Logic Financial Consultants

Introduction Welcome to our third quarterly newsletter. A lot has happened in the market this quarter so we will try and cover the main topics.As always, if there is anything we have missed and you would like us to cover in our next update, please do not hesitate in letting us know. Global Markets   During the third quarter of 2018, we have seen some of the highest volatility in markets since the financial crash in 2008. October has a tradition of being a fairly unstable month in terms of investments and markets, and it well and truly lived up to its reputation. In the last 3 months we have seen falls in all major worldwide markets including the FTSE 100 (UK) -7.87%, the EuroStoxx 50 (Europe) -9.58%, the S&P 500 (US) -4.34% and the Hang Seng China Enterprises (China) -8.76%. After reaching all time highs in May, the FTSE 100 (top 100 UK companies) was one of the first to suffer this quarter as Brexit volatility continued following several resignations from Theresa

      How do I register as a resident in Spain? As an EU citizen you must  register as a resident  if you plan on living in Spain for more than 3 months. If you are here for a total of 183 days in a calendar year then you are classed as being a tax resident of Spain and should be registered as resident. You should register in person at the  Oficina de Extranjeros  (immigration office) in the province where you live or at the designated  police station . You will be required to  provide documents  to support your application which currently is: NIE – your foreigner’s tax number The form S1 if you are a pensioner, SIPP card or proof of private health insurance Confirmation of payment for the residencia in the bank The completed residency application form Passport Proof of income You must be able to demonstrate that your life in Spain is financially sustainable. You will be expected to show bank statements that cover the previous three months and that you have

Requirement to Correct‘ or RTC for short deadline is 30th September....Do you have any offshore income or Assets? Many people we meet feel it's too late or are worried about the consequences. There is nothing to worry about. Please get in touch if this applies to you. We can help... HMRC representatives made presentations across the Costa Blanca on the 4th September to the general public, outlining an individual’s requirements of their looming deadline which is the 30th September 2018.The legislation which was introduced in April 2017, is called the ´Requirement to Correct‘ or RTC for short. In simple terms it is intended to allow an individual to correct any information previously given to HMRC (or indeed information previously not given) regarding any income or assets held outside of UK. Provided you notify HMRC of any such errors before the deadline, then the usual level of fines will apply. However failure to notify them could result in future fines ran

HMRC representatives from the UK visited Moraira yesterday to talk about tax issues. HMRC has introduced new legislation that requires individuals to make sure their foreign income and assets are in order before a 30 September 2018 deadline and the arrival of tougher penalties.  The main points to come from the meeting were as follows; There are two scenarios where a penalty could be imposed; either because of deliberate non- compliance (people trying to get away without paying taxes by not informing HMRC of things on purpose) or because of an error resulting in non-compliance (incorrect information given to HMRC). Penalties are currently 30-40% on top of tax amount due up to end of September. But from 1st October this is increased to 100-200%. You can however avoid this penalty if you have a “reasonable excuse” , for example you went to an accountant and he calculated your tax liability incorrectly and as a result the wrong amount of tax was paid due to their e

Welcome to our second quarterly update. Having launched this quarterly update for the first time back in late April, we are pleased to say that we have had lots of positive feedback. As always, if there is any topic you would like us to cover in our next update, please do not hesitate in letting us know.    Over the past 3 months we have seen many events worldwide that will make their way into the history books, both political and non-political. On the political side, we have seen important meetings such as the North Korea-US Summit 2018 in which Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met for the first time in person, in Singapore. Mr Trump then did a European tour during which he first visited her majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, before flying to Helsinki to meet with Vladimir Putin. On a lighter note, we have also had been treated to a very well organised (and violence free) World Cup in Russia, much to our surprise. From an English perspective, it was great to see everyone come t

The Goverment's budget for 2018 has finally been approved. Below is a summary of changes we thought might interest you. Starting with a positive one, going to the cinema is going to be cheaper , as the IVA/ VAT on tickets will decrease from 21 to 10. Effective immediatly. Another improvement Paternity leave from 4-5 weeks and for 'fucionarios' the option to take leave once the mothers leave has ended. Effective immediatly. Pensions will increase with 1.6% for a medium pension to 3% for a minimum pension, 1,35% for Autonomos not in receipt of minimum pension. The increased pension payments will be released as of August , but the measure will be implemented retro-actively as of January 1st this year, so during July all pensioners will receive an extra payment with the increase over the months January-July. IRPF Income Tax Changes - The threshold of 12,000 euros will go up to 14,000 euros. Higher allowances for those with income from work between 14,000-18,000. Ext

There is a lot of speculation and fear mongering about Brexit. What do we know? Nothing. That is the simple fact, nobody can tell us what is going to happen. So with so many seminars and meetings organised with various companies and figureheads to try and clarify the position the fact of the matter is nobody knows. So why not focus on what we do know, the facts and nothing else. There are undoubtedly many questions and we will all have our own that pertain to us individually or as a family and we will all have an eye on the overall effect. The Facts   For most expatriates living in Spain, working or not one fact is that if you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain you should be Fiscally resident in Spain. It is not a choice it is obligatory. If your children go to school in Spain, private or public your centre of influence is likely to be Spain and as a result you are obliged to become Fiscally Resident for tax purposes in Spain. In 2018, legislation has been introduced w

We’ve found recently from our new clients who have come to us with some sort of investment wrapper-typically a Spanish Compliant Portfolio Bond or Qrops/ pension arrangement that most could not answer YES to these 3 questions: Do you know exactly what you are invested in? Do you understand all your investments? Do you understand structured notes? Over the recent months we have been helping these new clients understand EXACTLY what they have, enabling them to confidently answer YES to all of the above. At Logic we endevor to ensure that our customer understands all aspects of their investments down to the smallest detail. We have over 40 years experience in both the UK and Spain advising clients on financial and tax planning matters. We have 2 fully qualified individuals with the CII and are regulated and registered with teh Gilbraltar Financial Services commision, the FCA in the UK and both the DGS and CNMV here in Spain If you have any queries concerning your exist

Qualified     Is your financial adviser qualified? There are a variety of qualifications within our industry, and as in many industries the level or, quality of qualifications, vary. From a qualification perspective, the UK is probably one of the most robust and rigorous environments. You can easily check to see if your adviser is qualified to UK standards, by simply going to the Chartered Insurance Institute website, www.cii.co.uk . If you click on membership and then member search, you can then type in your advisers’ name. If they don’t appear with at least the designation Dip PFS next to their name, they would not be able to give advice in the UK. Regulated I am sure, like us, you will see many adverts in the press and on Social Media from firms and individuals offering to provide Financial Advice. Sadly, many of these are not regulated at all. Being regulated ensures that you have important protection against unscrupulous advisers. If the firm is regulated, you will have

Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter. Being a family run business we are constantly monitoring the way we work and the service we provide to both our existing and potential clients.    Just lately, we have seen an increase in the number of clients that have questions or concerns about recent news headlines, so we have decided to put together a newsletter that contains some information on a number of different topics, including updates on market movements, outlooks for the future, Brexit and currency rates. The aim of this update is to keep clients informed as much as possible, and to hopefully answer some of their questions along the way. Global Markets From an investment point of view, one of the biggest talking points this quarter was the dramatic fall in global indices at the start of February. This was instigated by the biggest ever one day fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Index (US), which plunged 1,175 points in one day of trading. Fears of interest ra

It has come to our attention in recent months that there are a number of Financial Advice companies advertising on the mainland, and in the Canaries, claiming to be fully qualified and regulated. Unfortunately, some of these companies have very limited permissions, or none at all in some cases. In the first instance, you need to ensure that the company you are dealing with is regulated. This is extremely important and provides you with a level of protection. Equally important, however, is that the individual sitting in front of you, and providing the advice, is fully qualified. To check to see if a company is regulated is fairly straightforward. On any advert or marketing material, an advice firm will always state their registration number as well information on where and who they are regulated by. Typically, the regulation will come from either the FSC in Gibraltar, the FCA in UK and either the DGS or the CNMV in Spain. Any advert without this information is likely to be fro

Pension planning has always been an important part of financial planning and never more so than now. The pension industry’s legislation is forever changing and everyone should review their options. On top of this, we find ourselves in a transitional period where the UK are in negotiations with the EU, hoping to obtain the best BREXIT deal possible. This, as one would expect, raises lots of uncertainty and concerns about how UK pensions will be affected by BREXIT and equally, what impact this has on individuals who live overseas. At Logic, we have seen an increasing number of clients living abroad opt to transfer their pension to an overseas, tax beneficial, jurisdiction. This has given them peace of mind that their pension will no longer be subject to unknown changes caused by BREXIT. Most people will depend on a pension to provide them with their income in retirement. Their pension may come from the State, from a company sponsored pension scheme or from a private pension arra