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Whilst the EX18 form uses the word Residencia it is rather misleading.
As far as I am aware this form is to satisfy an EU directive requiring (or maybe only encouraging) non-residents of a particular EU country who plan on spending more than 90 consecutive days in that country to register with the local Police. Whether the added healthcare and €6000 requirements are Europe wide, imposed by Spain or even unnecessary/illegal is unclear.
There is only one sort of Residency in any EU country, namely Fiscal Residency and this is determined by the country where you pay your tax on your worldwide income and assets. The rules determining which country should be used for this can be complex but there needs to be good reasons to convince the authorities why it shouldn’t simply be the country where one spends 183 days in a year.
I have heard of people who have lived in Spain permanently for years but who continue to pay their taxes in the U.K. Either they have never applied for Fiscal Residency in Spain even though they should have done, or they have applied for such Residency but are not paying their taxes to the correct country. I doubt these people would have much recourse should Spain decide to regard and treat them as non-Fiscally Resident.
Any suggestion that applying for the 90 day “Residencia” precludes a homeowner from filling out a Spanish non-resident tax form for their property is incorrect. All homeowners are required to fill out a Spanish tax form each year, either a non-resident one for their property or a full blown resident one for their entire income and assets. Which one depends on their Fiscal Residency.
All this is pretty obvious and being brutally honest anything else is looking for dodgy loopholes to avoid paying one’s taxes. Never a good strategy in my experience. If you spend more than half your time in a particular country or if you spend less time than this but your “focus” can be proved to be in that particular country then you really should be paying your taxes to that government (fairness, common sense), rather than anywhere else ....
I suspect that some UK nationals who are homeowners in Spain are applying for the 90 day “Residencia” in advance of Brexit in the hope that it provides some sort of insurance policy. For those of pension age who do not require paid-for health insurance there’s is very little downside to this strategy even though I suspect it will have zero benefit. Fiscal Residency with a few years of income tax payments will obviously be far more valuable in determining any “leave to remain” post Brexit.
As far as I am aware this form is to satisfy an EU directive requiring (or maybe only encouraging) non-residents of a particular EU country who plan on spending more than 90 consecutive days in that country to register with the local Police. Whether the added healthcare and €6000 requirements are Europe wide, imposed by Spain or even unnecessary/illegal is unclear.
There is only one sort of Residency in any EU country, namely Fiscal Residency and this is determined by the country where you pay your tax on your worldwide income and assets. The rules determining which country should be used for this can be complex but there needs to be good reasons to convince the authorities why it shouldn’t simply be the country where one spends 183 days in a year.
I have heard of people who have lived in Spain permanently for years but who continue to pay their taxes in the U.K. Either they have never applied for Fiscal Residency in Spain even though they should have done, or they have applied for such Residency but are not paying their taxes to the correct country. I doubt these people would have much recourse should Spain decide to regard and treat them as non-Fiscally Resident.
Any suggestion that applying for the 90 day “Residencia” precludes a homeowner from filling out a Spanish non-resident tax form for their property is incorrect. All homeowners are required to fill out a Spanish tax form each year, either a non-resident one for their property or a full blown resident one for their entire income and assets. Which one depends on their Fiscal Residency.
All this is pretty obvious and being brutally honest anything else is looking for dodgy loopholes to avoid paying one’s taxes. Never a good strategy in my experience. If you spend more than half your time in a particular country or if you spend less time than this but your “focus” can be proved to be in that particular country then you really should be paying your taxes to that government (fairness, common sense), rather than anywhere else ....
I suspect that some UK nationals who are homeowners in Spain are applying for the 90 day “Residencia” in advance of Brexit in the hope that it provides some sort of insurance policy. For those of pension age who do not require paid-for health insurance there’s is very little downside to this strategy even though I suspect it will have zero benefit. Fiscal Residency with a few years of income tax payments will obviously be far more valuable in determining any “leave to remain” post Brexit.
