“A fine is a tax for doing something wrong.
A tax is a fine for doing something right”
- The fiscal year in Spain is the same as the calendar year, running between the1st January and the 31st December, whereas in the UK it is between the 6th April one year to the 5th April the following year.
- Filing has to be done by the 30th June in Spain. 60% of the bill can be paid in June, with the balance being paid by the 5th November if required. No interest is applied if tax is paid in this way. Joint filings are permissible. A whole family may file together, but if they do so, they are jointly and severally liable for the payment of the tax. The advantage though is that one spouse’s refund can be offset against the other spouse’s Filing return extensions aren’t permitted. In the UK filing is done in January on the current year basis.
- Spanish fiscal residents are subject to tax on their worldwide income and bank interest. A Spanish resident who has an overseas account must declare it ontheir tax return. The same laws exist in the UK.
- Spain is a signatory to the European Union Savings Tax Directive and as such automatically receives exchanges of information from other EU countries regarding Spanish citizen bank accounts held in overseas accounts.