GrapeEater

OK interest rates are dismal yeah !! - Starting to pick up a bit though.

Moving to Spain about 4 years ago I thought I'd leave my Tax-Free ISA safe in UK bank which was a 'not-bad' %rate at that time. And I guess I edged my bets incase I didn't like it in Spain - un-necessary red-tape and all !

I'm over in the UK now sorting stuff out and checking my financial situation (aren't we all)... well to my dismay the ISA rate with my current bank is now so dismal at less than 1%

Is it worth it ???

Two things - I can't top it up even if I wanted to as I now reside outside UK and anyone living more 183 days away from UK cannot rec' tax free interest according to my major high-street bank. (but I still get tax-free [all few punds of it] on existing savings).

- I challenged this as I still pay some tax in UK and have a UK company that also pays tax to UK !!

Secondly, I cannot move it to another UK bank to get a better interest rate in an ISA or anything else account as I have no UK address to verify - seems banks don't want my money !!

Catch 22 !!! So I could draw it out and bring it over to Spain, use my Spain address and find a bank with better rates ? But the Euro is sh**e so all in all they get ya !! Why is it I always loose out and the Bank CEO's get fat bonuses ??

I HATE BANKS !!!

(my neighbours says do as the Spanish do, stick it under the mattress

agoreira

Yes, whereas we talk about a "financial cushion" the Spanish say "colchón financiero" financial mattress, not hard to see where the expression came from!

steviedeluxe

But they love us, don't they? They make money out of us, and if they mess up, we pump billions of subsidy to keep them going. Or get sold off to a foreign bank that will make money.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8329268.stm

Fred James

ISAs may be tax free in the UK but if you are tax resident in Spain you pay Spanish tax on them.

GrapeEater

... always one to take the sting out eh Fred !!

Fred James

The tax office have even bigger stings - if you win the UK lottery or Premium Bonds you pay Spanish tax on it but you don't pay tax if you win the Spanish lottery!

missile

You might want to consider switching your ISA to a.n.other provider? Easy if you choose a bank where you are already a customer. If not you may need to provide UK address etc to open new account.

FYI, Nationwide are currently offering 4.5% fixed for 5 years> http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/...troduction.htm

spainrico

This might be worth a look:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/per...Income_Reserve

and they allow non UK residents. You can download a PDF with full info.