Hello everyone,

I am a new to this forum and need some advice.
I am a uk resident living in spain for a year now.

I have been made transfer payments from uk using an internet money transfer service with HIFX. I have use them regulary and everything was fine. Now in my last transaction, they send me a mail saying that their bank ( barclays ) needs a Purpose of payment before they release my payment.

they justify saying that they are responsible to confirm the origin, destination and purpose of payments.

I am sending regular payments of around £ 500 a mounth from my uk bank to HIFX for my every day life expenditure.

I am not sure what the Purpose of payment should i say in order not to incurred in any tax legislation or anything i am not aware off.

thanks in advance for your help

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

I think it is to make sure you are not money laundering.

Can't you just put 'Living Expenses'?

If you have been living in Spain for a year you are resident in Spain - not the UK. ???

yes, that occurred to me


I wonder if that's why the question is being asked

There's no reason why normally that question would be asked. I have been living here for some years now and make monthly payments via Currencies Direct. I have never been asked that question. When we bought our place I transferred some pretty large payments over the period of a year via HIFX. No such requests then either, and at that point I was still a UK resident.

As said, if you have been living in Spain for a year then you aren't a UK resident ... you're a Spanish resident, or should be. I am not sure why this though would spark the question from HIFX either.

When we first moved here and we transferred a large amount of money in order to buy our house, we too were asked that question.
I guess it's to guard against money laundering, but since then we make monthly transfers with no questions asked.

I concur with the others, if you have been living here for a year you are no longer a UK resident but a Spanish one.

We have been asked the question in the past by Currencies Direct. We just put 'house purchase' or 'funds' , whatever it happened to be.

We were asked to explain by our receiving bank in Spain, but not by our regular currency broker

UK banks make spot checks on overseas payments as part of anti-money laundering legislation.

Thank you so very much for all your replays. Im sorry didn't write before as i was away from computer.

First, clarify my mistake. I am a Spanish national who was resident in Uk for 20 years and now living in spain.

My doubt about what to say to the bank about the nature of my transaction rise to the fact that when i i made my monthly transfer i put in the reference payroll payment. It is not, as i transfer money from my uk bank to my spanish bank. I do that in order to obtain free banking in spain.
This is the nature of my doubt as im not sure of my status for paying spanish taxes and if saying payroll will affect that, or even if will encounter some problems with the tax office in the future here in spain.

I guess that my best option will be just put " Living Expenses "

Many thanks again for made me feel a warm welcome in this forum.

Rafael

Why dont you put that the money is for "sexual services", that will give them something to talk about.

Iknow a female pensioner who says that if anyone asks her why she wants to draw out largeish sums of money