income tax

Firstly income tax. Yes, you pay income tax on all worldwide income as a resident in Spain except government pensions. Tax free allowances are lower in Spain than UK but the income tax bands are about the same.

You will get an allowance of €5,550 tax free and then pay 19% on anything about that.  So 19% of around 11500 euro (depending on exchange rate) or around 2,000 euro a year. There are other allowances and things you can offset so you obviously need a good gestor or tax adviser to do your returns (all approximate values)

Secondly, both earning 15,000 pounds is 30,000 pounds or around 34,000 euro. This is not quite enough to obtain an NLV  as you need 28,800 euro for the first applicant and 7200 for the second or 36,000 euro. If you have savings and earn interest then that could take you over the 36,000 euro mark but  the interest is also taxable in Spain and there is no 1000 of interest tax free in Spain.

You will also need private medical insurance so you need to check out that cost as well. After the first year you can apply for the convenio especial which is Spanish NHS insurance costing 60 euro a month per person until you reach 65 when it goes up to 145 euro a month. You pay the going rate for prescriptions under that convenio. When you start getting your state pension you will get free health insurance.

Best of luck.

Thank you for your reply is they any marriage tax allowance on top of the 5500 euro allowance  each and if they anything for my wife been disabled as at present time she gets pip in uk

There is a marriage allowance but it is not like UK where they add that allowance to your exemption. Only works if only one of you is earning and it is taken off, eventually, the amount you pay. It can work that the 3,400 marriage allowance payable to the second claimant reduces the 5500 tax allowance so see a good tax accountant. 

As I said, there are many other allowances depending on circumstances such as disability requiring care from third parties, reduced mobility or a degree of disability depending on a sliding scale. If you are granted that the exemption would be between 3 and 9 thousand euro a year which is why you need a good gestor to make the claims.

PIP and other allowances are no longer transferable from UK but you need to contact the DWP in UK to check as there are circumstances where they will allow certain percentages. But it is important to check with them as rules change quite frequently and it would be better knowing before you make the move rather than rely on them and then find they've been stopped.

The Non Lucrative Visa can be applied for at the Spanish Consulates in London, Manchester or Edinburgh. This link will provide further information, if you haven't already viewed it:

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/Manchester/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Visado-de-residencia-no-lucrativa.aspx

The following link will provide you with information on income tax in Spain. The Spanish budget for 2024 has not been set as yet therefore content is relevant for 2023 tax year:

https://www.expertsforexpats.com/country/spain/tax/taxes-in-spain/#:~:text=Spanish%20income%20tax%20for%20incomes,35%2C201%20to%20%E2%82%AC60%2C000%3A%2037%25

You can check which UK benefits are transferable to the EU/EEA or can be claimed once you are resident. Unfortunately as you will be moving after the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU, UK exportable benefit entitlement is very limited:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/benefits-and-pensions-for-uk-nationals-in-the-eea-or-switzerland#benefits-if-you-are-moving-to-the-eu-eea-or-switzerland

Marcliff has alluded to the Convenio Especial which you can apply to join once you have been officially resident in Spain for a continuous period of 12 months. This will allow you access to the Spanish health service just like Spanish nationals. You will still have to pay for all prescriptions in full. The cost for anyone 65 + is 157€ per month not 145€.

These links provide additional information:

https://age-in-spain.helpscoutdocs.com/article/18-i-want-to-live-in-spain-but-i-m-not-yet-a-resident-can-i-access-spanish-healthcare-once-i-become-a-resident

https://www.gva.es/es/inicio/procedimientos?id_proc=17044

Any disability assessment carried out in the UK is invalid in Spain and the process of having a disability assessment carried out in Spain is very long. This link dated 2017 will provide you with a feel for the process and what it entails;

https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/faq/disability-start-assessment-spain/

Hi Richard

Income tax is a complicated beast! As Marcliff has said, the allowance/threshold is about €5500 - which sounds very low but there are other allowances available.

I can only tell you our own situation...

We are not married but we own our home outright, which seems to have a very beneficial affect. We filed individual tax returns. All our income is in GBP - being a mix of pensions and UK benefits (Inc PIP (which dates from pre Brexit)) but on our tax returns this is simply bundled up as total income. We each find that we pay no income tax until one of us gets to approx €12k - quite a bit more than €5.5k!!

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers

Steve