Padron yes or no?
 

Hi,
Firstly I have scrolled through pages of questions with the search facility but cannot find a definitive answer.

In my area busses are free with your Padron card, and I was chatting with a long term non resident ex pat who told me I should go on the Padron!

I am non resident, I have owned a property here for years but I live in the U.K. but use my holiday home frequently.

i pay my non residents tax.

i was under the impression if you go on the Padron, you are saying you are tax resident, and the town hall simply want numbers to boost central government spending.

My esteemed amigo also told me that if I was on the Padron I would not have to pay the non residents tax.

i have always avoided it as I had been told that it’s a way of hooking in numbers for funding with no concern for the unwary as to where it puts there national tax position.

what is the answer? I know there are a lot of knowledgeable experienced people on this forum.

regards
Al

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Hi,
You should not sign on the Padron unless you are a full-time resident here in Spain. It could lead to all sorts of complications regarding resident taxation etc. I've never heard of getting free bus travel simply by being on the Padron. Beware of incorrect information!!

Steve

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Thank you Steve,

just for clarification, the busses in the Fuengirola area are free to all Padron members, this is a highly publicised thing which is correct. They were free to all last year at this time, but now only Padron members.

Regards
Al

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

That is an excellent service for being on the padron in Fuengirola, I wish they did it here in Benidorm.....

Steve

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

I fail to understand how you could sign on the padron as that process requires proof of residencia and so non-residents are illegible however I think (ours does not) some town halls will accept people to boost their numbers and funding.

https://www.yourviva.com/property-fo...ring-town-hall

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Thank you Spain rico for your info…

in the Fuengirola I have known several non residents who are on the Padron, so it must be possible here.

I thought exactly the same as you, but on the ground experience tells me different.

regards
Al

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

If you want to apply they can only say yes or no. I do not think there is then any automatic link to paying residents tax.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

I agree that non residents should not sign on the padrón, but am aware that some Ayuntamientos do allow this. I think the suggestion that if a non resident signs on the padrón then they will not have to pay the non resident property tax is nonsense. It should really be called an imputed income on additional property tax anyway, as Spanish resident property owners who own other properties also have to pay it on any property which is not their principal residence. And really, if on the one hand people are claiming that being on the padrón does not make someone tax resident in Spain, then they can hardly say in the next breath that being on it does not make them non resident either!

I know that sometimes Hacienda does run checks on registered property owners, because a former neighbour once came to me with a letter he had received from them and asked me to explain what it said as he did not speak Spanish. His face fell as I read out "according to our records you have been the owner of the property at xxxxxxxx with catastral reference number xxxxxx since xxxxxxx. During that period you appear to have submitted neither a Declaración de la Renta nor a Modelo 210 ----".

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

I mistakenly registered on the padron when I was non-resident. When we moved here permanently I had to jump through hoops to prove my new residency to the DGT because my updated padron was required to matriculate the car I brought with me and that form stated I had been resident for several years. That meant I would be liable for all the taxes payable instead of being waived for a new resident. Fortunately I had a good gestor who told me what he needed in the way of docs from UK and he convinced DGT that the padron was in error and I was allowed my free importation.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

And this is I think a good example of why people should stick to the system (not having a go at you Brian) and this includes town halls! Otherwise, it can lead to this type of unwanted stressful complication.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

This is a topic that has been discussed a number of times on here. I would not sign on the pardon unless I was a full time resident in Spain. Saying you are on the pardon and exempt non resident tax is rubbish you either are resident and declare income tax or you are non resident and if a property owner pay non resident tax. You should only be on the pardon if your Spanish home is your habitual home by signing the pardon that is what you are declaring. If you are on the pardon as a non resident and the hacienda come after you for income tax you have created a big problem. Personally I just believe in sticking to rules rather than what others tell me to try and avoid potential and expensive issues with Spanish authorities. To that end you have done the right thing in checking on here if what this person told you is correct.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

We are not resident in Spain but were advised to go onto the padron during the vaccine rollout. For those who don't already know, we had a superb, highly efficient, pan European vaccine rollout here and we were able to choose our vaccine and have part of it in Portugal where we are resident and part of it in Spain and it was all logged onto a central EU database.

They knew we were non resident but said it didn't matter. We have since been offered health screening but said no thanks because we have private health insurance.

We have been paying non resident tax since we bought our first plot of land in 1998.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

thank you Bob in a nutshell this is exactly what I thought was the case….and with the other contributors it shows just how the issues can become confused.

i thanks to the confirmation from this site intend to remain OFF the pardon.

regards
Al

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

I have an 'OAP' bus pass which can be used for Bizkaibus, Bilbao Metro & trams. You have to be a 'pensioner' & fares are ridiculously cheap....eg 65 centimos from where we live to Bilbao (40kms).

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

we can also get the OAP bus pass here in Benidorm which allows travel also around 65 centimos but its amazing that anyone on the padron in Fuengirola, OAP or not, can get free travel.....

Steve

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Andalucia has the over 65 card which is free to obtain . It gives you half price bus travel within Andalucia and various other discounts. You have to be 65 plus and I think resident to get it . That said I do know some non residents that have it but they may have signed on the pardon to get it. I have and use the card but I am resident.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Both Torrox and Rincon de la Victoria, East of Málaga, introduced free local bus travel for residents (ie those on the padrón) some time ago, but my Ayuntamiento, Vélez.Málaga, which lies between the two, has not. We did get a pass for 30 free local bus journeys (as did those aged 16-25) in the run up to the last local elections, but once the PP got in and took over control one of the first things they did was to declare these passes invalid even before some of the people holding them had used up their 30 journeys. So, back to just using our Sesentaycinco cards which reduces the fare between our town and Torre del Mar on the coast from €1.30 to €0.60.

Los autobuses del transporte público en Torrox son gratuitos para los residentes desde hoy - La Opinión de Málaga (laopiniondemalaga.es)

El transporte público en Rincón de la Victoria será gratuito para todos los empadronados - La opinión de Málaga (laopiniondemalaga.es)

For those who live in an area served by Alsa buses and are too young to qualify for an OAP card, for about 18 months now they have been offering "frequent traveller" bonos which can be bought online (not the same as the free travel for commuters schemefor half the cost of the regular fares which involves paying a deposit). You can buy 3, 4, 10 or 20 journey tickets (useful if you regularly visit another town or city) and the validity periods are longer the more journeys you buy.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Hi, The Fuengirola free transport padron is only for full time registered residents in the area, while slightly annoying for non resident property owners, I don't think it's worth the future tax complications for the sake of a 1.20 euro bus journey ! ! Especially if you want to sell up. At the start when it was free for everybody it was great very forward thinking. Now when I use it I am only one paying ! ! The Renfe train deals are open to all if you need to go a bit further but only on a set point to point journey.....

Regards

Ste.

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Spanish law classes permitting non entitled persons to sign on a padron and signing on a padron as a 'grave' offence attracting a potential fine of up to €10,000 both for town halls and the individuals themselves.

Maybe it's never been levied but the law is there nevertheless.

As for not paying non resident tax, the alternative is being resident and paying tax on your worldwide income in Spain, there is no middle ground!

Both are big piles of poo to step in for the sake of a few bus fares!

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Spanish law classes permitting non entitled persons to sign on a padron and signing on a padron as a 'grave' offence attracting a potential fine of up to €10,000 both for town halls and the individuals themselves.

Maybe it's never been levied but the law is there nevertheless.

That is very interesting !

The forum has underlined what I was thinking, but occasionally the odd person you meet in a bar gives you contradictory information which throws you a bit. And I will remain off the padron.

It has been interesting to hear of other areas transport offers etc. Fuengirola received brand new busses last year, and brand new routes, with an interactive app, which on the whole is pretty good. It was free to all for 4 months but is now E1.20 which is still cheap.

The C1/2 rail line is offering great value too, if you use the app you can buy a ticket for ten euros which lasts a few months! I believe if you are resident once you have used it on four journeys you get your money back! As a non resident it just represents value for money, and not surprisingly the train is packed out!

On that note I will just say that whenever I visited a station the queue for tickets was so long because foreigners where struggling to understand the new options available to the point where you would miss the train waiting to buy a ticket! So I switched to the app which is great !

Thanks to all!

al

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

Hi could you please help what documents did you need to have to import a UK car to Spain please ?

Re: Padron yes or no?
 

After Brexit it is now much more expensive and complicated to import a car from the UK.Unless you have a very good reason for wanting to do it, most people will tell you not to do it and buy one in Spain.

There is some good, up to date, information here.

https://www.thelocal.es/20210917/how...side-of-the-eu