UK Investments & ISAs – Tax Treatment in Spain

By Chris Burke
This article is published on: 16th April 2018

16.04.18

With automatic exchange of financial information between most countries now standard practice, most of us already recognise the importance of declaring our assets properly and fully. In the UK, if your accountant or tax adviser declares your assets incorrectly, they are liable; however, that is NOT the case in Spain. I have been contacted by many people with various stories of how their accountants in Spain have reported assets. Sometimes it feels like people are speaking to numerous accountants until they find the one with the answer they want – if the declaration is incorrect though, and leads to an investigation, you are personally liable. Therefore, it is essential to have your assets reported correctly.

It is quite straightforward to understand the Spanish tax treatment of your UK assets. If they are NOT Spanish compliant – that is to say, not EU based and regulated AND the company holding these assets doesn’t have a fiscal representative and authorisation in Spain – then income and investment growth are taxable annually. Note that investment growth on assets such as shares, ISAs and premium bonds is taxable regardless of whether you have taken any income or withdrawals.

Below you will see the main list of investments that need to be declared and the tax rates that apply annually:

Type of Assets/Investment	Tax Payable	Type of Tax
Investment funds/stocks/shares	Yes, on growth	Capital Gains Tax (19-23%)
ISAs	Yes, on growth	Capital Gains Tax (19-23%)
Premium Bonds	Yes, on gain/win	Income Tax (19-45%)
Interest from Banks	Yes, on growth	Capital Gains Tax (19-23%)
Rental Income	Yes	Income Tax (19-45%)
Pension Income	Yes	Income Tax (19-45%)

Expenses may be able to offset some of the tax on gains, and for long term property rentals you can receive up to 60% discount on net rental income. However, tax reliefs and allowances that applied in the UK are not available to you in Spain.

There are ways of reducing these taxes, by having your finances organised correctly, and in many cases there is also scope to defer tax. This means there is no tax to pay if you are not taking an income or withdrawals from your investment. In fact, the more your money grows, the greater the potential tax saving.

The first thing you should do, and any financial adviser or tax adviser should do, is consider ways of mitigating your tax, both now and in the future. Otherwise you could end up with a ‘leaking bucket’. Many accountants are starting to increase charges for declaring UK assets, which need to be listed individually and where there is often lack of familiarity with the assets held. By the time you have paid the tax for NOT drawing your money, paid your accountant and lost any tax relief that applied in the UK, in most cases there are more cost effective, tax efficient, Spanish compliant options available. Furthermore, for those returning to the UK, there is still generous tax relief which applies to certain Spanish compliant investments.

For an initial discussion regarding your finances and practical guidance on planning opportunities, please get in touch – my advice and recommendations are provided free of charge without obligation – chris.burke@spectrum-ifa.com

Is Buy To Let still a good investment?

By Katriona Murray-Platon
This article is published on: 11th April 2018

11.04.18

Given concerns over the effect of Brexit on UK house prices, together with recent changes to the tax treatment of UK rental income and the various tax increases and reforms applicable to French property rentals, now may be the time to reconsider if Buy to Let is a good investment, both in France and the UK.

General arguments against rental investments
Most of us have an opinion on property as a means of generating long term investment returns. For some, a tangible asset such as property represents security, for others it is simply an inflexible and physical tie to a specific location.

Rental properties need regular maintenance and repairs, which can be expensive, and meeting such costs can divert cash from savings and other investments. Private landlords often underestimate the costs of maintaining a rental property, one consequence being that net returns fall short of (sometimes) unrealistic expectations.

It is a basic investment principle that we should not rely exclusively on property (or any single asset) for our future financial security, yet frequently we do, particularly where Buy To Let is involved.
Liquidity, or access to capital, also needs to be considered. Whilst you can usually withdraw funds quickly and easily from an investment portfolio (in France one often uses the Assurance Vie structure), you cannot generally sell part of a house. Re-mortgaging or equity release are possibilities, but for some the only option for capital access is sale of the property and acceptance of the associated expense and possible delays. Furthermore, a forced sale will typically result in lower than market value being achieved.

Both the French and UK governments are under pressure to boost national housing supply so are taxing second homes and rental properties in an effort to bring more residential property to the open market.

By comparison, for French residents (including expatriates), Assurance Vie remains as possibly the single most flexible and tax efficient investment available – a valuable planning opportunity which can be overlooked when property is perceived as a ‘safe bet’.

Keeping your UK property and renting it out
Legislative changes introduced in April 2017 significantly increased tax liabilities for residential landlords. Previously, allowable expenses and mortgage interest payments could be deducted from rental income as part of the tax calculation. However, the phasing out of tax relief on mortgage interest payments means that by 6 April 2020 mortgage costs will no longer be deductible, instead replaced with a 20% tax credit.

For many people, once settled in France, a UK rental property becomes impractical and difficult to maintain. Frequent trips back to the UK, for a variety of reasons, just don’t seem worthwhile. Being a landlord can be stressful and time consuming, especially when you want to be enjoying a more relaxed life in France and/or you are busy running your business here.

If your UK property remains vacant for occasional use during trips back to the UK, you could be affected by measures introduced in November 2017 which allow councils to charge a 100% Council Tax premium on homes that have been left empty for two years or more.

Additionally, since April 2015, non-residents are liable for capital gains tax (at either 18% or 28%) on the increase in property value since 2015. And from April 2019, the UK government plans to introduce capital gains tax for non-resident landlords of commercial properties.

Whilst house prices in some parts of the UK have increased substantially over recent years, there are wide regional variations and prices can of course go down as well as up. Flooding from adverse weather conditions has negatively impacted prices in many parts of the country. Brexit brings its own uncertainty for the housing market and there is also exchange rate risk to consider, with GBP/EUR volatility likely to continue in the short term at least. Finally, even with carefully managed quantitative tightening by central banks, interest rates appear to be going in only one direction from here.

Things to be aware of when renting property in France
Whilst the Finance Law of 2018 has increased the micro threshold from €33,200 to €70,000 (with a 50% abatement for costs), and from €82,800 to €170,000 for seasonal “classement” rentals (with a 71% abatement), it has also made furnished rentals more complicated for landlords, particularly for those offering short term lets.

To receive the higher abatement for furnished rentals, there is the challenge of arranging an official visit to obtain a recommended star rating. Since 1st December 2017, Paris requires property owners renting for short seasonal lets to register this activity and to display registration numbers on rental advertisements. Lyon did the same in February 2018, Bordeaux in March 2018 and Lille is in the decision process. Only 12,000 properties have been registered whereas 100,000 or more appear on rental websites. On 11th December 2017, Paris officially notified the largest rental sites (Airbnb, HomeAway, Paris Attitiude, Sejourning and Windu) that advertisements for unregistered properties were in breach of regulations.

Recent Finance law also approved a proposal to increase the taxe de sejour which today represents between 20 and 75 centimes per person, per night – it could increase by 1% to 5% if local authorities so decide.

The French government recognises that rental income made via websites such as Airbnb or HomeAway has often not been declared. Since 1st July 2016 these websites must inform members of their tax obligations and in January each year must send a document showing gross income received through reservations made via their site in the previous tax year.

There is also the risk that between November and March tenants will stop paying rent, with landlords powerless to evict until the winter period is over.

2018 changes to Wealth Tax have been particularly unfavourable for property holdings. Note too that social charges, which don’t apply to UK rental income but are chargeable on French furnished rentals, have risen to 17.8%. And that tax offices sometimes mistakenly apply social charges to UK rental income, which is then time-consuming to recover. However, since the Finance Law of 2018, social charges on investments are included in the flat tax of 30% thus reducing the income tax liability to only 12.2%.

Whether to sell or retain a rental property can be a difficult decision, for both financial and emotional reasons. For practical guidance on this complex matter, please contact me to arrange an initial discussion or meeting, free of charge and without obligation.

Preparing ‘THE’ folder

By Gareth Horsfall
This article is published on: 10th April 2018

10.04.18

Living in a foreign country is never easy, but have you thought how complicated it would be for your family if you die suddenly?

I am writing this E-zine after my weekly food trip to the Mercato Trionfale in Rome. I believe it to be the largest indoor market in Rome. It certainly has a massive choice of fruit, veg, meats, fish and much more. For any foodies out there, it is well worth a visit. However, my motivations for going this particular morning were not necessarily the food, but to go and have a natter with the people on the ‘bancarelle’. As is the norm at markets you tend to have your favourite stalls and you get to know the people and whilst buying the groceries you can stop and put the world to rights, talk about the weather etc. I love it because it is a break from the everyday routine and it provides me with that connection with people outside work.

So, when I got a call from a lawyer recently to tell me that one of my clients had died, (after a tragic and prolonged illness) I felt I had to go and have a dose of that life infusion once again.

This E-zine is never an easy one to write but I like to throw it out there once a year because I think its important. Ensuring that your papers are in order in the event of your sudden death is incredibly important when living in another country. It will provide you with peace of mind that your loved ones will not have too much difficulty in administering your estate, and your family will be thankful that you did it for them.

The big problem is that as ‘stranieri’ we often have documents spread across multiple locations. The office, a house in another country, with family members and in that old box that no-one dare look in.

The purpose of this Ezine is to outline a proven way of organizing your affairs to reduce stress in the event of your death.

So what is THE folder?

It is a single file (digital or physical) where you keep all of your important personal and financial information together. It allows easy access to these documents in the event that you’re no longer around to help. It is really important to have it in place where one family member takes the lead on the family finances (as I do in our household). That includes paying bills, managing accounts and storing documents.

Is it worth the effort?

Well, I think it is worth the effort. A time of loss can be stressful enough without having to try and piece together the deceased’s financial affairs. This can be a really difficult time for family members.

However, preparing THE folder is much more than avoiding stress; if you leave behind a administrative nightmare you could delay access to inheritors’ access to funds and potentially cost a small fortune in legal fees.

To give you an example of this, the UK Department of Work and Pensions estimate that there is currently more than £400 million sitting in unclaimed pensions pots in the UK.

Which is best…..physical or digital?

This comes down to personal preference. It can be done by either creating an electronic file that survivors can access in the event of death. This file can then be stored on your main computer, in the cloud or on an external hard drive. Alternatively you can use a physical folder to keep all of the important information together.

For what it’s worth, I decided to do both when building mine because my wife prefers paper and so is happier with hard copies of everything. I prefer digital. I have also shared the digital folder with some trusted family members.

Birth, marriage and divorce

Personal birth certificate
Marriage licence
Divorce papers
Birth certificate/adoption papers for minor children

Life insurance and retirement

Life insurance policy documents (including beneficiary nomination forms)
Details of any employer death in service benefits
Personal pension documents
Employer pension details
Annuity documents
Details of any entitlement to state pensions

Bank accounts

List of bank accounts with account numbers, login details, passwords etc
Details of any credit cards
Details of safe deposit boxes

Assets

Property, land and cemetery deeds
Timeshare ownership
Proof of loans made
Vehicle ownership documents
Stock certificates, brokerage accounts, investment platform details, online investment account details
Details of holdings of premium bonds, government bonds, investment bonds
Partnership and corporate operating/ownership agreements (including offshore companies)

Liabilities

Mortgage details
Proof of debts owed

Details of gifts

Dates and amounts/values (potentially helpful when calculating any inheritance tax liability)

Income sources

Make a listing of all your sources of income, especially ones that your family might not know too much about
Employer details
A copy of your most recent tax return or accounts

Monthly expenses

(so they can be maintained if necessary or cancelled if not. Essentially list the fixed costs which would need to continue after death)

Utilities
Insurance
Rent/mortgage
Loans
Subscriptions/memberships

Email and social media account details

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter,etc……..

Essentials

Will/testament + details of the legal firm that helped create it, if applicable
Instruction letter
Trust documents
Burial/cremation wishes

Contact details

List of names and contact numbers for: Financial adviser, doctor, lawyer/solicitor, accountant, insurance broker,

How often should ‘THE’ folder be reviewed?

Firstly, it is sensible to note the date that it was last reviewed so that anyone using it has an idea of how up-to-date the details are.

Going forward, reviewing the file on an annual basis should be sufficient.

Online passwords

If you are not comfortable keeping these in your folder, consider using a password management program. A password manager allows you to save all account usernames and passwords in one place. They are then protected using one master key. There a number of them available. I personally use LastPass – www.lastpass.com

This might be a step too far for you given the data breaches that seem to be happening almost daily, notably Facebook. I appreciate that and if you are not comfortable in using such an app then its important to have a physical record some where that can be accessed in the event of your death.

And finally…

Be sure to tell someone about it. There is little point going to the effort of creating such a folder if know one knows of its existence/where to find it…..

Tax and Savings in Spain

By Barry Davys
This article is published on: 28th March 2018

28.03.18

This is an introduction to the differences between the UK and Spanish tax systems and an introduction to a European ISA equivalent. It has been produced to help answer two regularly asked questions. : “What is the difference in taxation between Spain and in the UK?” – followed by “Is there a tax free savings account in Spain similar to an ISA?”.

For those of you not from the UK, I hope that the Spanish part of the table below will still be useful in allowing you to compare it with your home country tax situation.

Tax	UK	Spain
Tax Year Dates	6th April – 5th April	1st January – 31st December
Income Tax Allowance	£11,500	€9250 up to age 64 €10,400 age 65+ €11,800 age 75+
Capital Gains Tax Allowance	£11,300	N/A but some gains can be offset against some losses
Savings Tax Rates (interest and capital gains)	N/A Income Tax and CGT calculated separately	19% to €6,000, then 21% for the next €44,000 and 23% above €50,000
Tax Free Interest	£1,000	Nil
Tax Free Dividends	£5,000 Falling to £2,000 in 2018/19	Nil
Annual ISA Allowance	£20,000	Unlimited (see Euro ISA below)
Pension Contributions Limits	100% of your earnings up to £40,000 pa	€8,000 pa
Inheritance Tax	Above £325,000 at 40% plus possible allowance against main residence of £125,000 in 2018/19	Autonomous community rules. Catalonia and Madrid have large discounts for immediate family
Wealth Tax Limit	N/A at present	Autonomous community rules. Catalonia: over €500,000 with a €300,000 allowance for main residence, rates from 0.21% to 2.75%

The main differences are in Wealth Tax, Inheritance Tax and the way savings are taxed.

Wealth Tax in Spain

In the UK there is not currently any Wealth Tax. There is in Spain and the rates and method of calculation are set by the autonomous communities. In Catalunya the rate is banded, starting at 0.21% and rising to 2.75%.

Inheritance Tax in Spain

In the UK, the estate of the deceased person is taxed as a whole, whilst in Spain, the person receiving the bequest is taxed based just on the amount they personally receive from the estate. The allowances and method of taxation also differ. The rates of inheritance tax in Barcelona and the Costa Brava are the same but will be very different if you live in Andalucia. For more information, please see Inheritance Tax in Catalunya as an example.

However, if you prefer to speak with an experienced adviser who lives in Catalunya please click ‘Inheritance tax help‘

Tax Free Savings in Spain

In the UK, since January 1987 with the introduction of Personal Equity Plans (PEPS), we have been used to having tax free savings. Peps are now called ISAs and the allowance is now £20,000 per annum. If you live in Spain and have an ISA please note it is taxable in Spain. The fact that it is tax free in the UK does not transfer to Spain and you should look at the alternative below.

Spain does not have an ISA system as such but there is a similar investment, sometimes known as the “European ISA”. It is tax free whilst invested and has a very beneficial low taxation basis, especially if you require income from your investment. It is a little more restrictive than the UK ISA but is still worthwhile.

The two big advantages are that there is no limit and it is portable to other countries. If you would like to invest 10,000,000 euros in one year in the “European ISA” you can do! Unlike a UK ISA, the European ISA can go with you if you move country (not to all countries). If you return to the UK, the tax will be proportional to the amount of time you have been in the UK against the time you have had the European ISA. So if you have a Euro ISA for 10 years in total and have moved back to the UK for the last two years of the 10 years, the tax will be reduced. Specifically, the tax will be calculated and multiplied by 2/10ths. An 80% tax saving!

*Sources: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs
http://www.agenciatributaria.es/

If you would like more information on Inheritance Tax, Wealth Tax or the European ISA, please contact me on barry.davys@spectrum-ifa.com or telephone on +34 645 257 525. If you have UK ISAs, I will also be happy to advise you on how to make these tax efficient in Spain.

Hands off my pension!

By Gareth Horsfall
This article is published on: 27th March 2018

27.03.18

As promised, I thought I would follow up with my last article on the complicated issue of trusts, with a less complicated issue of the tax treatment of pensions / retirement funds in Italy.

The majority of my clients are nearing, or in retirement, and so pensions and retirement plans are very much at the forefront of your minds. For the likes of me, (I am 44 years old this year), I am in the accumulation phase and I need to concentrate on building as much capital as possible for when I get older when I need to convert my earning power into an income for life. There isn’t much to say about the accumulation phase, other than how the actual fund is treated for taxation in Italy, which I will touch on below.

What I aim to achieve in this article is to explain the tax treatment, in Italy, on the income from the various types of overseas pensions / retirement funds which we are mostly familiar with. This information is taken from and I will be expanding on articolo 18 del Modello OCSE which states:

“fatte salve le disposizioni del paragrafo 2 dell’articolo 19, le pensioni e le altre simili remunerazioni pagate ad un residente di uno Stato contraente in relazione ad un passato impiego sono imponibili soltanto in questo Stato”

I will not be going into the more complicated area of taxation of Italian pensions since that is best dealt with by a commercialista. I also want to share some of the various tax stories that I have heard of in the past and clarify the situation.

WHAT IS A PENSION AND WHO OFFRS THEM?
A pension is a type of retirement plan that provides an income in retirement. Not all employers offer pensions. Government organizations usually offer a pension, and some large companies offer them and in the likes of the UK and USA you can have a personal retirement pension / plan. Most people, throughout their working life, will also be making National Insurance / Social securitry payments which go towards a national state pension as well.

WHAT IS THE ITALIAN TAX TREATMENT OF EACH?

The state pension / social security:
I have sometimes been asked if the state pension or social security is non-taxable because it is covered under some kind of double taxation treaty. I remember this being a common question some years ago and wondered if a rumour was going around. Thankfully it hasn’t raised its heads for a while but for the record the state pension /social security of another country, payable to you as a resident in Italy, is taxable in Italy at your highest rate of income tax. If you have other sources of income in retirement then they are added together and the banded rates of income tax applied.

Remember that the income types which are subject to IRPEF (Italian income tax) are retirement income, employment income and rental income.

A QUICK REMINDER OF ITALIAN INCOME TAX RATES
(IRPEF – Imposte sul reddito delle persone fisiche)

0 – €15000	23%
€15000 – €28000	27%	(€3450 + 27% on the part over €15000)
€28000 – 55000	38%	(€6960 + 38% on the part over €28000)
€55000 – 75000	41%	(€17220 + 41% on the part over €55000)
Over €75000	43%	(€25420 + 43% on the over €75000)

The Italian pension credit…….it’s not an allowance!
This is another one of those mis-understood Italian tax benefits. (It would make sense that it is misunderstood because ‘Italian’ and ‘tax benefits’ are not words that often go hand in hand). However, if you are a pensioner (that means a pensioner at state retirement age and not someone who has retired early), then you might be eligible for a tax credit on pension income up to €8000 per annum. At this point I would like to say that this is NOT a tax allowance. It is not the first €8000 of pension income which is non taxable for everyone. That would be nice and has been proposed by some of the possible incoming political parties, but for the moment, not everyone is eligible to receive it.

It means that where you have €8000pa retirement income and below, that you could be eligible for a full tax credit on that amount. i.e the tax is calculated at 23% and then that is given back in your tax return.

The catch is that if you have more than €8000 in total retirement income per annum, rising to €55000pa then the credit is reduced (according to various quotients) to zero. The higher your TOTAL income is the less of the credit you will receive. A total income of more than €55000 per annum means no tax credit.

Government / Local Government / Armed Forces / Police / Teachers pensions etc
This next category is a catch all for any kind of Government or Local authority pension, including Teachers, Police, Firemen, Nurses, Local Authority etc. In effect, where the local or national government of the pension in question is the administrator of the fund.

In this case, if you are a non-Italian resident in Italy, then the pension is not taxable in Italy under the double taxation treaty but only taxable in the state of origin. So, for example. a British Firemen retired and resident in Italy will only have to declare the pension and pay any tax due in the UK under UK tax law. It would not be subject to Italian tax, UNLESS..

…., you are an Italian citizen, i.e have Italian citizenship.. An Italian national living in Italy would be subject to Italian income tax on their overseas local or national pension in the other state. So, in our example above the British fireman, after being granted Italian citizenship would then become liable for Italian taxation on his UK pension. This is something to consider when applying for Italian citizenship. Equally this would apply to anyone who has dual nationality, for example an Italian who has lived and worked abroad for many years and returns to Italy, or someone who has dual nationality through birth right.

Private pensions / Retirement plans / Occupational / Employer pension schemes
Private pensions do not, unfortunately, benefit from the same tax treatment as national or local authority schemes as described above and so they have to be exposed to the full wrath of the Italian income tax rates. They are added to your other income for the tax year and taxed at your highest marginal rate of income tax.

However, I want to expand on this subject slightly, in relation to the subject of trusts which we touched on in my last article.

Definition of a private pension / retirement plan
Before we can accurately define how a pension is taxed we first have to understand its structure. In the case of a UK personal pension, occupational pension and/or retirement plans they are mostly set up as irrevocable trusts. This gives limited powers to the holder of the pension because although you can instruct the trustees to do whatever you want within the tax rules of the country in which it is operated, ultimately the trustee has the final say in what you can do. They wouldn’t normally refuse your instructions to withdrawal capital, for example, but theoretically they could. This is a technical point but one which helps define the taxable liability in Italy.

Essentially, since the pension is a non-resident irrevocable trust, then the rules state that the fund itself is not taxed but any withdrawals would be taxed at your highest rate of income tax. An interesting point is that the fund itself needs to be declared for ‘monitoraggio‘ purposes and specifically your share in that fund. That creates a difficulty in something like a large pension fund e.g. Standard Life, when you need to express your share in that fund. To do that you need to know the value of the total company pension fund in which you are invested and express your fund value as a percentage of it. The truth is that this is almost impossible to find out accurately and so expressing a very low percentage is probably acceptable.

I have heard stories from various people over the years that their commercialisti declare their UK pensions as ‘previdenza complementare‘, which loosely translated means complementary pension. However, the definition does not accurately complete the story here. The reason for declaring it in this manner is that it is taxed at a preferential tax rate of 15%.

I must admit here that I don’t think is the correct way of declaring income from an overseas pension / retirement plan. The ‘previdenza complementare‘ is a vehicle used in Italy to complement the pension which is offered through Italian social security (INPS). You may argue that this has the same purpose as that of an overseas pension fund. However, this is where the similarities end.

In the case of a UK pension fund your contributions would attract tax relief during your contributory life. In the ‘previdenza complementare‘ (PC) the fund is taxable during the life of the fund. The UK scheme is also not linked to the state scheme in any way and you can withdraw money from age 55 (personal pension) or scheme retirement age (occupational pension). The PC is linked to the Italian state retirement age. Lastly, since the contributions into a UK fund are tax relieved, then income paid in form of a pension is subject to income tax at the normal rates. The Italian PC has a preferential rate of taxation starting at 15% and reducing to 9% depending on how many years you have been contributing to the fund, once you reach state retirement age. In short there are some distinct differences which lead me to believe that declaring a pension fund / retirement fund (which is a trust) as a ‘previdenza complementare’ in Italy, in incorrect. If you are in doubt then speak with your commercialista.

That is a basic review of the various types of pension / retirement incomes but is not an exhaustive list and various countries may apply different rules. You may need to check the double taxation treaty of your country for further details. However, all in all pensions are treated like other income, once in retirement and the fund needs to be declared, but not necessarily taxed in the accumulation phase.

If you have any queries about how your retirement income in Italy should be taxed, you can contact me on gareth.horsfall@spectrum-ifa.com or on cell +39 333 6492356

Corporate Responsibility

By Spectrum IFA
This article is published on: 20th March 2018

20.03.18

Every year, like many organizations, The Spectrum IFA Group is approached for support from many charities. As a company, we budget to support international charities and causes close to our staff and our clients’ hearts. Please find below links to causes that Spectrum thought both worthy and interesting.

In 2018 one of the charities we are continuing to support is Street Child. Street Child is a UK charity, established in 2008, that aims to create sustainable educational access for some of the world’s most vulnerable children. Street Child initially started with one location, 100 children and four social workers.

Since then, Street Child has continued to grow into a dynamic charity, assisting some of the world’s most vulnerable children in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Nepal. Through creating educational opportunities, Street Child has helped thousands of children lead a more positive life and opened up future opportunities for them.

An important and current project is called Breaking The Bonds. Members of the Musahar caste are traditionally involved in bonded labour and face extreme economic hardships and discrimination as a result. The experience of bonded labour, other socio-economic factors, and discrimination within the community and at school combine to make the Musahar community one of the least educated groups in Nepal. Bonded labour has been a traditional caste-based practice in Nepal. It is found mostly in agriculture, but also in domestic work and brick kilns. Labourers are paid little or no money for work and find themselves constantly indebted to their masters, rendering them unable to break out of the poverty cycle. Despite most forms of bonded labour being abolished by the Government of Nepal, over 66,000 households were still found to be affected by it in the seven Terai districts.

23% – Of girls never enrolled in school
29% – Of girls had dropped out
46% – Of 15-19 year olds could not read Nepali
62% – Of 15-19 year olds had no math competency
45% – of parents claimed that teachers were bad or absent
56% – of children would want to go to school if only their parents would encourage them
47% – of children weren’t enrolled in school due to their compulsion to earn and contribute to the family income

We hope you find the information of interest and agree with our support. If you would like to learn more about Breaking The Bonds please click here www.street-child.org.np/breaking-the-bonds

Tax relief on Spanish charity donations

By Chris Burke
This article is published on: 19th March 2018

19.03.18

When you pay Spanish income tax while residing in Spain, you can qualify for tax relief on any charity donations that you make (to certain types of charities such as foundations or NGO’s, i.e. non profit making organisations.

The tax relief you can receive here in Spain, whether you are employed, self employed or have a Spanish S.L. (company) are as follows:

For individuals & self employed (autonomo)

Amount paid in charity donation, up to per year	Percentage deduction (%)
150euro	75%
Amount paid above 150euro	30% (or 35*)

* If the amount paid in each of the two previous years is the same or more than the amount paid the previous year of each of these two years, the percentage increases to 35%.

The amount deductable cannot exceed 10% of the taxable income of the year.

For companies

Tax relief is 35% unless the amount paid in each the two previous years is equal or more than the amount paid the previous year of each of these two years, in which case the percentage increases to 40%.

The amount deductable in a year cannot exceed 10% of the taxable income of that year. If it does, you can apply the excess during the 10 following years.

In each of the above cases, the deduction is taken from the amount of tax to be paid.

People are much more responsive to charitable pleas that feature a single, identifiable beneficiary than they are to statistical information about the scale of the problem being faced. In essence, we are ruled by our hearts, not our heads when donating and showing the proven effectiveness of the charity can actually have the opposite effect to that intended. Take the time to research your chosen charity to make sure your money is going to be doing what you want it to do.

Although many people would like to leave a gift to charity in their will, they often forget about it when they write their will. Research has shown that if the will-writer just asks someone if they would like to donate, the rate of donation roughly doubles. Remember to make a list of any charities you would like to contribute to, before you sit down to write your will.

Giving to charity is contagious, seeing others give makes an individual more likely to give themselves and gentle encouragement from a prominent person in your life can make also make a big difference to your donation decisions. Most people support charities in one way or another, but often struggle to make donations as often as they think they should or would like to.

If you would like to donate to charity more but it slips to the back of your mind, create a habit. For example, every time you receive a bonus or every time you get paid you could make a donation, or if it is the birthday of someone close to you, send them a birthday wish and give a little to charity. Spending money on others actually makes us happier than spending it on ourselves!

Source GM Tax consultancy, Barcelona.

Trust in me!

By Gareth Horsfall
This article is published on: 13th March 2018

13.03.18

Quite recently I was watching the Disney movie Jungle Book with my son. I am sure that you remember the film. You may also remember the snake in the film, named Kaa, who tries on a couple of attempts to eat the ‘man cub – Mowgli’. If you happen to watch the film again you will see that he sings a song to hypnotise Mowgli, that song is called ‘ Trust in Me’.

Like alot of things in life, there are things that trigger the grey matter to start working at a rapid rate and the lyrics to ‘Trust in me’ seemed to resonate with my grey matter on that day. It was all the talk of ‘TRUST’.

You may have been aware of all the talk of offshore trusts in the Panama Papers. Well, you will be grateful that I am not going to go into that in any detail because for most of my clients it has very little to do with them. However, what might affect you is if you hold a trust in the form of a pension, specifically a UK private pension, an IRA, 401K or other US based retirement fund and/or a trust which has been set up in another country which might have the objective of protecting your estate from inheritance tax and or using a trust to pass assets on to family members in the event of your death.

What is a trust?

A trust is basically an agreement between three parties:

The trustee holds the assets, legally, on behalf of the ‘settlor’, who ensures that they are distributed in accordance with the settlor’s instructions. This can save time, reduce paperwork and in some cases avoid inheritance taxes. When something sounds this good, why haven’t we all got one? Because in Italy things are never that simple.

Trusts in Italy
Before I start with the analysis of how trusts are treated for taxation purposes in Italy, I would like to caveat this by writing that if you have a trust and are unsure of its tax treatment then you may wish to seek the advice of a trust lawyer who specialises in this field. The information I have learnt here covers a range of trust tax law, in Italy, which is specific to about 99.9% of clients, but it may not be appropriate for everyone. It is a very complicated area and may need specialist advice.

The issue of trusts in Italy was best summed up by an Italian lawyer who I was asking about this topic some years ago and I asked what is the law surrounding trusts in Italy His reply has stuck in my mind….”there is no real law of trusts in Italy because no one trusts anyone”. If you think about it, he is right. You are effectively giving your assets to another party, on the basis of trust, to distribute them on your behalf. That works well in the UK and the US where trust law is written into the framework of society and universally accepted. However, in Italy, where corruption, fraud and a slow legal system exist there would be little recompense if the ‘trusted’ individual/company ran off with your money.

Different types of trusts
There are many different types of trusts which can be used for various planning purposes but they are almost all unwritten by 2 basic concepts. This is that they are either revocable or irrevocable.

An irrevocable trust is simply a trust with terms and provisions that cannot be changed by the person who set it up (the settlor). This is distinguishable from a revocable trust, which is commonly used in estate planning and allows the ‘settlor’ to change the terms of the trust and/or take the property/assets back at any time in the form of income payments or lump sum withdrawals.

This concept of irrevocable and revocable trusts are the defining factors in the tax treatment of trusts in Italy and why, if you inherit a trust or you set one up before moving to Italy, then it is worthwhile checking to determine which type it is.

In general, the irrevocable trust (the one which CANNOT be modified by the settlor), in Italy, is respected for income tax purposes. The trust is deemed to be the owner of the asset (not the person) and there is a legally defined separation between the person who set it up ( the settlor) and the beneficaries of the monies from it. i.e the person who set it up can’t take money and income out at will and change the terms of the trust as and when they please. This is important in the tax treatment which I will explain below.

Conversely, the revocable trust is ignored for tax purposes and the ‘settlor’ is treated as the owner of the assets and any income from the trust, as if they still held them in their own name. The person who holds the trust is also responsible for disclosing the assets in it to the Agenzia delle Entrate each year, as if they owned them directly. Clearly this is not very tax effective in Italy.

Tax Treatment

The irrevocable trust is certainly the most tax efficient of the 2 types of trust and the easiest one to declare in Italy. The tax treatment is very simple in reality because the trust itself is not taxed, although it must be declared on the Quadro RW each year under the ‘monitoraggio’ section. (and your % share in the trust) Any income distributed from the trust is treated as the income of the individual in the tax year in which it is distributed and taxed at your highest level of income tax. (Capital Gains and non earned income tax of 26% do not apply to this type of financial structure)

The revocable trust, by comparison, is another beast altogether. This type of trust is generally looked through and the assets in it are deemed to be in the ownership of the individual directly.(the settlor). In other words any assumed tax protection by placing assets in trusts is removed because the trust itself can be altered. The Italian authorities have a number of provisions, which if written into the trust deed, could destroy the existence of the trust. These include:

The ‘settlors’ power to terminate the trust, causing a payment back to the settlor or the beneficiaries
The power of the settlor to name themselves as a beneficiary
Provisions which subject the trustee to consent or approval of the settlor i.e effective control of the trust by the person who set it up
The settlors powers’ to terminate the trust early
The provision granting a beneficary a right to a payment from the trust
The provision requiring the trustee to take instructions from the settlor for the purpose of administering the trust assets
The option to change beneficiaries
The settlors powers to distribute or lend income or assets from the trust to persons designated by the settlor
Any other provision, determined by the settlor or benficiary, which appears to limit the administration and distribution powers of the trustee

Assuming one of these provisions is written into the trust deed, then the protection of the trust invalidates the tax protection afforded by the trust and the assets will be subject to same rules as those assets which are held outside a trust.

Direct tax on assets in Italy is 26% capital gains tax and 26% on any income distributions/dividends or interest payments derived form assets, in the year in which they were realised. In addition a tax of 0.2% on the assets themselves as a wealth tax. The tax protection afforded effectively flies out of the window.

What are the alternatives?
For ultra wealthy individuals and companies there are always work rounds to these issues and with enough money you can pretty much construct anything these days to avoid taxes. However, this does not necessarily help the average person who would also like some tax protection for hard earned income and assets that you may wish to pass onto future generations.

The Investment Bond (Polizza Assicurativa Capitalizzazione) is a possible solution. It meets a number of similar criteria such as:

No Italian income and capital gains tax on the fund itself
Distributions are taxed at 26% on the proportional gain of the withdrawal (in some respects this is better than the irrevocable trust in which distributions are taxed at your highest rate of income tax)
The option to name beneficiaries in the event of your death
Continuation options in the event of death
The possibility of regular withdrawals and/or lump sum withdrawals and
A global range of investment options
Lastly, the investment Bond itself is fully reported to the Italian authorities and any taxes paid at source so you don’t have the worry of having to submit the information each year yourself or making mistakes

Summary
The lesson to be learned from this is, that before you do anything, if you have a trust, are a beneficiary of a trust, have set up a trust yourself or had one set up for you, then the first thing you need to do is get a copy of the trust deed and look at your relationship / level of involvement in the trust to determine exactly how it fits into your tax affairs as a resident in Italy. If in doubt, consult a professional.

I am going to elaborate on this subject of trusts in my next Ezine, specifically in relation to UK private pensions and US IRA’s and retirement funds. These vehicles themselves are set up as trusts and therefore have a specific tax treatment in Italy.

French Tax Changes for 2018

By Sue Regan
This article is published on: 9th March 2018

09.03.18

In my last article from early November 2017 I set out the proposed French tax changes for 2018. After some fine-tuning of the proposals the actual changes came into effect from 1 January this year, the most noticeable of which were the introduction of the Flat tax on revenue from capital, and the replacement of the Wealth tax (Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune, or ISF) previously levied on total assets, with the new Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilier (IFI). You can read a summary of these and other changes by accessing the following link on our website: French Tax Changes

So, at the time of writing, with “the Beast from the East” sweeping its way across most of Europe last week, you would be forgiven for thinking we are still in the depths of winter rather than into the first month of spring. Spring is my favourite time of year. With any luck things will settle down to normality very soon and we will be enjoying the longer, warmer days with the spring flowers in abundance and the sense of anticipation that summer is just around the corner.

BUT… (of course, there has to be a BUT) along with spring come the, oh so loved, blue and pink Tax Return forms that will be arriving in our post boxes very soon. Over the last couple of years my Spectrum colleagues and I have been writing about the existence of the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) that are now well and truly in operation, whereby financial institutions of the EU and many non-EU countries around the world are exchanging financial information in order to combat tax evasion. If you have been receiving letters from your bank or investment providers asking for your country of residence and Tax Identification Number (TIN) – this is why.

Thus, if you are French resident, it is very important that you declare the existence of all bank accounts, assurance vie policies and any other income generating investments held outside of France, even if you do not draw on the income. Failure to do so can result in severe penalties – €1,500 for each undisclosed bank account or policy (which increases to €10,000 if this is held in an uncooperative State that has not concluded an agreement with France to provide administrative assistance to exchange tax information). Furthermore, if the total value of the bank accounts and policies not declared is at least €50,000, then the fine for each is increased to 5% of the value of the account or policy if greater than €1,500 (€10,000 if in an uncooperative State).

You can make the declaration by listing the information on plain paper and attaching it to your Tax Return. Even bank accounts with a nil balance should be reported. In addition, if you have closed any foreign bank accounts during 2017, the accounts should be reported and the date of closure mentioned.

Unless you will be submitting a Tax Return for the first time (in which case you must complete a paper return) you are required to submit on-line in 2018 if your net taxable income (revenu fiscal de référence) in 2016 was greater than €15,000. However, you are granted an exemption from this requirement if you do not have an internet connection at your home. There are plans for paper based declarations to be completely obsolete by next year.

If you need to complete the pink form for anything other than pension, then perhaps you may be paying unnecessary taxes and therefore might benefit from a review of your financial situation. So don’t wait until May to gather all the information together, make a start now and get organised so that any action needed can be identified and taken care of before the “silly summer season” is upon us – it’ll be here before you know it!

Pension Healthcheck – Tips and Advice for 2018

By Chris Burke
This article is published on: 2nd March 2018

Whether you are thinking about the amount of pension you want in the future or are approaching retirement, a pension health check might be the answer you are looking for. With the UK government bringing in autoenrolment (the process by where companies who employ at least 1 person have to make sure they save into a pension) which has been massively successful, it is clear that as the years go by and with people living longer, it is more important than ever to save for the future. A pension healthcheck is your chance to ask general questions, be proactive and start planning for your retirement. Every year that you don’t start a pension, the amount of money that you will require becomes a lot more expensive for you to achieve, due to the effects of compound growth.

The UK population is projected to continue growing, reaching over 74 million by 2039. It is also getting older with 18% aged 65 and over and 2.4% aged 85 and over. In 2016 there were 285 people aged 65 and over for every 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 years (“traditional working age”). Years ago, people generally retired at 55 and perhaps lived until 66/67 meaning 12 years of retirement income. Now, retirement starts at 60/65 and the average life expectancy is Europe is around 85. So mathematically, you can see the issue, which is why 89% of final salary pension schemes in the UK are financially in trouble: their calculations were not initiated on this model of retirement and life expectancy.

Are pensions the answer?
This is debatable for many circumstances, particularly in Spain where you do not receive tax relief on large pension contributions. Many years ago it was different, when you could put tens of thousands of pounds into a pension and receive tax relief, or a company paid into it for you. However, in today’s world most people don’t fall under this scenario.

What IS the answer to retirement planning?
Make sure any assets you own work for you, including rental properties, investments, inheritances or money saved regularly. Yes, you can receive tax relief on money you save into a pension purse, however, this money is usually blocked (except in the case of critical illness or disability) until you are allowed to have it and has to always act like a pension, i.e. less flexibility and adhering to pension rules.
Therefore when thinking about retirement you should focus on the following tips to truly give you flexibility, confidence in your retirement and peace of mind:

Maximise Property Assets
If you own property, is it earning you the real value of your money invested in it? For example, a property investor today would usually want to receive a 7% return on their investment to make it worth their while:

Annual rent of property: €15,000 pa
Property Value:€300,000
Annual yield:annual rental, divided by property price, x 100 = 5%.

This may or may not take into account any expenses on the property you have. Are you also paying an agency to look after your property? Here are some areas to work on:
Is the rent high enough given the amount of money invested?

Can you reduce the costs of running the property, i.e. maintenance/agency fees? If they have been managing it for a while and there isn’t too much for them to do, ask them to ‘sharpen’ their pencil. More often than not they will, as they won’t want to lose the regular income you provide them.

Investments/stocks/shares/funds
How are these performing? Dividend paying shares (that is those with the payments /bonuses given to you, reinvested) historically are one of the best performing investments (including property).
Are they outperforming the markets, or being managed less erratically? That means not going down as sharply as the markets do and giving a less volatile return, which in turn gives you security of capital invested

The key areas to note here are:

Performance
Fees
Trust in advice given

Pensions
Are you currently saving into a pension and if not, what are you doing instead (as I said above it doesn’t have to be a specific pension purse). Have you accumulated more than one pension, if so what are they all doing, how are they being looked after and where might you be when you retire?

Key points to find out:

Details/values/contact details of any pensions you have
What are they invested in and how are they performing?
What are your options?

When you have gathered all the necessary information (or the advisor can gather this for you with your authority), you can then sit down with a professional and talk through your options and what journey your life might take. You can also look at maximising your National Insurance contributions (a mathematical no brainer in many people’s circumstances, even if you live outside the UK) and planning what you can do to make sure moving forward you are maximising your assets and turning them into a comfortable retirement.

€200,000, achieving a 6% net return over a 27 year period would achieve 1 million Euros…….with good advice, planning and consistent reviews.