relocating to Barcelona

Hi Maria Teresa Ubide,

Welcome on board 

Till members shed the light on your queries, maybe you could send a private message to this member : https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 50#3560793

Also, contact the tax agency http://www.agenciatributaria.es/AEAT.in … anos.shtml

All the best,
Bhavna

Hi Maria Teresa,

The basic rule is that for someone in your situation you have to pay tax where you are a tax resident. If you are resident in Spain more then 183 days in one year, you are considered tax resident. The US has different rules but from what you said, you would be a US tax resident for 2017 if you come to Spain after July 1 and going forward from 2018 you would be a Spanish tax resident.

If you are a US citizen or a green card holder, you will have to file US taxes whether or not you actually live there. There are some other rules for reporting assets held outside of the US as well. But don't worry, there is no double taxation. If, for example, you are Spanish resident and your US based income has any withholding tax, that can be used as a tax credit against your Spanish tax bill.

It sounds complicated but it really isn't. The only thing is that being a US citizen or green cardholder, you always have to file US taxes. So you will end up filing two tax returns each year.

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Best regards,

Thomas Sneed

Oops. i guess I broke the rules by saying to message me for more questions. Sorry. It's just a pretty complicated subject to cover in one blog post. I won't post on taxes again but i would say that you should consult someone who really knows about this stuff and not depend on anonymous people on forums. I looked at some of the posts here that were, in spite of all good intentions, just plain wrong. And Hacienda or the IRS are not going to have mercy on you because someone on a web forum told you that's the way it should be. Do your research, it's all available online and/or find a US accountant that knows the expat rules and a local Spanish accountant who knows Spanish tax law. It will save you a lot of headaches. Good luck.

You're going to have to file tax returns in both nations, but the good news is that there's a strong likelihood that your pensions won't be taxed by both nations- only one.

See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf and view Article 20.

You'll want to find good experts to help you out, of course, but it does seem that you will only have to pay one of the two tax men.

PapaLima is right about a GOOD tax advisor. I applied for fiscal residency in January but I am still waiting. It seems the "double taxation" man is hard to catch. I was taxed in another EU country. So I have paid 2015 tax twice. 2016 due in a few months. 2017 tax still being deducted PAYE. So, many 1000's out of pocket at the moment.