I think my campaign is about representation not residence no where does it mention time periods. It is most important that those entitled should sign on the Padron and Voters list how else will change come.

Equally you could be signed on the Padon (90 days) and not registered for tax (183 days).

because it says
owners who aren't long term residents shouldn't sign on the padrón as your sig implies - it's not clear that you mean owners who are also long term residents - if indeed that is what you mean

it's simply against the law to sign on the padrón if you aren't resident

That could be difficult for some owners who do not live in Spain but want to keep a Spanish car there. In most places you cannot buy a car if not on the padrón.

it's all a bit of a mess, isn't it

you should be able to buy a car with yor NIE

Absolutely a real horlicks. We bought our plot in 2004 and signed on the Padron the very next day with the Escritura (thats what we were told to do). Nobody said there was a seperate list for the Vote. We endured two terms of coruption at the town hall (round here they would elect a dog if it was PSOE). We finally moved over in 2007 when we got the licence of occupation. It took us two more years to get the Green sheet not for want of trying. In the meantime I found the voters list and registered. last spring we voted and it felt like being teenagers but the good thing was the changed the picture PSOE still hold the Mayorality but the council is hung and the casting vote is held by the single communist on the council. The town hall is all but bankrupt but the corruption does seem to have slowed for now.

If you were legally on the padron then you have effectively declared that your habitual home is in Spain - that will, in almost all cases, make you tax resident.

The 183 day rule is an absolute rule but there are other circumstances where you can be deemed tax resident in Spain. For example, if your spouse is tax resident then you will also be considered tax resident unless you can persuade them otherwise. If your centre of economic and personal interests are in Spain then that can affect your status.

As with all things concerning tax - it is not as simple as it looks!

I do admit to buying and keeping my car in Spain is this illegal as well??????

Oh dear, seems we are also a bit on the "illegal" side too! When we signed for our apartment in April 2006 and moved in, there was a glossy leaflet from the town hall put in our letterbox. It explained that we should sign on the Padron as soon as possible and was in 3 languages. It stated that even if we didn't reside here all year, we should go to the town hall with relevant documents and sign.......we did!

I say a bit on the "illegal" side as we work for a UK tour operator and may or may not be in Spain for more than 90 consecutive days depending which european country we are assigned to each summer. (our working season is between 6 and 8 months). We also have a house in UK and spend the winter back and forth UK/Spain.

HMRC label us as "posted workers" so we pay tax and NI in UK and my husbands civil sevice pension is also taxed at source. We seem to fall into a strange grey area regarding residency, tax etc but if we become resident in Spain we can no longer work for our UK company so a bit of a mess really!

This EU stuff about free movement, work etc doesn't seem to fit with our work/lifestyle and I suspect we are not the only ones

No - it's the UK plated ones that are mostly illegal!

No one is going to arrest you for signing on the padron "illegally". If the town hall accept your application then they are the ones in the wrong.

My point was that while it has been going on for years, now that the taxman is looking for any way to claw back some unpaid tax, it might not be such a good idea to be on the padron if you aren't truly resident.

Time will tell but they are running out of ways to raise money.

That's very true. Officially only residents can register cars in Spain - new or otherwise. But as ever - how do you define a resident in this case?

For obvious commercial reasons that rule has been bypassed for some time but there do not appear to be any specific rules about how you do that (because of course you aren't supposed to do it.)

As a result various documents have been accepted to enable you to do this. The padron certificate is an example but production of an escritura has also been accepted. The answer is to get a good gestor to sort it out for you - they always know the right way round the rules for that particular government office.

If you check on the Trafico website as to what the requirements are, you have to produce an ID document, ie a UK passport and proof of residency status for which they suggest a Tarjeta de Residencia. We must assume that they will now accept the replacement ie. the new green form. It mentions nothing about the padron etc.

So, it would seem simple - just provide the green form and your passport.

But as we all know - it's never that simple

It could be made a lot simpler ie. UK 90 days, Spain 183 days. Why not a common 90 days for all types of residency, car matriculation etc. throughout the EU.

[QUOTE=linjon;9822926]Oh dear, seems we are also a bit on the "illegal" side too! When we signed for our apartment in April 2006 and moved in, there was a glossy leaflet from the town hall put in our letterbox. It explained that we should sign on the Padron as soon as possible and was in 3 languages. It stated that even if we didn't reside here all year, we should go to the town hall with relevant documents and sign.......we did!

I say a bit on the "illegal" side as we work for a UK tour operator and may or may not be in Spain for more than 90 consecutive days depending which european country we are assigned to each summer. (our working season is between 6 and 8 months). We also have a house in UK and spend the winter back and forth UK/Spain.

HMRC label us as "posted workers" so we pay tax and NI in UK and my husbands civil sevice pension is also taxed at source. We seem to fall into a strange grey area regarding residency, tax etc but if we become resident in Spain we can no longer work for our UK company so a bit of a mess really!

This EU stuff about free movement, work etc doesn't seem to fit with our work/lifestyle and I suspect we are not the only ones[/QUOTE]

No you are not the only ones and it's not only Spain that's making a mess of free movement!
The UK are equally as bad and bureaucratic, the DWP will not work with me regarding my mothers affairs simply because I'm resident in Spain!

This jobs worth attitude from the DWP is happening even though her care home fees are being taken from MY bank account and will carry on being paid for by me until it's sorted out.
At the moment they are withholding her pension until the county council appoint someone in my place and goodness knows how long it will take....there is no other family member in the UK so it will have to be the council itself that is appointed....they will charge for this of course.

I think I actually prefer the way thinks work here in Spain....slowly, but they do work!

The problems seem to escalate when the staff in the relevant departments have no idea what to do so pass things back and forth or refer to another agency who equally have no idea unless the scenario fits perfectly into the box.

Just to complicate matters further in our case, we worked a short season last year and my husband then took a 3 month contract here with a spanish company and therefore has a SS number and paid spanish tax for the duration of the contract!

Question: Are we now tax resident in BOTH countries, could we get a SIP card, can we again be "posted workers" this year, can we pass GO or should we go straight to JAIL..........Oh what a web is weaved even though we are not trying to deceive

We have bought cars and always had to show NIE, cash and a padron so that the garage could tax the car at the right council office.