Understanding and planning fiscal residency and Spanish tax is a very important when making the transition to become a resident in Spain. Tax in Spain is very different to the UK, and has become even more complicated since the UK left the EU as the way certain types of income are treated changed.
Here we provide an overview of the tax related requirements and key points that most need to consider when becoming a Spanish resident.
Spain’s Golden Visa offers residency to individuals who make a real estate investment in Spain of €500,000 or more. The Golden Visa scheme has been in existence since September 2013 when legislation for the ‘residency by investment scheme’ was passed. The aim being to attract foreign investors at a time when the economy of Spain was not in a very good place. Since it’s inception, over 25,000 foreign investors have benefited from the scheme.
The scheme is open to nationals from non-EU or third countries, and has so far been most popular with investors from China, Russia and the USA.
Nationals of non-EU countries require a visa to enter Spain, if the stay is intended to be more than 90 days. The Schengen visa in most cases cannot be used to apply for residency in Spain.
There is an exception when an immediate family member is joining a family member who already lives in Spain and holds Spanish residency. In all other circumstances a citizen of a non-EU country must apply for, and obtain a long stay visa through the Spanish Embassy in their home country.
Since UK has now left the EU, UK citizens / British nationals also have to apply for a visa if they want to live or work in Spain.
Once the visa has been issued, the applicant can travel to Spain and apply for residency and get their TIE, ‘tarjeta de identidad de extranjero‘.
The following is a summary of the main types of long stay visas that citizens of non-EU countries can apply for.
The TIE, Tarjeta de Indentidad de Extranjero, is the Spanish identification card for citizens from third countries (non-EU) who reside in Spain. Since July 2020 British UK nationals moving to Spain have also had to apply for this card, as the UK is no longer in the EU.
If you already have a Spanish residency certificate, you do not have to apply for the TIE, but you can voluntarily exchange your certificate for the card.
Both the Spanish and UK Government websites and their Consulate pages confirm that the green residency certificate, A4 and credit card sized, remain valid for UK nationals and prove the holders residency and retained rights under the withdrawal agreement, having settled in Spain before the UK left the EU. However considering the issues some have encountered during the recent Covid19 travel restrictions, e.g. multiple incidences of authorities and airlines not understanding the rules and denying certificate holders entry to Spain, it is advisable to get the TIE.
Aside from this the card is a full bio-metric national ID card, therefore so much more useful than the paper certificate. The card also has the words ARTICULO 50 TUE, a reference to note that the holder was resident in Spain before the end of the transition period and has retained rights.