British ex-pats in Spain under threat
Brits living in Spain are at risk of having their homes confiscated under a new crackdown on tax evasion by the Spanish tax authorities.
Many British ex-pats living in Spain are, in fact, non-resident and pay tax in the UK on all their assets and income, whether the assets and bank accounts are located in Britain or Spain. They are now being asked to produce documents to prove their non-resident status by Spanish banks.
The Residencia document can be obtained by registering at a police station and getting a stamp from a civic official, but it is typically a long process and there are concerns that British ex-pats are not being given enough time by the banks to effect this. Failure to provide the document could result in bank accounts being frozen and mortgage repayments being stopped – thus putting the homeowner into arrears and rendering them at risk of repossession.