Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

A request for help, please. Specifically, I am looking for a recommendation for a tax advisor who is an expert in Double Taxation. My situation is that for the last decade I have spent winter in Spain and summers in the UK. Then Brexit happened, and I have now become a Spanish resident. Because of time spent in the UK and personal ties there, I am deemed by both the UK and Spain to be tax resident under their domestic laws. All advice from UK accountants is that I am tax resident in the UK, and Spanish accountants is that I am tax resident in Spain. Neither is seemingly able to give me definitive advice that takes the opposing opinion into account.

To be clear, I am not looking for tax advice in the forum, or recommendations for a tax advisor expert in either the UK or Spanish rules. I am looking for someone to advise in my, perhaps, uncommon situation, so I can reconcile the conflicting advice I am receiving. I am based in the Costa Blanca, but prepared either to consult remotely or travel for good advice.

Many thanks

John

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

I can personally recommend

https://www.pellicerheredia.com/en/i...-tax-planning/

They have offices throughout Costa Blanca (HO in Alicante city centre) and are professional experts in tax laws and are used to dealing with Expat tax affairs -
and speak good English.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Many thanks. I will contact them. I am familiar with them because of their input to various Brexit webinars.

John

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Yes, they contribute a lot to help Expats keep updated etc and they have given me a great service for tax and other issues over many years.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Your situation doesn't sound complicated to me.
Since you have only recently become resident that means during the first 5 years you may not spend over 6 months at a time out of the country ergo if you spend 6 months in Spain then you are de facto tax resident.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

It’s not that simple. According to the tax treaty your centre of family and economic interests override the basic residency rules (90 days or less in the UK or 183 days in Spain). Clearly you cannot end up tax resident in both so it is down to the two tax authorities to decide where you are tax resident.

It seems to me that the best option is to get one or other of the competing states to give you a certificate of tax residency to decide the issue. Of course that may be more difficult than you would expect as both of them may do that.

Ultimately you do have the assurance that you will never pay tax on the same income twice. It’s a question of reclaiming the tax from one or other of the supposed tax residency states.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Thank you. That is very much the conclusion I have come to, which is why I need professional advice as to how to proceed.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

I did contact PellicerHeredia, but I was not permitted to talk to an adviser until I paid upfront, so I am not confident that I would get any advice beyond the "If you are resident in Spain you pay tax in Spain" that I have had from other advisers who are knowledgeable only on the Spanish tax system. After a web search, I had a telephone conversation with someone at https://www.lexidy.com/spain. They seemed to understand the issues involved, so I am inclined to go with them. They are based in Madrid and Barcelona, so not local to me, but seem to specialize in remote working. If anyone has had experience of them, I would be grateful for feedback.

Many thanks

John

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

I think that is wise. Any consultant who doesn't offer the first consultation free is probably not that I interested in your average Joe and his problems and after bigger fish. If they can be bothered to let you talk for 10 minutes without charging you, they are more likely to treat you with respect

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Yes, I have a feeling that income will be taxed in the country where it is generated and then the double-taxation treaty will kick in. What worries me more is how other issues like inheritance will play out in this situation. But overall this does seem overly complicated for what is a quite normal way of life (few months in the UK, rest in Spain).

Is the UK still toying with non-domiciled residency or is that a thing of the past? Also, I take it the situation would be a non-issue if you spent under 90 days in the UK each year?

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

It depends.
You probably need to read https://www.gov.uk/government/public...dence-test-srt .
From memory, there are situations where HMRC will want to consider you resident if you spend as little as 16 days in the UK, it might even be less.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

I may be wrong but having reviewed the OP's previous posts I have a suspicion that there may be more behind the current question than meets the eye.

I'll say no more than that.

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

Grateful if you could explain your post , please.

John

Re: Recommendation for Double taxation advisor
 

In my situation, I live in Spain primarily but maintain a house both in Spain and the UK. I work in the UK and other sites across Europe (I am a pilot so there is no way I can be accused of home working!) and am on the payroll of a UK company. I do not work in Spain. I have Private Health insurance in Spain. I pay tax on my income at source in the UK. In Spain I complete a tax return in both countries and the double taxation treaty kicks in and everything is adjusted accordingly. In my personal case its pretty much cost neutral. Its not as complex as it actually seems. Costs me about £500 a year to have the 2 filings done.