Thinking of buying in Spain - Page 2

No, EU nationals are not bound by 90/180 even for those EU countries not in Schengen.  However, Spain's own laws do restrict a single continuous visit to 3 months without the need to register for residency. The way around that is simply to leave Spain for a day/weekend before reaching the max stay and return to start a new stay. Fiscal residency is automatic if anyone stays longer than 182 days in a calendar year.

An option to extend your stay away from the UK winters is to have a look at countries that don’t ‘use’ you’re 90 day allowance. I know a couple here (British passports) who will spend time in the Far East and then 90 days in Spain. Another option is Morocco, many of my British motorhoming friends will once again avail of this option within their normal Mid Sept to late March annual migration beginning this year after the travel restrictions are gone…..they’ll return to Schengen area for 90 days within that window. … The option to have a month in one of 3 destinations or the entire 90 days there  is appealing and allows you to spend the 90 days in Schengen also.

There is ways, don’t lest a system beat you…. Enjoy you’re time away.

We bought before Brexit but of course have to abide by the 90/180 day rule. After trying various combinations, we now spend a month in Spain and a month in the U.K. It works brilliantly for us and the Schengen calendar is a must, to make sure we don’t over stay. We choose the cheapest flights we can find and book them a year in advance. It can be cold in winter where our house is, but still milder than the U.K. We have 2 homes and 2 sets of friends, which is fabulous and a great way to spend our retirement!

Don't buy in Spain is my advise. Its a very expensive move, if you want to escape the UK winter months, just rent. Bank accounts cost a fortune to run , no free banking in Spain. You'll be paying Standing charges for water and electricity, whether you are in Spain or not. Suma tax( council tax) Non -resident taxes and you'll need someone to fill out the annual tax return each year and pay the tax.

Rent and enjoy your time there and have no expensive ongoing costs when you're back in the Uk`and the property is sitting empty but costing you a fortune. There are loads of places to rent in the winter months for not a lot of money.

Thanks Alfapash, That is the conclusion we have come to, lots of additional costs for a property we could not use for our 'winter escapes' as we wanted to.

An additional complication is our little dog who needs another pet passport issued by an EU country.

He has a passort thet WAS issued by an EU country (UK) in line with all the regulations which is identical to other EU pet passports but is now invalid for some odd reason. My own passport is still acceped as valid for some reason - that was also issued when we were in the EU

You have made the right decision. Even before Brexit a holiday home was still a very expensive thing to run. Now with all the increases in Energy etc and the knock on effect its even more expensive. I've also noticed a change in some to how the Brits are being dealt with. Banks for instance even more unhelpful than before.  We went last week into Banco sabadel with new passports, there was a long queue at the 2 cashiers desks and we didn't need to do any transactions, so we waited where you can see a person at a desk. When the man at the desk got up and left after he had been dealt with, we moved to the desk and said Hola new passports. He said National insurance numbers, we said no we have already signed a new contract last October, he took my old Passport and checked, yes he said go to the cashiers they can change it. Really it would have taken him a couple of minutes to photo copy 2 passports and enter the new numbers. There wasn't even another person waiting behind us. Needless to say we walked out of the Bank as we weren't going to stand for another half an hour queing up.   I see many are selling up, many saying they can't go over when they like to and the costs are escalating. Spain is lovely in many ways but the ongoing cost and burocracy can be avoided if you just want to go for 3 winter months. Do check with your vet in the Uk about the passport for your dog. I have neighbours up the road who come by car from the UK for 3 months at a time with 2 little terriers and they haven't had any problems.

COLVIC, I will give my costs of owning a holiday home post brexit. Bank costs as above I don’t have any. I don’t have a Spanish bank account and never have. I used wise to transfer the funds to buy the property and use wise for all my direct debits so there is free banking in Spain.

Sumu(IBI) 200€ / year

House insurance 268€ / year

Non resident tax 125€ this year

Electricity 32€ / month = 384€ / year*

Water 22€ / 2 monthly = 132€ / year*

Bottled gas 300€ / year*

Total = 1409€ / year or 117€ / month*

*average cost

So I am not sure what you will pay for rent but the time you want to spend in Spain you may spend more than this renting. Also you would have all your stuff in your holiday home so no need to pay to bring luggage every time you visit. A lot of other benefits of having your own place as well. I will let you make up your mind.

Cheers.  

Thanks, That is very useful - Thanks very much. Nice to see actual, real figures.

Myself and my wife are retired and we are wondering about having to pay Spanish tax on our pensions; we have a 'tax free allowance' in the UK of £12,500 each. Anyone know what the tax situation is in Spain?

I do use Wise both in the EU, other conntries and also in the UK and find them excellent,

                                               We may have to re-consider buying now

Your welcome. Unfortunately I am to young to retire so can’t answer about your pension tax but I am sure some member will be able to help. I don’t regret buying a holiday home.

Pedro. 

Hi Colvic,

I thought you were looking to buy a holiday home, not live permanently in Spain?  As non-residents, you won't pay tax on your pensions (or any other income) in Spain.

Kind regards, 

Kim