can i stop paying taxes in the uk if i live permanently in spain, only paying spanish taxes, and if so how do i go about this?

ian

As far as I’ve heard no, you can’t stop paying taxes back home… unless you gave up your citizenship perhaps (not 100% on that). You should definitely talk to an accountant and/or lawyer about it, it might be possible. And if it is, do tell us!

Maybe see http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/forums/viewthread/38/

I think he already has 😉. Check out who started the topic.

ah, right, nevermind. sorry

Yes, you can stop paying taxes in the UK. In general, once you declare that you’re a resident of Spain, then you don’t have to pay taxes in your home country as far as wages are concerned anyway (and assuming there’s a tax agreement between the two countries).

The principle is that you pay your taxes where you primary residence is and your main country of occupation. So if you live permanently in Spain you pay in Spain. However this does take some arranging! You have to convince the UK tax office that you have indeed left the UK permanently. Suggest you research the UK tax WWW and also contact centre for non residents in Nottingham - needless to say there is a form to fill out and they require evidence of Spanish residency etc. I have read elsewhere on this site that Spanish taxes are higher I have to say that I completely disagree with that and with a good gestoria who understa ex pat tax returns etc I would be surprised if you pay more tax here in Spain.

Hi Tourist,
If you have allowances for family and mortgage, for all I know you could be right that income tax is comparable to the UK. But if you don’t have such allowances, I don’t see it. Of course it all depends on what you earn, but for someone with a pension of say ?8000 or more and some savings, they will pay more tax in Spain. However I would be delighted to be proved wrong and would love to know of a good Gestoria who can bring my tax bill down to a UK type level! No one I know can do it. For a start off the amount you are allowed to earn before you pay tax is a is a lot less in Spain than in the UK.

Sorry, I said Hi Tourist - I should have said Hi Robi!