Spain - British Expat Forum

We are planning to relocate in January 2011.

We have Spain, Malta and Germany as destination options. My question is regarding becoming a tax resident and the importance of timing.

As we would only move in January 2011, we believe the tax year 2010 would be irrelevant from Spanish Tax perspective.

But I wonder whether a short visit in december 2010, followed by the move in January would complicate the situation.

Some countries such as Spain has a rule which I could not understand its extent:
If you have the intention to live in Spain permanently when you first arrive then you will be accepted as a tax resident on the first day you arrive.

The reason for our concern is:
We have sold an overseas property in 2010 and according to the local tax law we did not have to pay any income or capital gains tax as the property was held more than 5 years.

I just wanted to know whether our short visit in 2010 would make us liable to any taxes in Spain. Or would we become tax resident when we apply for it officially.

If there is any one with relevant info or experience and share this on BE forum , we will be happy.

Thanks.

Peter

Hi Peter, welcome to our forum.

If you're thinking about moving to Malta, we have a huge amount of info and lots of people to help with that - so head on over to our Malta forum. Otherwise, we'll do the best we can but we need more input from people who like to give info rather than just take.

If you want to know the tax implications or anything else about Malta then please just ask on our Malta forum.
http://britishexpat.com/expatforum/malta/index.php

It seems that Spain is pretty much dead for British expats - so many problems and scams, But each to their own, Maybe it's OK really.