Since 1998, Augustín Gonzalez has offered sound tax advice and a service that goes that extra mile, from his offices in La Cúpula, La Paz, Puerto de la Cruz.

For well over ten years, both he and his bi-lingual team have catered to the needs of their foreign clients by explaining to them in simple terms their tax obligations, or not, in Spain.
Recently he has seen a growing number of people beat a path to his door with letters in hand from Hacienda asking them to provide income details, bank statements or informing them that they are obliged to pay a large tax bill. The reason for this, he explained, is that they are trying to tighten their grip on Europeans residing or owning a property here. He said ‘ as most people will be aware, Europe is slowly becoming one state with the ultimate objective of having one transparent banking system and one central tax department . Although that maybe some way off yet, steps are already being implemented to allow freedom of information and total collaboration between Banks across Europe. Tax inspections have soared on resident and non-resident foreigners in Spain.’ We asked what this means for the large ex-pat community’s across Spain and the Canary Islands? He replied, ‘ many foreigners who come to live here or that spend the cold winter months here, are unaware that they have an obligation to declare their income or their assets in Spain. For example if you receive a pension from the UK it must be declared, if you rent out your property in Spain it must be declared. In fact if you live, or just spend a few months here it is worth booking an appointment with us to make sure your not going to get the fright of your life when the Spanish taxman comes calling.’ In most cases he says, after the initial shock the client calms down when it is explained to them in black and white in their own language, even more so when they are offered a solution to their predicament. Sometimes it can be the simple things, which if you are aware of the law, should never rear their ugly heads, but do. He gave us an example. ‘ Many people will know that when you bring a car here from the UK it has to be matriculated here. But are they aware that they have a two month period to do so, are they also aware that the Guardia Civíl traffic division is clamping down on cars with foreign number plates. If stopped you will be asked to provide proof that the car has been on these shores less that two months, if you cannot, they will impound the vehicle there and then. If you own up to not matriculating within two months and say that you forgot to register it, or haven’t had time yet? They will kindly impound your vehicle, charge you for having no insurance (you cannot insure a foreign number plated car in Spain), charge you for the tow truck and charge you for storage of the vehicle whilst you embark on a long paper trail. All this could easily be avoided by heeding the advice of an experienced assesor such as Augustín González. If you have any enquiries or doubts about Spanish tax law the TN would recommend you pay A to Biz a visit in La Cúpula, La Paz. Alternatively you could call them on 922 37 07 75. Augustín also wanted to remind our readers that their annual tax returns are due soon and should be handed in by the end of June.

Appears in: Fortnightly edition 395 Tenerife News