Another Question About Spain

[Mino]

An unexpected turn of events has caused me to consider Spain as a (mostly) permanent location. However, I do not want to become an expat Spanish resident on terra firma. Prefer to keep the flexibility of living on board and financial/residency ties to the UK, etc, etc, etc. Can this be done without too much aggro as current(?) members of the EU?

For those of you who spend most of your time in Spanish waters, what experiences have you had/advice would you give?

 

[idpnd]

Ive been researching the issue quite a bit since I like spending time here. Technically, if you're in the country for 6 months plus (per calendar year), they can make you tax resident. But since they're not all that efficient, most people get away with it. Should they decide youve been here too much, the onus is on you to prove youve been flying out regularly.. Depends what the stakes are for you really.

 

[MBullock]

idpnd - is there a minimum length of time one needs to be outside of spain (but still in the EU is OK?) for? Presumably taking boat to e.g. France or Gib counts to reset the 180 days? Thanks,

 

[RobbieW]

Much of this was discussed here just over a month ago - suggest you review what was said there

 

[MBullock]

RobbieW - Thanks

 

[Mino]

Much of this was discussed here just over a month ago - suggest you review what was said there

Thanks. That thread has answered all of my questions. Plans now revised.

 

[lovezoo]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is that the tax regime in Spain is different to the UK, so you might find that even if you were to become tax resident in Spain, your Spanish tax bill might actually be quite small. As an example, our total tax bill where we live (and taxes vary by region and town) is less than we were paying in council tax alone in the UK.