# Spanish Accountants



## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi,

My wife and I are coming over in February to look a properties to rent for 6 months to see if we like living in Spain. We have 3 kids 12, 7 and 1, so we would be using the schools.
I work offshore in the North Sea out of Aberdeen, and I'm looking for a Spanish accountant who could help me out with some questions about Spanish income tax. I often find word of mouth is the best way of finding decent trades.

Thanks for your help

Danny


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrdjp73 said:


> Hi,
> 
> My wife and I are coming over in February to look a properties to rent for 6 months to see if we like living in Spain. We have 3 kids 12, 7 and 1, so we would be using the schools.
> I work offshore in the North Sea out of Aberdeen, and I'm looking for a Spanish accountant who could help me out with some questions about Spanish income tax. I often find word of mouth is the best way of finding decent trades.
> ...


whereabouts in Spain?

this website is a good starting place though Spanish law tax and more | Spain lawyers accountants in English | ADVOCO


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> whereabouts in Spain?
> 
> this website is a good starting place though Spanish law tax and more | Spain lawyers accountants in English | ADVOCO


Xabia sadly Advoco are closed to new business at the moment. However it is worth visiting the site for those who want a rough idea of charge levels for different services.

I'm trying Perez Legal Group | Marbella Lawyers, Property Conveyance & Administrative Services | Spain but can't recommend them as at early stages.


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks, we are heading to the Murcia area so I am close to a couple of airports


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrdjp73 said:


> Hi,
> 
> My wife and I are coming over in February to look a properties to rent for 6 months to see if we like living in Spain. We have 3 kids 12, 7 and 1, so we would be using the schools.
> I work offshore in the North Sea out of Aberdeen, and I'm looking for a Spanish accountant who could help me out with some questions about Spanish income tax. I often find word of mouth is the best way of finding decent trades.
> ...


Nothing to do with your question and I do realise that tax is a big issue, but what kind of education are looking for for your 12 year old as s/he will probably find going into the Spanish education system a challenge.

Advoco have a very informative website so it is worthwhile looking on that even though they are not accepting new clients


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

Hi, my 12 year old would definitely need to go to an international school, I feel it would be too much for her to try to learn Spanish and start exam years. We have looked into Kings College which is maybe a bit expensive but doable depending on tax implications


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrdjp73 said:


> Hi, my 12 year old would definitely need to go to an international school, I feel it would be too much for her to try to learn Spanish and start exam years. We have looked into Kings College which is maybe a bit expensive but doable depending on tax implications


Phew!
It's just that a lot of people don't realise just how difficult it is for "older" children to, not necessarily assimilate a new language, but have to do that whilst keeping up a certain standard in their education.
Kings College in Madrid seem to have a good name so I expect it does in the South of Spain too!

The forum really does get a lot of enquiries about peole working offshore and living in Spain so you might find some useful info if you search oil rig, off shore etc. I think a lot of the people were looking at Malaga, not sure


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

I have spoken with the school, right now they have no spaces but they expect this to change over the coming months, there are only 25 pupils in year 8 which is much less than the 34 that are in her class in Scotland so I would hope it would be a better education than the one she is receiving now. We would look to see if there are any other international schools in the area that are a bit cheaper as it is an expense school.
I had thought about Malaga but prefer to be in the Murcia area so we have a couple of airport choices for me to commute from.
Where abouts in Spain do you live?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mrdjp73 said:


> I have spoken with the school, right now they have no spaces but they expect this to change over the coming months, there are only 25 pupils in year 8 which is much less than the 34 that are in her class in Scotland so I would hope it would be a better education than the one she is receiving now. We would look to see if there are any other international schools in the area that are a bit cheaper as it is an expense school.
> I had thought about Malaga but prefer to be in the Murcia area so we have a couple of airport choices for me to commute from.
> Where abouts in Spain do you live?


I live 30kms from Madrid, so not much help to you. Most people put where they are living in the band where you put your forum name and the country you are from.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I live 30kms from Madrid, so not much help to you. Most people put where they are living in the band where you put your forum name and the country you are from.


OFF TOPIC - Pesky, can you change your avatar back to the autumn scene please with the acer leaves, thank you. The snow scene sends shivers down my spine. If you do, I'll share with you something interesting about acers.

:focus:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> OFF TOPIC - Pesky, can you change your avatar back to the autumn scene please with the acer leaves, thank you. The snow scene sends shivers down my spine. If you do, I'll share with you something interesting about acers.
> 
> :focus:


Haha. I loved my autumn scene, but wanted to change it to a winter one. When I heard that snow was on its way I decided to change it and last night it did snow, @ six cms I'd say. The way to class today was exactly like my avatar, and the weather forecast tells me it's going to go down to -5º (yes, minus 5) on Wednesday, so I'll not be changing it in the near future!

Back to topic


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

alborino said:


> Xabia sadly *Advoco are closed to new business* at the moment. However it is worth visiting the site for those who want a rough idea of charge levels for different services.
> 
> I'm trying Perez Legal Group | Marbella Lawyers, Property Conveyance & Administrative Services | Spain but can't recommend them as at early stages.


yes, that's why I didn't suggest contacting them, but as you say, the website is full of good information


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

This is the advise I have been given so far.

At the moment, there is nothing you can do as you need to accumulate one fiscal year living in Spain to be able to declare yourself fiscal resident in Spain.

I just dont want to end up with a huge tax bill at the end of the year.

From what I can gather the the income tax rate is about 47% but you get an allowance for the kids but I thinl you can offset rent against it 


*


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

mrdjp73 said:


> This is the advise I have been given so far.
> 
> At the moment, there is nothing you can do as you need to accumulate one fiscal year living in Spain to be able to declare yourself fiscal resident in Spain.
> 
> ...



I think you're being given some very bad adviCe.

You only have to be in Spain for 183 days (in a calendar year) to be classed as fiscally resident.


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## Benj23 (Oct 10, 2013)

Mdjrp73,

If you look at my first post I sent back in 2013 titled "moving to malaga" you may find some of the info posted by forum members useful. Ben


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## Benj23 (Oct 10, 2013)

Just to add, it's info regarding tax, not info for malaga, incase you think I mis read your post


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> I think you're being given some very bad adviCe.
> 
> You only have to be in Spain for 183 days (in a calendar year) to be classed as fiscally resident.


I was thinkng that, I myself wont be in Spain for 183 as I work offshore and spend 15 days every 28 in UK waters but my family will be in Spain and using a state school. 
I would love to make the move but I'm very concerned about the tax as it seems to be higher than the UK and no one has been able to tell me exactly how it will work out.


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

Benj23 said:


> Mdjrp73,
> 
> If you look at my first post I sent back in 2013 titled "moving to malaga" you may find some of the info posted by forum members useful. Ben


Thanks Ben, I'll have a look at that


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrdjp73 said:


> I was thinkng that, I myself wont be in Spain for 183 as I work offshore and spend 15 days every 28 in UK waters but my family will be in Spain and using a state school.
> I would love to make the move but I'm very concerned about the tax as it seems to be higher than the UK and no one has been able to tell me exactly how it will work out.


unless you can prove that you personally are resident & tax resident outside Spain, Spain will consider you to be tax resident here, & will tax you on your worldwide income - as you suspect, because your family will be resident in Spain & you will be financially supporting them


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

mrdjp73 said:


> I was thinkng that, I myself wont be in Spain for 183 as I work offshore and spend 15 days every 28 in UK waters but my family will be in Spain and using a state school.
> I would love to make the move but I'm very concerned about the tax as it seems to be higher than the UK and no one has been able to tell me exactly how it will work out.



The other rule is that if your centre of interest is in Spain (in your case your family), then you are also considered fiscally resident and will be liable for tax on ALL worldwide income.


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## mrdjp73 (Jan 18, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> The other rule is that if your centre of interest is in Spain (in your case your family), then you are also considered fiscally resident and will be liable for tax on ALL worldwide income.


I've heard about this as well, according to HMRC I still need to do a tax return here for my properties (which doesn't earn me much, £200 p/m) but they then decide whether I pay tax in the UK or Spain. 
We will still be going in the summer for 8 weeks as it is cheaper than an all inclusive for 2 weeks,so we still have plenty time to research the situation a bit more. We need someone in the same situation as ourselves who has made the move to give us some advice.
I have read about tax brackets and I'm pretty sure I'm in the 47% bracket but you an allowance per child but I also think rent can be offset against it. This is where you need a good accountant who knows the rules. I have one in Scotland, just not sure she is up to date on Spanish rules but I'm going to phone her anyway :-D


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## alborino (Dec 13, 2014)

mrdjp73 said:


> ...... We need someone in the same situation as ourselves who has made the move to give us some advice.............


It is interesting that finding such people (in many different circumstances) proves so difficult. I can only conclude from that that the majority who have complex tax situations are bending the rules and wouldn't want to declare such.

Seems odd to me that the spanish authorities (after all these years of disaster ) do not make the system simpler and transparent. I for example am avoiding paying spanish tax because I like you cannot get straight answers to very simple questions. I expect if I could get the answers then I'd happily pay Spanish tax. 

But all the best with it


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