Taxing times

Residents are entitled to pay taxes in Spain rather than in the UK on private pensions. In our case we have to pay tax in the UK on our Teachers' Pension. However, to avoid dual taxation and also to avoid property tax we had to register with the Spanish tax people or SUMA.

Last week we went down to our fiscal adviser to complete this process. Inevitably there was a lot of paperwork involved. First we had to fill in Forms FD9 from UK Inland Revenue in both English and Spanish. Along with this we needed proof of our adress i.e. two recent utility bills, proof that you we are residents i.e. copies of our residency cards and recent copies of the padron showing registration at the local town hall. Finally we needed proof of payment of tax i.e. P60s. Now because Spanish tax years run December to January and UK ones run April to April we needed P60s for two years.

The next stage is to change our driving license to a Spanish one and then we should be finished for the moment.