# USA Citizen working from home in Spain



## WorkFromHome (Jun 7, 2015)

Hi everyone, I have been reading for days about how to best handle my situation, but it seems the more I read, the more confused I become.

My situation is I hold dual citizenship USA/Spain and have a full time salaried work from home job. So all my standard deductions (federal, state, social security, etc..) are taken from my paycheck automatically. My employer allows me to work from anywhere. I have recently decided to move to Spain with my wife and child, she is a US citizen so when I started submitting paperwork to get her a resident card they said my paycheck doesn't count as proof of income because it is not in Spain.

They were confused on how I could be working here in Spain and NOT be paying taxes here. I told them that I pay my taxes in the US. I had no idea about filing taxes here, so I started reading online and figured I need to file taxes in both the USA and Spain, which is fine. I hope they don't report me now to hacienda for what is an innocent mistake on my part. I want to make it right now and I've only been doing this for a few months anyway.

My confusion is, can I continue to file in the US like normal, pay my social security there, etc... then file my taxes here and pay any difference (if any)? I found this blog and that's what this person who is in the exact same situation as me seems to imply:
erikras.com/2008/06/26/avoiding-double-taxation-between-spain-and-usa

But then I read on other posts that I need to become an Autonomo here in Spain and file my taxes here, then request a credit on my USA taxes. I would like to avoid being an Autonomo here if possible since it's so pricey. I get paid to my US bank in US dollars and never send money to Spain. I use no more than 200 euros cash a month and for that I just take it out of an ATM. The rest of my expenses I pay all with my US bank card.

I hope anyone that is familiar or experienced something similar to my situation can comment.
thanks everyone!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

WorkFromHome said:


> Hi everyone, I have been reading for days about how to best handle my situation, but it seems the more I read, the more confused I become.
> 
> My situation is I hold dual citizenship USA/Spain and have a full time salaried work from home job. So all my standard deductions (federal, state, social security, etc..) are taken from my paycheck automatically. My employer allows me to work from anywhere. I have recently decided to move to Spain with my wife and child, she is a US citizen so when I started submitting paperwork to get her a resident card they said my paycheck doesn't count as proof of income because it is not in Spain.
> 
> ...


Hi WorkFromHome. I don't understand how you could not have looked into any of this before you came to Spain?  You're bringing up questions about all that you need to know in order live in Spain - autonomo, residency requirements for non-Spaniards, residency requirements with dual citizenship, tax residency, autonomo, tax treaty and more! It's not an innocent mistake on your part when you move to a new country with your wife and child without doing your homework first.


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## WorkFromHome (Jun 7, 2015)

AllHeart said:


> Hi WorkFromHome. I don't understand how you could not have looked into any of this before you came to Spain?  You're bringing up questions about all that you need to know in order live in Spain - autonomo, residency requirements for non-Spaniards, residency requirements with dual citizenship, tax residency, autonomo, tax treaty and more! It's not an innocent mistake on your part when you move to a new country with your wife and child without doing your homework first.


We came here without a clear idea if we were staying long term of short term. Once we decided we would stay longer is when I started finding some of these things out. 

I am owning not being aware of how the tax system works, by innocent I mean I am not Trying to commit fraud. I figured I was paying my taxes in the US so I was ok. 

I was born here, our marriage was registered at the consulate and recorded in my libro de familia. When I went to the Spanish consulate in the states to inquire about my wife's stay here. They told me that since I was a Spanish citizen they would just give her a resident card here and would be simple.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

WorkFromHome said:


> We came here without a clear idea if we were staying long term of short term. Once we decided we would stay longer is when I started finding some of these things out.
> 
> I am owning not being aware of how the tax system works, by innocent I mean I am not Trying to commit fraud. I figured I was paying my taxes in the US so I was ok.
> 
> I was born here, our marriage was registered at the consulate and recorded in my libro de familia. When I went to the Spanish consulate in the states to inquire about my wife's stay here. They told me that since I was a Spanish citizen they would just give her a resident card here and would be simple.


That's a little different than I thought. I thought you just came to Spain with wife and child in tow without looking into any of this. So a short term turned into a long term. I get it. Sorry that I presumed otherwise. 

I would suggest you just fess up and go straight to the Hacienda to explain your situation and ask all your questions. Have you tried that yet? I'm a dual citizen too - with Canada and Spain - and all the steps of living in Spain are complicated being a dual citizen. The Hacienda was really, really good to me with my questions. Since it's only been a few months, and since you are only now considering being here permanently, my guess is they will be more than forgiving. But I don't know. What do you think about doing that?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

OK, I leave you to the fine members of the Spain forum for information on getting properly established in Spain. But as a US citizen, you will ALWAYS have to file a US tax return, though your "earned income" - i.e. salary - earned while resident in Spain is eligible for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or you can take credit against your US taxes for the taxes you pay in Spain.

Stop by the Expat Tax section here on the forum. Expat Tax - Expat Forum For People Moving Overseas And Living Abroad And take a look at IRS publication 54 to see how all this works for US citizens residing oversea.

By and large, however, if you are resident in Spain, you should be paying Spanish income tax and social insurances.
Cheers,
Bev


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Here's the US-Spain tax treaty. If you want to know about your tax residency determination, this is in Article 4. 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf


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## WorkFromHome (Jun 7, 2015)

Thanks for the replies,

So I went down to the Hacienda office and they turned me away telling me it's by appointment only 

Anyway, I called a two places I found online that deal with Expats in Spain and they told me that I don't need to be an autonomo and that all I needed to do was declare my foreign income here.

Then I called Hacienda on the number they gave me this morning on the little "make an appointment" slip, I spoke with a nice woman who told me that I didn't need to be an Autonomo because I don't bill the company, but instead am an employee of the company. She said I just need to declare my income, pay my taxes there, then deduct the taxes paid in the USA with what I will owe in Spain (if anything). I asked if she could email me that information, because I always feel that if you talk with 20 people here , you get 20 different answers, lol.

I am satisfied with the answers she gave me, she seemed pretty confident in what she was telling me.


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

WorkFromHome said:


> ... I didn't need to be an Autonomo because I don't bill the company, but instead am an employee of the company. She said I just need to declare my income, pay my taxes there, then deduct the taxes paid in the USA with what I will owe in Spain (if anything)...


Interesting!! Can anyone else confirm this is possible please? Would this work for an employee who is also an owner and director of a Ltd company registered in the UK?


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## WorkFromHome (Jun 7, 2015)

I just wanted to update this thread for anyone that reads in the future. I spoke with Hacienda who said that since I work for a US company as their employee and get paid there, that even if I work from my home in Spain, I would continue to pay my taxes as usual in the USA and then file my taxes here and deduct any taxes already paid (per the double taxation agreement)

Then I spoke with Seguridad Social who said my job doesn't count as a job here and I would not be an Autonomo since I am not billing anyone back in the US. They said there is also a Seguridad Social treaty with the US that states I would continue to pay in the US if I'm living here up to 5 years (not sure what happens after those 5 years come up, but I will deal with it then as laws change and I might not be in Spain anymore)

Today was all about good news as my wife's 5 year resident card was finally approved today after getting a little difficult time from immigration.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

WorkFromHome said:


> I just wanted to update this thread for anyone that reads in the future. I spoke with Hacienda who said that since I work for a US company as their employee and get paid there, that even if I work from my home in Spain, I would continue to pay my taxes as usual in the USA and then file my taxes here and deduct any taxes already paid (per the double taxation agreement)
> 
> 
> Then I spoke with Seguridad Social who said my job doesn't count as a job here and I would not be an Autonomo since I am not billing anyone back in the US. They said there is also a Seguridad Social treaty with the US that states I would continue to pay in the US if I'm living here up to 5 years (not sure what happens after those 5 years come up, but I will deal with it then as laws change and I might not be in Spain anymore)
> ...


Hi WorkFromHome. Good to hear you're getting your questions answered, and especially good news that your wife was approved for her resident card. :thumb:

I don't know if you know, but as citizens of Spain, we have access to this government organisation for returning Spaniards, and they're most helpful. It's called Oficina de Retorno (Return Office). Here they are: Portal de la Ciudadanía Española en el Exterior: Secretaría General de Inmigración y Emigración.: Oficina de Retorno


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