lutonlad

If anyone has any advice I'd be most grateful...

We normally spend our time in Spain in three trips which total up to 170 to 180 days for the year (we are non-residents).

However next year, we plan to include a short hotel break to Portugal during one of our trips to Spain.

If all goes ahead, our total number of days in Spain will be 183 MINUS our 5 days in Portugal. So 178 days actually in Spain for the year. Just want to make sure we are safe regarding the 183 day fiscal rule.

I might add that I include travelling to and from Spain (6 flights a year) as days in Spain, so I'm airing on the side of caution. Is this defined anywhere?

Thanks for any help.

snikpoh

You won't have a problem but keep as much proof as possible (hotel bills in Portugal, shopping receipts, air-line tickets or whatever).

Loafing Along

Doing the sums the other way round ( Time in the UK ) you can use the Tax Office calculator :
HM Revenue & Customs: Service unavailable

Click the link even though it says "Service Unavailable"

lutonlad

Thanks for the inputs.
I just wanted to make sure that my few days in Portugal will subtract from the 183 days.

Still interested to know whether Spanish authorities count travel days as part of the fiscal total. If there is something definitive on this I'm sure it would be of help to others - especially those that make frequent trips.

Loafing Along

I cannot find anything on travel days. As I understand there are three critieria used by the Spanish tax Authorities :

1. Residence of more than 183 days , which may include sporadic absences, i.e. the five days in Portugal.

2. Having as a base and centre of economic interest Spain

3. Residence in Spain of partner and underage children.

Effectively sporadic absences are ignored by the Spanish taxman and you would need to rely on criteira of your home base and centre of economic interest . The discussion shifts to your assets, do you have a Spanish property, your principal source of income and so on.

There are a lot of good commentaries in Spanish on this issue as it is obviously one of direct interest to the Spanish authorities due to the number of foreigners that "temporarily" reside in Spain.

lutonlad

Does that mean that those of us with a holiday home who make sure that we don't exceed 183 days in Spain, could in fact be deemed tax resident without knowing it - if the Spanish authorities deem that having a break in France or Portugal, going on a cruise or even flying back to the UK for a wedding somehow counts as being in Spain!

Worrying stuff for those of us who thought we understood the rules and were doing things 'by the book'.

Loafing Along

Surely not because you have not exceeded the 183 days, your centre of economic interest, I presume is the UK and you are fiscally resident there. The legislation is directed more at people like myself, I lived in Spain for 15 years, after I retired to the Costa I was asked to do an assignment in Germany. It happened to start in June .. I had to produce certificates from the German tax Authorities to prove I was being taxed there. I ended up with a split tax bill.
In other words, the Spanish, just like the UK, want to make sure you are paying your taxes and obviously they communicate with the British and other EU tax authorities.
Different if you pass the 183 days.

lutonlad

Thanks again for your advice. Yes I'm a UK resident - retired and taxed.
We booked our flights to Spain next year as we normally do. I checked the total number of days in Spain including 6 days travel and it is 183 exactly (I usually aim for less). But because we're spending 5 complete days in Portugal I assume I'm 'safe', although I thought it wise to ask the question.

Loafing Along

Yes because you are on the limit not because of the Portuguese days. You can see the logic, with freedom of movement in the EU very very difficult to actually track where people go and when they go so they just ignore it.
The fiscal authorities are , I feel, after more interesting cases. A few years ago in Marbella the local police did a spot-check on documentation on all parents bringing their children to the English School, obvious , kids at school must be permanent. They can also check utility consumption in conjunction with suppliers again looking for consistency of consumption . Personally I worry more about pensioners with a house in Spain who obviously overrun their days. Each year the pressure to collect taxes increases and each year the authorities get more sophisticated.
Enjoy your stay

Pulaski

I would recommend that you be VERY careful about documenting your trip to Portugal (assuming that you're driving over the border), because based on airline tickets you will have a documented presence in Spain of 183 days, and the evidence that you drove to Portugal is less tangible (no airline ticket database to record your travel into and out of Spain).

Also, what happens if, towards the end of your last visit of the year, there is some sort of personal/medical or airline/airport crisis that cause your departure to be delayed? In the US forum, where the length of stay can critically impact your future ability to visit the US without needing a visa, we usually recommend leaving 2-5 days ahead of the critical cut-off date just in case of a sudden crisis.

lutonlad

Thanks Pulaski.
As I mentioned, I usually aim for fewer days (this time I almost miscalculated). Fortunately the coach trip to Portugal is through a travel agent so everything will be documented. As for a medical crisis, I take your point - I'll have to keep everything crossed.

The thing that bugs me is how travel days to/from Spain/UK are counted. Seems an obvious question to which there should be an answer.

Tadd1966

As has been said many times the 183 day rule is NOT black and white as people say and is only a guide and a single test amongst many other tests such as (in no particular order)

1.Centre of economic interests (you can have more than 1)
2.Where you perform work and / or earn income and type of work and for how long
3. Fiscal residency and bi lateral tax agreements
4. There is no limit on how many holidays you take or how many times you visit a EU/EEA state

talk to HMRC and an accountant first then with your Spanish accountant

lutonlad

Thanks. I've managed to change one of my flights to ensure that I'm not on the limit even without counting the days in Portugal.

PS. Went through Los Montesinos yesterday. Nice little town.