HMRC Tax Briefings for Expats

- September 05, 2018

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 error.

These regulations only apply to Spanish tax residents if; they have income derived from a UK property (rent) , if they have income derived from a UK civil service pension or if they have sold a piece of art/jewellery or house in UK.

The 30th September deadline is to inform HMRC. People then have a 3 month window to actually make the correct changes if needed.

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