Prescription charges in Spain who pays and who doesn't ?

Every UK pensioner I know who got their SIP on the strength of an S1 from DWP is not paying anything for prescriptions.

More importantly, you are legally obliged to pay tax on your worldwide income in your country of residence, i.e. here. Any tax paid in the UK can be offset against tax here, but people really should do the job properly: pay tax here and get out of the Inland Revenue system.

Not doing so is not only illegal, it's not fair to Spain. And a personal gripe of mine is that anyone who doesn't pay tax here is not only defrauding Spain, they're defrauding me as well, as someone has to make up income required by the government.

I'd also point out that the Inland Revenue and Hacienda have access to one another's computer records, so it's easy for Hacienda to check if someone should be paying tax in Spain.

Hi Jim,

That's really informative. Thanks. I did not know that it was a legal obligation, but it is something which we are dealing with now for 2016 taxes (We moved here Nov.15).

I did bring S1 forms with me to get our SIP cards, but we are being charged 10%. When the free prescriptions came into force my neighbours charges ceased. However the  other lady still has to pay. They are both full-time residents for approx 9 years. We have asked at the Pharmacia, but they can't tell us. There must be a reason! Anybody know the rules please?

Sheila

Hello again Jim,

I have just found the answer. It's amazing what a good googling does! From 01/01/16 in the Valenciana region only, pensioners with an income below 18,000€ p.a. recieve free prescriptions. However, the income is taken from your annual resident tax declaration (IRPF). For reference, I got this info from healthplanspain.com. 

Hope this also helps others.

Sheila

You got me interested, Sheila.

After a bit of time spent digging, I think I have the answer.

The relevant legislation is Decreto 194/2016. Fortunately I'm now used to reading Spanish laws (I never listen to the bar-room experts!). I won't bore you with the actual wording, but it's all here:

http://www.dogv.gva.es/index.php?id=24&L=1&tipo_search=legislacion&num_tipo=4&mater&sig=009858/2016

http://www.dogv.gva.es/datos/2016/12/30/pdf/2016_10602.pdf

My summary:

If you don't live in the Valencian Community, you pay 10%.

If you do live in the Valencian Community, then the Decreto referred to above applies. It was introduced because people wouldn't or couldn't pay for prescriptions, so were missing out on their medications and suffering the effects.

If your annual income is less than €18,000, you get totally free prescriptions, up to a maximum of €110, i.e. up to €1100 worth of prescriptions.

The only way they can know your income is if you've submitted a tax return, which I like, as it's an extra incentive to do so. If you haven't submitted a return, they don't know if your income is below €18,000, so won't give you free prescriptions.

In your particular case, you won't be able to submit a tax return until April next year (for calendar year 2016).

The links I've provided above do state an appeals procedure, but is it worth all the hassle of invoking that?

Thanks for prompting me to find out something I didn't know.

If you like this, I'd be grateful if you'd click on 'This is helpful'. I've not been on this forum very long, and I'd like to improve my ranking.

Keep taking the pills, girl!

Pity I can't edit my post - you did yours while I was typing mine.

I AM 67 AND MY HUSBAND IS 93 WE DO NOT GET ANYTHING LIKE 18,000 EUROS AND WE BOTH PAY 10 PER CENT FOR OUR PRESCRIPTIONS  

Hi Danielfan,

Are you filing a Spanish tax return each year? If you are, you should investigate further. Even if you do not pay UK tax because your pensions are too low, you should still file a return otherwise the Spanish system does not know that your income is less than 18,000€. Please let us all know if there are any exclusions that we don't know about.

Regards, Sheila

Hi all,

Just an update to keep you informed. We both filed tax returns earlier this year and was surprised that prescriptions were still being charged for. Hey presto, a lovely surprise today at the pharmacia, no charge at last!  So everything comes to those who wait!

Here’s a strange one for you my husband 61 myself 59 and we are bringing up our 5 year old granddaughter....

I pay 10% on most of my prescriptions but as an asthma sufferer I was prescribed a new inhaler which is fantastic the price is 81 Euro I pay 4 Euro and pence 5 % curios if anyone knows why 🙃

Thank you 

Les