EU / BREXIT

Jim is not currently responding on this forum.

Regardless of Brexit, Brits and Irish should always have been registering in Spain if the intention was to stay >90 days. But this rule has been widely ignored. 

This will come to an end for Brits at the end of December. Brits will be subject to the 90/180 rule.

If you travel on your Irish passport, it seems likely that you will be able to continue ignoring the rule.

But if you intend to be in Spain for >182 days/year, you must legally become a Spanish Resident and become liable for income tax here (regardless of which passport you use).

It sounds like you are based in Britain, but benefit from having an Irish passport as well (many of us on this forum would be jealous of your status). In this case .... yes, by benefiting from Spanish Residency you give up British Residency.

Thanks for your help today 

Would residency mean losing my NHS and U.K. tax liabilities ?

Tax - yes, you stop paying UK tax (in principle). But it isn't quite that simple.

- if you are retired ... some "government" pensions remain taxable in the UK (military, civil service, police, local authority, NHS - if the pension is administered by the local authority) 

- there is a cut-over process. You start paying Spanish tax a year or two after you gain Residency (based on the date Residency is granted), but you continuing paying UK tax as well. The UK tax is eventually claimed back, but there is a cash flow pinch-point to plan for.

- if you rent out UK property, you can opt to pay UK tax on it (and UK Capital Gains Tax if you sell it). There can be some advantages to this.

Access to the UK NHS - there is a UK GOV website that addresses this. I'll find it and post it (rather than give you an incorrect reply).

Hi David,

Yes and yes 🙂

As part of your application to become resident in Spain, you need to show that you have adequate healthcare through one of these options:

-  Working in Spain and paying into the system with social security payments.

-  If you're a UK or Irish state pensioner, you can apply for a Form S1 to transfer your healthcare benefits to Spain.  This would give you access to the Spanish health system, but there are differences, such as having to pay for prescriptions, depending on your age and income.

-  If you're an early retiree, so not working and not drawing State pension, you would need to buy Private Health Insurance.  After one year of permanent residence in Spain, you could switch to the Convenio Especial; depending on your age,  this is generally cheaper than PHI, at €60 per person, per month, but at age 65, this rises significantly to €157 per person, per month.  The main advantage of the C.E. over PHI is that pre-existing conditions are not excluded under the C.E.  In both cases, you have to pay for prescriptions.  If the UK continues to honour the S1 scheme after Brexit (although this only likely to be for UK citizens protected by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement), once you reach State retirement age, you can take yourself out of the C.E. and/or PHI, and apply for an S1 when you reach the qualifying age.

The NHS is a residence-based system, so by virtue of taking residence in Spain, you would no longer be entitled to UK healthcare, although you would be eligible for emergency treatment when you visit the UK. 

Once you have been resident in Spain for 183 days (6 months and 1 day), you become liable for tax in Spain.  There are some circumstances where you cannot remove yourself from the UK tax system - for example, "Crown" pensions paid to the military and other Government organisations, have to be taxed in the UK.

Kind regards, 

Kim

Sorry, Kelvin, I must have been typing as you replied!  I don't believe our responses contradict each other though 👍😄

Kind regards, 

Kim

No worries .... I can't improve on your response.

Here are the UK Gov websites

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain#healthcare

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/visiting-or-moving-to-england/visitors-from-the-european-economic-area-eea-or-switzerland/

Many thanks Kimmy this is really help

Thanks very much Kelvin that’s very helpful.