Certificate fiscal residence

I lived in Spain for 12 years, and it took me 6 of them to get the certificate, and even then after sending it to UK Tax. I never got a penny back. They say because Spain did not send them the correct information to back up the certificate. and trying to get the in touch with the Spanish tax office is a Joke, even if you drive there and present yourself in person as my accountant did, guest what there was not one there to see him!!!!!  Good luck

I used Indalo Partners at Parque Comercial in Mojacar. They are familiar with both tax authorities. It took me 2 years to get back-tax from HMRC after getting stung (& fined) by Tributaria for the year I transferred from UK to Spain. Part of that process required the certificate of fiscal residence in Spain, which Indalo secured for me. If you need to go back more than 4 yrs in claiming back-tax from HMRC it can become a long process. Just don't give up, persevere in getting correctly removed from one to the other. Whilst for the average married partners you may find it could be less tax to pay in UK, sometimes being taxed as individuals is better in Spain. Depends on your earnings, pension etc. IF you have a UK Govt employment, Military or blue light services, or council pension which has tax deducted at source, you have to declare that income to the tax authority in Spain to avoid embarassing fines etc. Indalo will sort you out, peace of mind.

As soon as you have paid your first resident tax return you can get a certificate if fiscal residence. If you have a digital certificate you can obtain it online yourself. If not your accountant can get it.  I did this last year and it was easy and fast 

Regarding double taxation well that's not quite so easy or fast. Since Covid HMRC are taking ages to process anything. Apparently it can take up to 2 years but personally don't know as still doing mine. They still haven't processed my 2021 self assessment so HMRC is where the problem lies! 

Sounding hopeful, although I have to admit I’ve given up on the digital certificate for myself, despite being reasonably good on techie stuff!  Did HMRC stop deducting tax as soon as you sent them the certificate of fiscal residence so the delay was just about deducting back tax paid, or did they mess you about on both elements?

Thanks - I’ll probably give them a call.  Were they able to get the certificate pretty quickly so the delay was just getting HMRC to cough up, and did HMRC stop deducting tax quickly so it was just repayment that was delayed?  I can cope with that (just) but the prospect of paying tax in two countries at the same time for years fills me with horror!

I got a zero rating from HMRC once the Tributaria took the first years tax from me, and they agreed I was off their system. However Spain wanted the previous year as well...this is the penalty for being on the padron, prior to being full time resident. Spain can only go back 4 years btw. The double tax took time to get back from HMRC.

Could you not prove you had not been resident for 183 nights regardless of being on the pardon or did they simply refuse to accept that?  There was a time 15 years ago when the ayuntamiento was pushing us all Togo on the pardon even when we weren’t full time residents!

The Spanish tax had records on computer that went back years, difficult to argue your case unless you have kept meticulous records. In my case retired in 2013, paid Spanish tax for calendar year 2015, after obtaining official residency in the February (it was the green card issued then).  It was 2014 where the problem lay, despite paying non-res tax! They claimed full tax for 2014. The double tax rule helped, but took 2 years (after papers submitted) to recover tax payment in 2014 to HMRC. 

Anyone on a padron can be considered as resident. That is why home owners need to be careful.

Understood - I suspect in law that appearance on the pardon is not fiscal residence under the double taxation treaties, but that doesn’t stop the Spanish authorities from arguing something different.  A little thing like law doesn’t normally stop them!