torvista

Hi from a virgin poster ,
It seems many knowledgeable people live here so here goes with the life story so far. .

I set up a small business in Spain a couple of years ago, we (me & my Spanish partner) operate it from home, its mainly internet-based and is still very small, something we do in addition to our real jobs.
It doesn’t make any profit: its all re-invested in extortionate magazine advertising and importing the products from the UK. Obviously I have a NIE and do quarterly IVA and renta returns as I’m registered as autonomo/self-employed and have to pay social security. So I’m definitely in the system.

I spend very little time in Spain, about two weeks in every10 weeks. I have been working for a UK company over the last tax year (to ease a mortgage application) and have been paying UK tax as a UK resident. I spend about 1 week in 6 in the UK as all my work is offshore or the oily/nasty places of the globe, so it’s a bit difficult to say where I am resident, i.e. where I should be paying tax.

We are about to submit an application for a mortgage with the Halifax in Spain, and I am expecting this will open a can of worms regarding my tax and tax-residence situation, which I should be resolving before the Declaracion de la Renta in May.

I reckon I should be declaring all of it to Hacienda and not paying UK tax. What does the panel think?

I’m sure there must be people in similar situations but certainly no one I know up here in darkest Asturias (“Here be dragons”, it says on the maps),

Regards
Steve

coralsoft

Steve,
We picked up a mortgage with the Halifax about 18 months ago, before I was paying tax in Spain. I worked for a UK client via my own UK Ltd Co, though my wife would have just done her first tax return then, I think.

Just be open about it, so that you can't be caught out giving inconsistent answers, and I think they'll be able to deal with it. It sounds like what you're doing is all above board. As long as you're paying tax in one place for sensible reasons (like it's a UK company) and you've signed up properly for the business in Spain, I don't see a problem in the long run.

Choose a clean cut-off date to become Spanish tax resident when you leave your UK company. Until then, let the UK company handle the UK tax, then fill in a Spanish tax form and pay any difference due.

You should have a Spanish financial advisor who can confirm something along those lines.

We'll be up in August to help you out with the cider lake - we're staying in a village near Llanes again. And I'd be interested in hearing your experiences of setting up in Asturias.

torvista

Thanks for the advice.

We don't see many foreigners in Gijon (unless you include Madrilenos ),
so I'd always be interested in meeting up and advising on the best cider and fabada joints!
Our business is

www.scottoiler-es.com

which should be of interest to any bikers in here!

Cheers
Steve

coralsoft

Ah, I've seen discussion of these on the net from various motorbiker types. I've always thought that Spain has brilliant roads for motorbiking - all those mountain twists. It's fun enough with a packed MPV or estate, so it would be excellent on a decent bike or car.