Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

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Skiandswim
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:24 pm

Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by Skiandswim »

[2017 thread bumped in 2021 --admin LadyGeek]

My wife and I are moving to Barcelona from USA in July 2017. She will be teaching for 2-4 years at a local international school. I will do some part-time consulting remotely from Spain. Tax schemes for our local incomes seems "fairly "straightforward. However, we are researching alternatives to avoid Spanish tax on our global income and wealth tax on assets (this is a much bigger concern). Has anyone had experience with the Spanish “inbound expat” tax scheme?
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stratton
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by stratton »

You might look at this web site which is an English language site for Spain.

http://www.thelocal.es/

There appears to be links for expats.

Paul
...and then Buffy staked Edward. The end.
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WiscoTrout
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by WiscoTrout »

Congrats on your move! You will love it here. While I can share some tips on most things Barcelona/Spain (renting, visa, etc.), as for taxes I would suggest an accountant with international/Spanish tax law experience. The only thing I keep my eye on is that if you spend 183 days in Spain in a given calendar year, you are considered a resident for Spanish tax purposes. Since our family sabbatical here is straddling 2016 and 2017, we will miss that one. :happy

You probably found this already by Mr. Google, but this highlights why you may want to get some expert advice: https://brighttax.com/blog/-us-expat-ta ... ed-to-know

Best of luck and safe travels!
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Skiandswim
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:24 pm

Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by Skiandswim »

WiscoTrout, thanks for the link. I have not used that site yet.

Unfortunately for tax reasons, we will be in Spain for the entire year in 2018. So I have to find options to avoid global income tax and the charming wealth tax.
lama55
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by lama55 »

I am in a similar position and researching options for 2020, can you tell me what you did? :)
Topic Author
Skiandswim
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by Skiandswim »

For our situation, we applied for and received "Régimen especial para trabajadores desplazados" which provides tax advantages for 5 years. This eliminates Spain's global wealth tax for assets outside of Spain (not be required to submit ‘Modelo 720 Overseas Assets declaration’). You are subject to a flat rate income tax of 24% on earnings up to 600,000€. Above 600,000€ the tax rate is 45%.

You only have 6 months after arriving in Spain to decide on the program. You can not have resided in Spain over the past 10 years.

We contacted an attorney and accountant in Spain to discuss options prior to making the move.

Tax site:
https://www.agenciatributaria.es/AEAT.i ... cial.shtml

Recent article:
https://www.spectrum-ifa.com/beckham-law-2018/
lama55
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by lama55 »

Ah gotcha, in our case neither of those apply...

Stuck in a situation where our income from dividends creates a higher wealth tax than we would prefer... and yet to get out of dividends means some heavy changes to the way we invest. hmmmm.
octorindo
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by octorindo »

@skiandswim -- you and your wife were both able to qualify under the Beckham law? It makes sense for your wife who moved to Spain with an job contract from a Spanish employer, but if you are doing freelance consulting (autonomo), I thought you do not qualify...
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LadyGeek
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Re: Moving to Barcelona - Expat Taxes

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Spain forum (non-US taxes).

FYI - This thread was started in 2017, before the non-US and Spain forums were created.

octorindo, Welcome!
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