Spanish Tax Angst

my understanding is that if you were resident here in Spain at the beginning that is when you should of paid the taxes here and not in the UK and then when you became non resident you would have gone back onto the UK tax system and that would have been it.  You owe the tax here even if you paid it in the UK and would need to claim it back from HMRC for that period. Unfortunately the Spanish taxman always wants their money and will fine if not paid on time.  You need someone here who is knowledgeable in the ways of the taxes.  Try Groupo Salvador in Mojacar.  

Following from Alicia who is absolutely right. I had a big problem with the tax dept here. 1 day when I checked my bank account the tax dept had put an embargo on my account and took nearly 1000 euros. No notice was given and when investigated they stated they had not taken enough tax!! 2 years previously. So my advice is either make sure your abogado sorts it or get another representative here who knows the tax system. They have the power to embargo your account. Best wishes 

Thank you very much for replying so promptly.  Just to say, though, HMRC were aware that we lived in Spain and sent correspondence to our Spanish address.

Again, many thanks and I will certainly be contacting Groupo Salvador.

Thank you, Keith.  Having money taken from your account like that must have been a shock, especially then being told it wasn't enough! I'm taking Alicia's advice and am just about to contact Groupo Salvador.

As I said to Alicia, we actually received correspondence from HMRC whilst we were in Spain and at no point did anybody tell us that we were supposed to pay tax in two countries.

Did you resolve the problem?

Thanks again.

Yes thanks I arranged a plan with them through a assesoria in Vera. If you don't get any joy let me know and I will give you his contact details. I have never owed anything to anyone all my life so as you said it was a hell of a shock

 Good luck and I hope you're successful.

Thank you very, very much, Keith, I may well take you up on that.

the Certificate of Residence is not exclusively for business or earners abroad. I have recently had to obtain this same Certificate.  The online form 'appears' to be for business/earners abroad, but if you carry on filling it out, there is ample opportunity to explain what you need, your circumstances, etc., and lo and behold, you get a certficate.  Just fill in the blanks that apply to you and ignore anything that asks for business details and the like.  It's just that the HMRC site is not very clear that the procedure applies as well to 'ordinary' people who just need to prove their residence in the UK.

As usual it is always down to the ordinary guy to do the leg work HMRC and the Spanish tax offices do not work together and it is the person who is taxed who is supposed to know what to do.  The only income aloud in Spain and taxed in the UK is the payment of Civil servants pensions, Having said that if, like my husband your pension is not at tax levels of the UK it will be taxed in Spain under the world wide income rules. 

Thanks for this.  I'm assuming you mean the "Gateway" that is HMRC's website for this.  I found that, at the point where they are "going to ask 3 questions" and you have to provide information, they always wanted my husband's driving license and I could go no further.  My husband is registered partially sighted, so does not have one, so I went the "email" route on the website and got a Letter of confirmation of residence, dated from 2010.  So, while I'm grateful for your reply and I will try this method again, I don't hold out much hope.  Also, personally, I cannot understand why the Letter seems to be of no consequence.

Thanks again.