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International tax adviser for people living in Spain: online and in La Línea
If you live in Spain, you answer to the Spanish Tax Agency (Hacienda) for your assets and income, wherever they are. If part of them comes from Gibraltar or the United Kingdom, we can take care of it: we deduct what has already been paid there, avoid paying twice and file the information on assets that Spain requires. We are tax advisers and lawyers, and we work from La Línea de la Concepción. Meeting at our office or by video call, from anywhere in the country. With personal attention, we look for simple solutions to the tax problems that assets and income from another country leave behind.
Tax advisers and lawyersService in Spanish and EnglishOnline or at our office
International tax advice: areas of work for people who live in Spain
Our clients are individuals whose life is in Spain and who hold part of their assets abroad: a British pension, an account in Gibraltar, a property inherited in England, investments with a foreign broker or income from a client in another country. They come with the same questions: what they have to declare, where each tax is paid, what the risks are if they have not declared it for years and what tax obligations they have.
As an international tax adviser, we explain your situation clearly and in writing before we start. We have experience at the border and in dealing with the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria), and we work carefully. The same team handles the planning, the return and your defence if Hacienda writes to you. With a clear plan and your goals in view, you decide with legal certainty.
To open your fileWith your latest Spanish income tax return (declaración de la Renta), a list of your accounts, investments and properties outside Spain and proof of the tax paid in the other country, we can already study your specific needs and set the scope of the work.
International taxation: what you declare in Spain if you have income or assets abroad
Tax residence in Spain is established in two ways: staying here for more than half the year (183 days) or having the centre of your activities and economic interests in the country. If either applies, your worldwide income becomes subject to personal income tax (IRPF): salaries, rents, dividends, interest, pensions and capital gains, regardless of the country of origin.
International taxation is about putting that income in order. You need to know which items are declared in Spain, which have already been taxed abroad, which documents prove that tax and which reporting obligations come on top of the income tax return. It is analysis and international tax planning before deciding anything: the lawful optimisation of your tax burden, with the overall view that comprehensive advice gives. With a sound approach you avoid overpaying and you comply with your tax obligations without surprises.
Employment income and pensions from abroad
We include them in your IRPF, check whether you are entitled to exemptions or a deduction, and check the social security contributions paid in the other country.
Rent, dividends and interest from abroad
We declare them together with the tax withheld at source.
Sale of property or investments in another country
We calculate the gain on the transfer, the capital gains and the tax that can be offset. If you are going to buy, we review the purchase of a property abroad before you sign the contracts, and the return on the investment once taxes are deducted.
Accounts, securities and property outside Spain
We check whether the declaration of assets abroad has to be filed.
Inheritance and gifts with assets abroad
If you inherit or receive a gift that includes assets abroad, we study the inheritance and gift tax that applies. We work with heirs who cooperate with each other. We do not handle disputes between heirs.
Double taxation: how to avoid paying twice on the same income
One state charges because the income arose in its territory; Spain charges because you live here. The possible result: the same income is taxed twice. The deduction for international double taxation exists to avoid that.
The cap is set by article 80 of the Personal Income Tax Act: from the Spanish tax due, the lower of two figures is deducted, either what was paid abroad in an equivalent tax, or what would result from applying your average rate to that foreign income. If you paid less abroad, you top it up here. If you paid more, the excess is not refunded this way.
What matters, then, is getting the limit right and proving the payment made abroad. We gather the certificates Hacienda accepts and apply them in your return, on time and in line with current law.
Note: being entitled to this deduction obliges you to file the income tax return even if your income is low. We check it before the filing campaign closes.
Double taxation treaty with the United Kingdom: pensions, rents and investments
The Spain-UK treaty was signed in London on 14 March 2013. It was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 15 May 2014 and has applied since 12 June of that year, replacing the 1975 treaty.
For someone who lives in Spain, the treaty decides which country can tax each type of income and how double taxation is corrected. Its article 22 allows Spain to deduct the tax paid in the United Kingdom, up to the Spanish tax that corresponds to that income. That is the treaty work we do every day: read the text, see what type of income it is, which tax benefits it gives and how to prove the tax. Obtaining the necessary certificates is part of the work.
British pensions are the case that brings us the most enquiries. The treaty assigns private pensions to the country of residence, and public pensions for services rendered to a state, in general, to the state that pays them. A company pension and a public pension are not treated the same, and it is best to confirm this before filing.
The treaty’s protocol also includes a rule for beneficiaries of a British trust. If that is your case, we review it with you.
Form 720 and Form 721: declaration of assets abroad
Form 720 (modelo 720) informs Hacienda of what you hold abroad: accounts in foreign banks, securities and rights, and properties. Each of those three blocks is measured separately.
A block is declared when it exceeds 50,000 euros. For accounts, the average balance of the fourth quarter or the balance at 31 December is used; for funds, their value at that date. After the first year, you only need to file again if a block increases by more than 20,000 euros, or if what was declared is sold or cancelled. It is filed between 1 January and 31 March.
Cryptocurrencies held outside Spain are declared on a different form, Form 721 (modelo 721, Order HFP/886/2023), in the same dates.
After the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 27 January 2022, Law 5/2022 reformed the Form 720 regime. Today, failing to file it or filing it with incorrect data is penalised under the general penalty regime of articles 198 and 199 of the General Tax Act. If you have not declared assets you should have declared for years, we study how to regularise them and what penalties may apply, before the tax authority does so, with the appeals and claims that are appropriate if an assessment already exists.
Change of tax residence: arriving in Spain or leaving
Moving into or out of Spain changes where and how you are taxed. Whoever arrives in the country starts declaring their worldwide income. Whoever leaves must be able to prove that they no longer meet the residence tests, and these implications are planned in good time. Every move, every registration and every change of address counts, in matters such as the taxation of your assets and the protection of your family situation.
For people who come to work in Spain there is the special regime for incoming workers (régimen de impatriados) in article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act, which has its own requirements. We assess it with you before you take the step, because the option must be exercised within a specific period. Our knowledge of both regimes is on the blog, where we explain the change of tax residence and the incoming workers regime.
British nationals living in Spain often ask us about the year of arrival, the months they spend in each country and what happens to their properties and assets in their country of origin. We answer with the rules in hand and without taking anything for granted, and because we specialise in the Campo de Gibraltar (the area around Gibraltar), our relationship with clients is direct.
Gibraltar and the United Kingdom: what we see most in La Línea
From La Línea we work every day with people whose lives cross the border. Depending on your case, the information is on one page or another.
If your salary comes from Gibraltar, read tax advice for Gibraltar workers.
If the question is where you are resident, go to tax residence in Gibraltar and the Spanish Tax Agency.
If you live abroad and have a home in Spain, see tax advice for non-residents and Form 210.
Gibraltar has its own treaty from 2019, in the Official State Gazette since 13 March 2021. It matters to anyone who could count as resident in both Spain and the Rock at the same time, and it settles the tie with four tests: where you sleep, where your family lives, where your only permanent home is and where your wealth is concentrated. It does not replace the 2013 treaty, which does not mention Gibraltar.
International tax lawyer for self-employed people and businesses with clients abroad
If you are self-employed (autónomo) or have a small company and invoice clients in other countries, VAT on transactions with other countries and income tax on that income have their own rules. For business owners and small companies, we help with the usual points: how these invoices are declared, which certificates to ask a foreign company for, what to include in contracts with clients abroad and how to avoid losing a withholding tax paid at source. It is a tax advisory service for companies across Spain, with one person responsible who knows your business.
We also work with companies that have a partner or a client in another country, on the ordinary side of their tax and company law, on setting up the company and on the basic structure for selling abroad. If your business starts selling abroad, we explain the implications of that expansion and of going international before the first income arrives, both for tax obligations and for the paperwork. We do not handle holding companies, mergers or group restructurings, and we tell you that from day one.
How we work on your international tax advice
We give you the scope and the plan in writing before we start. The process is one of continuing support in tax law and is repeated in each case. An orderly service is how we try to earn your trust.
01
Documents
We gather your return, your accounts, investments and properties abroad and the proof of tax paid.
02
Residence and treaty
We confirm where you are resident for tax purposes and which treaty applies.
03
Calculation
We apply the double taxation deduction and check whether any reporting form is missing.
04
Filing and follow-up
Online filing, proof of filing for you and a reply to any later tax notice, audit or claim, at the administrative stage.
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A typical case
A British couple have lived in Sotogrande for some time. He receives a pension from the United Kingdom, they have an account in Gibraltar and a flat in England that they rent out. In Spain they have always declared only what they earned here.
We review their years, calculate what is declared and what is deducted, handle the filing of the overdue years, check whether Form 720 was compulsory and propose how to put the overdue years in order. Then we set up the calendar for the following year so that they control their dates and their representation before Hacienda.
Also online
We work from La Línea, but many of our international clients never visit the office. We hold the meeting by video call, receive documents by WhatsApp, you sign digitally and we file online. If you prefer to start with an online consultation, you can book your appointment on the website. It is an international advisory service covering the whole country: with video calls and digital signature you do not lose time travelling.
Common questions about international taxation
Your situation is not listed here? Tell us on WhatsApp which taxes concern you and we will reply.
What does an international tax adviser do?
They put in order the taxes of someone with income or assets in more than one country. They work out where you are resident for tax purposes, calculate the deduction for tax paid abroad and file the returns Spain requires, such as the declaration of assets abroad.
Do I have to declare my UK income in Spain?
Yes, as long as you are tax resident in Spain. You declare your worldwide income and deduct what you paid in the United Kingdom, up to the limit set by the treaty and the Personal Income Tax Act.
Do I pay twice on the same income?
You should not. The double taxation deduction exists to avoid that. It has to be calculated properly and the tax paid abroad has to be proved.
When do I have to file Form 720?
When any of the three blocks (accounts, securities or property abroad) exceeds 50,000 euros. It has to be checked every year, in the period from January to March of the following year, and we review it for you.
What if I have cryptocurrency on a foreign exchange?
They have their own form, Form 721. You need to check where they are held and how much they add up to at 31 December.
Is there a double taxation treaty between Spain and Gibraltar?
No. The 2013 treaty with the United Kingdom does not cover it. For Gibraltar there is the 2019 treaty, which settles residence conflicts; in other matters Spanish domestic law applies.
Do you only handle paperwork?
We are tax advisers and lawyers. We do not do payroll or monthly bookkeeping.
Do you work outside La Línea and the Campo de Gibraltar?
Yes. Our office is in La Línea and we work with clients across Spain by video call, including on the Costa del Sol.
Other services of the firm
Tell us what you have outside Spain
Message us on WhatsApp with your latest return and a note of what you have outside Spain, or use the form to tell us about your situation. We reply with what is missing and how to approach it.
Office in La Línea de la Concepción. We work with you online or in person.
C/ Cervantes 2, entreplanta, despacho 4 · 11300 La Línea de la Concepción
WhatsApp 652 948 572 · 956 174 981 · pablo@asesoriaserra.es