Legal issues and common mistakes

Many foreigners living in Spain believe that the Spanish Tax Agency cannot detect income, bank accounts or investments located abroad.

However, Spain participates in international automatic tax information exchange systems that allow the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) to receive financial data from dozens of countries every year.

One of the biggest mistakes made by many foreign residents is assuming:

• “my money is outside Spain, so the Spanish tax authorities will never know”,
• or “if I have not received any letter yet, there is no problem”.

In reality, international tax control has changed dramatically in recent years.

Avoid Account Restrictions, Compliance Issues and Financial Problems in Spain

Has your Spanish bank contacted you asking for documents?
Has your account been restricted, blocked or frozen without warning?

For many foreigners with property, investments, inheritances or legal interests in Spain, obtaining a Spanish digital certificate has become increasingly important.

A Spanish digital certificate allows you to deal with Spanish public authorities online without travelling to Spain. It can be used for tax procedures, property matters, applications before government offices, communication with the Land Registry, obtaining official documents and many other administrative procedures.

One of the main concerns for non-residents is how to verify their identity if they are living abroad. Fortunately, Spain allows identity verification through Spanish Consulates in many countries.

In recent years, the Spanish Tax Authorities have increased control over companies that fail to comply with their tax obligations. As a result, it is now increasingly common for inactive companies to face a revoked Tax Identification Number (NIF), a situation that can completely block business operations.