# Exchange rate



## dmret (Mar 12, 2013)

Just a thought.Could the current rate of exchange of the pound / euro be considered as 'unearned income' and therefore taxable?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

dmret said:


> Just a thought.Could the current rate of exchange of the pound / euro be considered as 'unearned income' and therefore taxable?


If you receive your income in sterling and convert it to euros, you pay more tax as a result of getting a higher income. If the value of your savings held in sterling goes up, it could take you over the €50,000 limit in any one asset class, thus obliging you to do a Modelo 720 return. Likewise, if you receive savings interest in sterling the amount of income receive will be higher when converted to euros, so that will increase your tax bill a bit.

The basic rate of income tax in Spain has been reduced from 24.75% to 20% for income received in the first half of 2015, though, and to 19% for income received from 1 July 2015 onwards. The 19% was supposed to take effect from 1 January 2016 but last week the Government announed they were bringing it forward.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

One potentially devastating consequence of the pound being so strong against the euro - I noticed this morning that the price of a can of Heinz baked beans in Mercadona has just gone up from €0.86 to €0.95. We shall all be ruined.

Wait for the DM headlines screaming "starving expats hit by soaring prices of British foodstuffs in Spain".


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## dmret (Mar 12, 2013)

Thank you for your input. It is appreciated Lynn.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Lynn R said:


> One potentially devastating consequence of the pound being so strong against the euro - I noticed this morning that the price of a can of Heinz baked beans in Mercadona has just gone up from €0.86 to €0.95. We shall all be ruined.


A year or two back they were €0.95 and I was glad they came down a bit to €0.86 but by then I'd got used to Carrefour's own brand for €0.64. If you can suffer a slight difference in taste (I can't tell but the wife and kids say they can), there's an option. 

Sorry for hijacking the thread, I've bean lead astray


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Desiato said:


> A year or two back they were €0.95 and I was glad they came down a bit to €0.86 but by then I'd got used to Carrefour's own brand for €0.64. If you can suffer a slight difference in taste (I can't tell but the wife and kids say they can), there's an option.
> 
> Sorry for hijacking the thread, I've bean lead astray


I don't usually like puns but I'll make an exception in this case - very quick!

It would cost me more than I'd save to get to the nearest branch of Carrefour, so I'm stuck with Mercadona, but as we only buy a couple of tins a month at most I think I'll be able to scrape up enough to cope, especially if the exchange rate keeps going up thanks to that nice Mr Carney dropping hints about interest rates having to go up in the not too distant future.

Mercadona used to do own brand baked beans which I thought were OK but they suddenly disappeared from sale a few years back, no idea why.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Can't stand tinned baked beans but I did pay nearly four euros yesterday for a tiny jar of Branston pickle in Carrefour.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> Can't stand tinned baked beans but I did pay nearly four euros yesterday for a tiny jar of Branston pickle in Carrefour.


Now that I refuse to do. I either bring it back from the UK or go on a very occasional trip to Gibraltar and buy it in Morrisons. The return coach trip only costs €11 through a local social group which I think is amazing value for the distance involved.


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## emlyn (Oct 26, 2012)

Try adding a squirt of tomato sauce and tomato purée to cheapest Lidl baked beans ,transforms them into Heinz.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

emlyn said:


> Try adding a squirt of tomato sauce and tomato purée to cheapest Lidl baked beans ,transforms them into Heinz.


I was just about to say...my partner gets these and even without the extra likes them just as much as Heinz.


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> One potentially devastating consequence of the pound being so strong against the euro - I noticed this morning that the price of a can of Heinz baked beans in Mercadona has just gone up from €0.86 to €0.95. We shall all be ruined.
> 
> Wait for the DM headlines screaming "starving expats hit by soaring prices of British foodstuffs in Spain".


This is really odd as i bought Heinz beans in Mercadona last week and it said on the can they they were processed in Spain. Do Heinz now have a processing plant here?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Trubrit said:


> This is really odd as i bought Heinz beans in Mercadona last week and it said on the can they they were processed in Spain. Do Heinz now have a processing plant here?


I've no idea, I've never actually looked at the tin in such detail!

I wonder if the old Mercadona own brand baked beans were produced in the same place and they just stuck a Heinz label on one lot and a Hacendado label on the others, wouldn't surprise me as apparently that's what happens with supermarket ready meals in the UK but people are prepared to pay a lot more for the ones with the "right" label.


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

The difference is that whilst the food may come from the same supplier the specific requirements from each selling outlet are different. More beans, less salt, less e numbers etc


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> If you receive your income in sterling and convert it to euros, you pay more tax as a result of getting a higher income. If the value of your savings held in sterling goes up, it could take you over the €50,000 limit in any one asset class, thus obliging you to do a Modelo 720 return. Likewise, if you receive savings interest in sterling the amount of income receive will be higher when converted to euros, so that will increase your tax bill a bit.
> 
> The basic rate of income tax in Spain has been reduced from 24.75% to 20% for income received in the first half of 2015, though, and to 19% for income received from 1 July 2015 onwards. The 19% was supposed to take effect from 1 January 2016 but last week the Government announed they were bringing it forward.


Sounds like an election is coming soon.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Heinz are a big organisation and have processing plants all over, sometimes in the name of one of their other brands, e.g. Starkist Tuna. We often have C&B (a friend brings them from Iceland), but they are a bit sweet, however, they like most baked beans benefit from a good dash of Worcester sauce.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

[QUO
TE=baldilocks;7675690]Heinz are a big organisation and have processing plants all over, [/QUOTE]

My brother-in-law worked for them in Wigan until he retired on ill health grounds earlier this year (aged 50). They are one of the few private sector employers which still has a final salary pension scheme, and the terms on which he retired were as good as anything in the public sector. All the propaganda spewed out by the tabloids about how these deals are only available in the public sector should be taken with a pinch of salt.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> [QUO
> TE=baldilocks;7675690]Heinz are a big organisation and have processing plants all over,


My brother-in-law worked for them in Wigan until he retired on ill health grounds earlier this year (aged 50). They are one of the few private sector employers which still has a final salary pension scheme, and the terms on which he retired were as good as anything in the public sector. All the propaganda spewed out by the tabloids about how these deals are only available in the public sector should be taken with a pinch of salt.[/QUOTE]

I did a computer audit there back in the late 90s. Also did Farley's, and lots of small places including a tuna processing plant out on the tip of Brittany (Douarnenez) which did Starkist Tuna. That place taught me a lot about the smell of fish processing plants and the French love of smelly armpits on their womenfolk!


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Calas felices said:


> The difference is that whilst the food may come from the same supplier the specific requirements from each selling outlet are different. More beans, less salt, less e numbers etc


That's true. A company I know has different variations eg. Use margarine, butter, vegetable oil, or reconstituted fats etc. more additives in cheaper meals.


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