ChiFRA

Bank clients across Europe have their savings protected in the event of bank failure.  There is a limit to this deposit guarantee, and the UK’s limit will be reduced from £85,000 to £75,000 from 1^st January 2016.

During the banking crisis, the EU issued a directive to ensure that all European countries have a guarantee scheme to refund bank depositors up to €100,000 should the financial institution be unable to pay claims against it,  for example if they have stopped trading or been declared in default.   This was designed to give savers peace of mind and prevent a run on a troubled bank.   Spain has the Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos, while the UK has the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Succession planning is one of those tasks that is easy to keep putting off, but do not risk leaving it too late.  If you do your estate may not be distributed as you wish, and your heirs could end up paying much more tax than they need have.

You need to plan to ensure that the people you want to benefit, benefit, and to reduce the amount the government takes from your loved ones in tax.

Automatic exchange of information is almost here.  What does it mean for you, as an expatriate living in Spain? 

This loss of financial privacy affects us all.  If we live in one country and have assets in another, our information will be shared between countries. Tax authorities will be able to track our wealth like never before.

Until now, many British expatriates have been able to sell UK property without having to pay any capital gains tax in the UK.  This changes from April when new rules come into effect.

The concept of charging UK capital gains tax on the disposal of UK residential property owned by non-residents was first mooted by Chancellor George Osborne in his 2013 Autumn Statement.  Following a consultation, the government published legislation on 10^th December 2014.  The new rules apply from 6^th April 2015.