In normal circumstances the temporary closure of a business or the substantial modification of employee working conditions is a slow, complex and expensive process. The Spanish system seems to be designed to catch out employers and an insignificant error in the formalities can undo the whole process, with very expensive consequences. In general terms, where … Read more
For many weeks we have all been observing the outbreak of this disease with a kind of detached fascination – but reality has finally struck home in Spain. With effect from 14 March, the Government declared a ‘State of Alarm’ using legislation that dates back to 1981. This allows the Administration extraordinary powers for the … Read more
A Supreme Court ruling in December 2019 has created a valuable opportunity that allows recently set up businesses to reclaim social security contributions. In 2014 the Government introduced measures to stimulate the creation of new businesses. One of these measures was to grant the newly self employed a substantial reduction in their contributions for the … Read more
Can this really be true?Well, unbelievably, perhaps. One of the promises made by the right wing parties during the December 2018 elections in Andalucía was to reduce taxes. We all know that politicians like to promise to reduce taxes and increase public spending at the same time but one of the few things that the … Read more
Self employed persons (autonomos) and small companies represent 95% of the Spanish economy. In particular, autónomos are very relevant to the growth of the Spanish economy although there have been very few incentives to stimulate the creation of small business from a tax and social security perspective. The Spanish Government made a timid effort in … Read more
As part of the recent agreements of exchange of tax information subscribed by Gibraltar for cooperation in tax matters, the Gibraltar financial institutions will be reporting to the Spanish tax office the relevant tax information of all their account holders, including income on earnings, tax withheld and tax residency status. The first reporting will take … Read more
Its hard to credit this but a recent report in an online newspaper exposes the parlous state of Spain’s compliance with EU rules (and its own laws) on company accounts filings. It seems that 2/3rds of Spanish companies completely ignore the regulations and they do so evidently with complete impunity. The annual accounts, or more … Read more
A new law was passed on 3/2/2016 to force landlords in Andalucia to register properties used for holiday letting. The fines for ignoring this law are truly draconian with a minimum of 18,000€ and maximum of 150,000€. An estimated 400,000 properties in Andalucia will be affected. This law has been several years in coming and … Read more
More than 90 countries have now signed up to the automatic information system, including most tax havens and the other bad boys like Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Cyprus (to name but a few!). There is now no place left to hide except places where you would have to be very brave to leave your money. … Read more
Picture the scene: with youth unemployment in Spain currently hovering around the 50 per cent mark for under 25s (source Eurostat), you decide to give your son a helping hand by letting him set up business in an empty shop you happen to own. As he is your child and you don’t need the money, … Read more
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