dougal03

I am about to complete on the sale of my apartment & will make a small profit.I shall be returning to UK & want to close my Bank account here as I have no further need of this.The Gestor tells me that I need to keep my account open & submit a tax return next year as I will not have lived in the property for the required 3 years.I shall be in another country & will have no need for any Bank service in Spain therefore will be paying Bank fees on an empty account.This seems stupid but is this what I really have to do?

dmu

Hi from the France forum, where you'd be advised to keep your account open, with a sufficient balance, until all the Utility bills, the equivalent of Council Tax (if any), Property Gains Tax and any Income Tax, have been paid.

Chipmonk

You should close your account. As you say you will be charged even if not using and also a spanish account can only be closed in person in your branch. You cant close it from UK.

spainrico

I think if you want to ensure everything is paid including tax etc. then you need to leave it open to cover any outstanding debts. If on the other hand you are prepared to 'do a disappearing act' and run the risk of having outstanding issues then close it and go.

I did hear (but not experienced) that debts can follow you (especially tax) across borders these days but just depends how you sleep at night.

Loafing Along

You are absolutely right and not just tax debts. Our Community used an excellent Uk affiliate of a Spanish agency to track down and get payment for outstanding community fees.
Re keeping the account open presumably on selling the house there has been a tax retention made and the tax authorities may well have a small amount to pay back so could be worth keeping it

rspltd

When we sold our house the hacienda paid back the 3% retention into our U.K. account ( and at a very good exchange rate)

missile

Bad advice from Gestor

dougal03

There is absolutely no way I would do"a disappearing act".For the last 35 years I have paid all my dues & this was before Spain came to join the EU.My surprise is that I need to keep open a Bank account in Spain,thereby incurring monthly charges simply while waiting to do a further "Renta" next year.I have never actually needed to pay tax despite the fact that I have always done a tax return.This is the same for lots of retired people who do this & pay a Gestor because,like myself,they own a property that they may sell at some date & .as I am doing at this time,getting a certificate from the Hacienda which states you are a fiscal resident.I have sold numerous properties in the past & this did not come up .However this time I am going out of Spain.

missile

You do not "need" a gestor. He has been charging you for 35 years ? Something which most of us can easily DIY. He is giving you bad advice, sack him.

Chipmonk

The only thing you need consider that may be a problem is that you will need to return to Spain to close the account ,up until then they will charge you. You can not do it by letter, phone, internet etc

dougal03

I had a business for most of that time.A DIY job was not acceptable.Perhaps you are not aware that many elderly people who come here to retire were not,as you seem to be, brought up in their working life with the computer age.

missile

I am no spring chicken either

agree_to_disagree

Why are you leaving Spain and returning to the UK?

DLC

You could use an Internet account like one from Wise, that way you could have a commission-free euro bank account to operate from and close when you're finished without having to go to a branch.

Openbank, ING, or BBVA (Spanish banks) also do commission-free banking and close when you're finished without having to go to a branch, but they assume you're a resident and if they want to check your residency status as they do once in a while you might have a problem.

However these are Internet bank accounts which you've said you don't particularly like.

Chipmonk

Yes one problem for foreigners is that you cannot close your account any other way than in person so unless you wish to travel back to Spain you should do it before leaving but this can be difficult if you will have pending tax Bill's etc