Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2019 8:34pm
Well done Rob, that’s excellent, very glad to hear. Just a quick word on your lengths of stay.
There’s two different amounts regarding lengths of stay which get a bit confusing:
The first is the 90 days in any 180 day rule - that requires Residencia (at the moment ...) it is a misnomer that you can stay for as long as you like on an EU passport. You can live and work in Spain for up to 90 days on an EU passport. Any more than 90 days in any one 180 day period requires, as I say, Residencia.
The second one is the one you’ve touched on - 183 days. If you spend 183 days or more in Spain, you are obliged to be resident for TAX purposes. This involves contacting HMRC and advising them that you are now “normally resident” (i.e. more than 183 days a year) in Spain. You cease to pay tax as a UK resident and are now taxed as a Spanish resident and pay tax in Spain.
This last one is why some people either spend less than 6 months in Spain or pretend they do - they don’t want to be taxed in Spain, preferring the lower UK taxation rate.