Working from Spain - good idea?

[BlasterBates]

Normally if you are there on a short stay in most countries there is often a simple tax status, which exclude National Insurance and where you simply declare what you earnt for the duration. I'm sure an accountant in Spain would sort it out or even clarify that you have no tax to pay if this is the case. In Germany it would be very simple and relatively painless for example. I once spent 3 months in Luxembourg and I just paid a very low tax rate. In fact I knew I was going to be there longer but compared to the full rate plus NI it was very low indeed, and it wasn't taxed again in Germany where I was resident, so you might actually save some tax.

Certainly would be woth doing if you intended to repeatedly do this or even work there fulltime.

[BlasterBates]

Actually it just occured to me if you went and spent one month in each European country you probably would be below the threshold for the tax, for each country.

Now just as an example I was resident in Germany and I worked in Luxembourg and in the UK. I was taxed in Luxembourg and in the UK. In the UK my income was below the annual threshold so I had no tax to pay, but I did have a certificate from HMRC which showed that income was taxed there so it was exempt in Germany, also my Lux income was exempt due to the double taxation treaty.

Now it should be the same in the UK.

....hmm yes you might have a hell of a lot of bureacracy but that will be a perfectly legal.

[d000hg]

Seems weird the EU would make it harder than the US, where you can spend up to 3 months for pleasure or business without needing any kind of visa or what have you.

I wonder what the legal angle would be if you had your main PC in the UK, and logged in remotely from abroad to use it?!

[jamesbrown]

My son has moved to the USA but is working for a UK company, billing through his Ltd Co in the UK and will pay all his taxes in the UK, as he is delivering all his services in the UK. The fact that he is remote working through the network connection and Skype is neither here nor there.

I sincerely hope he's taken legal and tax advice on this. If he's in the US under the visa waiver scheme, he could well be violating the terms of that scheme. If he's legitimately living and working in the US, he may still be classed as a resident for tax purposes and, therefore, subject to tax on his worldwide income. International tax law is extremely complex and there are many special circumstances alongside the USA-UK double-tax treaty, especially if he has a mixture of income streams ("earned" and "unearned").

[andyg]

Have a look over the Gibralter end of the Costa Del Sol. Between Peurto Banus and Gib went crazy about 3 years ago because they resolved the arguement over airspace in to Gib airport so more airlines started doing regular services in. That means that whole side of the Costa del that was over 1.5 hours from Malaga which was too far for holiday makers suddenly became 15 mins from Gibralter airport.

They built urbanisations like they were going out of fashion. The entire coastline from Gib was just cranes as far as the eye could see. A rumour went round Disney were looking at some eco theme park in that area as well (Manilva).. Anyway.. all went to crap

There are literally 1000's of properties owned by the bank or empty. You can name the price for what you want to buy one for and for rent. I know, I have a penthouse flat in one of them and the rent people want to pay doesn't cover the interest.

Peurto De Le Dequesa, Sabillinas through to Estapona is cheap as you like but nice beaches, near to Gib and can go to Morocco for a day trip. Have a look around there.

NLADUK, are you renting your place? I have one in La Duquesa that I can't rent out.

[DeludedAussie]

NLADUK, are you renting your place? I have one in La Duquesa that I can't rent out.

Northern Lad and You: What did you pay for the flat and what do you think its worth

Would you buy a place now given what you know?

Are service charge levels high?

[andyg]

Northern Lad and You: What did you pay for the flat and what do you think its worth

Would you buy a place now given what you know?

Are service charge levels high?

I paid 157K euros but with a very good pound/euro exchange rate at the time. That's for a 2-bed apartment with golf/sea-views. What's it worth now - no idea. The community fees are fairly hefty as there are a lot of units yet to be sold and the community is struggling to get the developer to pay their community fees for the unsold units. I wouldn't have bought the place if I had a crystal ball.

[DeludedAussie]

I paid 157K euros but with a very good pound/euro exchange rate at the time. That's for a 2-bed apartment with golf/sea-views. What's it worth now - no idea. The community fees are fairly hefty as there are a lot of units yet to be sold and the community is struggling to get the developer to pay their community fees for the unsold units. I wouldn't have bought the place if I had a crystal ball.

So does it just sit there empty during the year - Or have you rented it out?

What could you rent it out for a month and is that all year round?

[northernladuk]

I paid 157K euros but with a very good pound/euro exchange rate at the time. That's for a 2-bed apartment with golf/sea-views. What's it worth now - no idea. The community fees are fairly hefty as there are a lot of units yet to be sold and the community is struggling to get the developer to pay their community fees for the unsold units. I wouldn't have bought the place if I had a crystal ball.

Sounds exactly the same as me but I paid twice that for 3 bed split level penthouse and same with crystal ball. We are still trying to sue our now bust developer for outstanding ground rent and half the community is owned by the bank.

The flats are only worth what people are willing to pay and that is nothing right now. You might get stupidly lucky to get a buyer if you put the cost as something stupid, and I am talking 50% less than anything else in the area.

Rents are way below the mortgage rates etc. It is a bit of a disaster out there at the moment. The only thing to do is to budget for the worst and wait it through. It can't get any worse so just wait for the good times... which could be 10 years away.

Rents for mine at the moment are around £600 a month if you can find someone.

[DeludedAussie]

Sounds exactly the same as me but I paid twice that for 3 bed split level penthouse and same with crystal ball. We are still trying to sue our now bust developer for outstanding ground rent and half the community is owned by the bank.

The flats are only worth what people are willing to pay and that is nothing right now. You might get stupidly lucky to get a buyer if you put the cost as something stupid, and I am talking 50% less than anything else in the area.

Rents are way below the mortgage rates etc. It is a bit of a disaster out there at the moment. The only thing to do is to budget for the worst and wait it through. It can't get any worse so just wait for the good times... which could be 10 years away.

Rents for mine at the moment are around £600 a month if you can find someone.

So to be clear - You paid 300K EUR for a flat and you can rent out for 600EUR a month?

Can you find someone for 600 EUR a month or is it vacant at the moment