to tax residency (and don't even mention domicile). The UK rules have recently changed and become much more complicated to the point where you could be deemed tax resident if you only spend 10 days in the UK.

If you want to develop a really bad headache go to the HMRC website and try and understand the new rules!

I'm a facts and figures man...

Yes Fred that is why I mentioned that IF my wife and me become Resident in Spain the UK will would be changed to our daughters favour so that my wife or me dont pay to inherit our own house. Spanish one we can't do that so have to bite the bullet and vet whatever allowances we can.

Haven't read it all but very impressed that the thread spans three years a lot of commitment there.

I think the same commitment is still here, but the strange names have changed and the original posters have moved elsewhere, or stopped posting.

I've always been curious about what happens to regular posters who suddenly stop posting. Most of the class of 2005 have disappeared.

Or, do you write until the inkwell is dry and stop? Do we only have so many stories to tell? It can't all be down to the grim reaper, there's too many of us.

Of course there is one thread that out strips all the others in terms of views and replies but since the move over to their own sub section it no longer features.


http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511156

But there is still a lot of us around.

Yes but that was a forum in itself without separate threads.

The other thread with many posts is the Joke thread in Siesta Time but when I commented on the number of posts on the Form 720 thread I specifically referred to threads in the main Spain forum.

Can we please get back on topic now rather than worrying about thread statistics.

That's why I said what I said... it didn't used to be a separate forum and to be fair, the vast majority of the posts were made when it was part of this forum.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is a case of the devil taking the hindmost, the five percent of people who have filled out the form to allow the Spanish government to take money directly out of their bank accounts.

It's as simple as that, that's what's going to happen.

IMHO, because they are immigrants. There are a couple I know where I used to live, in a similar position to the Friars, still fighting to be allowed to live in their house, (which they bought in good faith with all the paperwork), whilst all around them are equally illegal houses lived in/owned by Spaniards which are not touched. My friends have even been told that they 'are being made an example'.