# Property question.



## Tel Boy (Jul 1, 2014)

Good day to you all. If I sell my house hear in uk , then go out to spain and buy straight away ,what are, or if there are, the tax implications.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Tel Boy said:


> Good day to you all. If I sell my house hear in uk , then go out to spain and buy straight away ,what are, or if there are, the tax implications.


Your biggest, potential problem is Capital Gains Tax - timing is crucial.

Tax years in Spain run from January to December.

So, sell in one year and move to Spain next year works perfectly. Just remember the 182 day rule!


If in doubt, ask an international tax advisor.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Your other problem is falling property prices in Spain, you jump in and buy then need to sell and you could easily loose a lot of cash...if you can even sell it.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Perhaps you should rent for a year after you have sold in the U.K.


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## Tel Boy (Jul 1, 2014)

We are looking at all our options, just asking you is making the picture a lot clearer, thanks, there is a lot more to come, lol.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Hepa said:


> Perhaps you should rent for a year after you have sold in the U.K.


Wouldn't help if they were (tax) resident in Spain


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Brent Crude is down this week and gold is well off it's 1600-ish dollar peak. Sterling's been on a bit of a charge of late but how long might it continue. You could have got 1/4 on Chelsea yesterday. Investments and trading eh, who would want to do it.

Oh wait, you're buying a home to live in. In that case just go ahead and buy the thing.

Jeez.




bob_bob said:


> Your other problem is falling property prices in Spain, you jump in and buy then need to sell and you could easily loose a lot of cash...if you can even sell it.


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## Tel Boy (Jul 1, 2014)

I don't no you from adam your response sounds very negative. We have worked all our lives getting things right , so im not going to throw it all away on making rash moves. For us this is a big move, family and all. This forum is to pick the brains of people who have been there and done it. not gamblers like you.Just stuck £50 quid on ids being human , money down the drain I say, lol.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Well snikpoh's advice is good. If you can workout the consequences of CGT and how you can work with it then that is a good start.

And whilst it may not matter if you are renting because you are still a tax resident in Spain renting first can be a good option if for no other reason it may take a while to find the right property and you will need somewhere to stay when looking.
Maybe when we first moved a year ago if we had started seriously looking then rather than waiting 6 or 7 months the it's possible we may have found a property by now.

Like you say it's a big move for your family so sometimes doing things right takes a while. But I wouldn't be put off of buying though because of it or much else tbh.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Amigo, I am not a gambler, nor did I mean to be negative, but then I was a little cryptic so it would have been hard to tell.

I'll be clear. My point was, ignore general and non-specific advice about the risk of property in Spain. The fact is, the market has fallen considerably already and purchasing activity is now high. If you find a nice home in a nice area, you can buy with confidence that you can sell it when you have to. Some people bought **** homes in **** places and are now struggling to sell (surprise, surprise) and probably won't have noticed the change.

My reference to Brent Crude and other investment "opportunities" was intended to point out that wherever you put your money, the value of the investment can fall as well as rise. Anybody selling a house and then renting rather than buying will end-up with a few 100k sat in a bank losing value in real terms unless they invest it. With investment comes risk. Me, I'd rather put the money into a new home and a new life if a move to a foreign shore is what I am doing. Scaremongering shouldn't put you off.

Oh, and I've been there and I've done it. I won't say I've got the t-shirt because that would be a cliche, and I don't like those. And I'm not Adam and you probably don't know me (did you see what I did there ).





Tel Boy said:


> I don't no you from adam your response sounds very negative. We have worked all our lives getting things right , so im not going to throw it all away on making rash moves. For us this is a big move, family and all. This forum is to pick the brains of people who have been there and done it. not gamblers like you.Just stuck £50 quid on ids being human , money down the drain I say, lol.


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## Crab eater (Sep 13, 2013)

Tel Boy said:


> I don't no you from adam your response sounds very negative. We have worked all our lives getting things right , so im not going to throw it all away on making rash moves. For us this is a big move, family and all. This forum is to pick the brains of people who have been there and done it. not gamblers like you.Just stuck £50 quid on ids being human , money down the drain I say, lol.


If you're looking to make money rather than a life change for the better - then I'd say stay where you are. Moving anywhere, and I've lived in Africa, India, and various places around Europe, doesn't usually result in great financial returns !


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## Tel Boy (Jul 1, 2014)

Im not looking to making a profit out of my move. I think I have been misunderstood. Like horlics just mentioned, there is a lot of scaremongering going on. Ive bought and sold many times in uk, its seems a different ball game in spain, I just don't want to get stung. This I hope will be our final move to a new life in spain, im just trying to understand the the general problems with buying that's all after all nobody likes losing out or am I in a different planet, thanks to all.


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## Tel Boy (Jul 1, 2014)

The big stage awaits you, cheers, I misunderstood.


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

Do your research my friend, talk to 50 expats you will more than likely get 50 different opinions,al be it most of them contain nuggets of helpful knowledge, sift out what is useful, make a mental note on a piece of paper, we have been gathering info for over a year we moved from aus to Bavaria ,to ready ourselves for the major move,we purchased a house in spain lastweek ,and are now in Germany preparing for the move,the burocracy is a bit daunting , without expat knowledge, we would have been lost!!!


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Hi There

Well we moved here in February. We have bought a house here and are at the moment very happy.

DO NOT move and buy in theta same year as you will be subject to capital gains tax, We sold last year (2013) in the UK and then rented untill the "tax coast" was clear.

Yes we have bought a house here. We bought a house to live in not to make money or be safe, because there are no guarantees here that you will

1) retain your capital in you house
2) you will sell it

For me the question you should be asking is simply, Are you coming for the long haul or do you see this as a short term idea. 

We are here for the long haul. who knows what will happen, you just need to make sure that you are comfortable with what you are spending and doing


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## High5 (Aug 10, 2014)

Anybody help on this one.

We bought a house in Spain and in a couple of years may sell up and move to it.

Do I need to time my sale to complete before December and then be in limbo until I can become resident in January? Selling even in the UK isn't that easy to plan.

I don't want to become homeless trying to avoid tax. How do you go about it?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

High5 said:


> Anybody help on this one.
> 
> We bought a house in Spain and in a couple of years may sell up and move to it.
> 
> ...



As you no doubt know, the Spanish tax year runs from 1 January - 31 December. You become tax resident in Spain once you have spent 183 days there in a year (and they are cumulative, so any holidays you've spent in Spain in the year you move over count towards the total).

Therefore, if your house sale completes before the end of June and you don't move to Spain until July (not having spent any other time in Spain that year) you would not be tax resident in Spain that year, therefore not liable for CGT on the sale of your principal home in the UK. The house sale could complete any time between 1 July and 30 December and as long as you move to Spain before 1 January you would still not be tax resident that year.

If your house sale completed between 1 January and 30 June, though, you would be well advised not to move to Spain until such time as you would be resident there for less than 183 days in that tax year. 

Anyone selling their principal home in the UK and using all the proceeds to buy another one in Spain would not need to be concerned about the timing as they are not liable for CGT in those circumstances (and if they use only part of the proceeds, which is probably more likely, they would be liable for CGT only on the proportion which was not re-invested in a Spanish home). However, of course that would not be applicable to you as you have already bought your property in Spain.


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