Professional Advice - Always Best

Regulated, Qualified and Professional Advice

If you need advice, please email me.

UPDATED APRIL 2020
'In these difficult times it's good to know that you can see an adviser with modern technology. After initial contact by email, phone and text, but only if necessary, it is possible to make video calls'

My own connections included the following professionals;

• Regulated financial advisers

There are many people and organisations who call themselves ‘financial advisers’ without any qualifications and no regulatory body. I will only recommended regulated and fully qualified advisers who’s services I have checked.

Value for money comes from open and clear commissions and charges declared in an honest way. Hidden charges and undeclared commissions should always be avoided. For a referral to a suitably qualified & regulated adviser, please email me.

Due Diligence is vital

• Suitably qualified accountants and professional lawyers

Both the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Law Society have qualified professionals working in Spain. Whilst you may have a good local source for advice, the professional standing of these people cannot be denied. If you need a referral, please email me.

You are further protected as all qualified professionals will carry ‘Professional Indemnity Insurance’ (PI) just in case anything goes wrong.

Unless your situation is very complex, I would expect most professionals to give you an estimate of costs upfront.

• Chartered surveyors in Spain

Similarly, I can recommend UK qualified Surveyors. Please email me to be referred

• Estate Agents

This is an area of service which is by definition very local. You could already know of a local estate agent with a good local reputation. If this is not the case I can recommend you to a Member of the Association of International Property Professionals.

• Company formation for property ownership

This is a very specialised service and is often used to save on Spanish Inheritance Tax (ISD). There is a service on my blog under the heading ‘Check your Spanish Inheritance Tax Liability’ to the right of this article.

The service involves the formation of a UK company to own a property in Spain. It involves UK law for the formation of the company and Spanish contracts, translations and knowledge of Spanish law. For this reason, the company concerned has offices in both UK and Spain.

• Foreign Exchange

I set up La Torre Fx – Foreign Exchange with the specific objective of beating the banks. This is a service and it is worth checking out, with easy access on the right of the blog.

La Torre Fx – Foreign Exchange is linked to a highly professional ‘trading platform’ provided by FTT Global. All of the necessary regulations are in place;

Key Facts about FTT Global:

·        Registered in the United Kingdom - Company Number 5685288

·        Regulated by FCA - Registration Number 503228

·        Regulated by HMRC - Registration Number 12231114

·        Registered for Client Data Protection - ICO Number Z9470988

·        Underwritten by A Rated Insurer

·        Corporate Bankers - Barclays Bank PLC

·       Get the best rate today

If you email please let me know your question and where you live. I may be able to answer myself, just point you in the right direction or refer you to a suitably qualified person.

Please remember that my Blog is about unbiased, factual financial information. You can look elsewhere for information but remember that an advert will certainly be biased towards the company who paid for it. I have no problem with that but remember it’s biased!

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

davidgoodall.spain@gmail.com

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April Review 2012 - Financial Pages in Spain

Topical issues

At the end of the calendar month, I like to reflect on the main issues and topics on ‘Financial Pages in Spain’ during April 2012. The issues which were most read during the month covered these subjects

• New Generation QROPS 2012

• Professional Advice

• Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion

These are the issues that contributed the most readership. I’m always pleased to receive emails either to seek further advice or to comment on my articles.

Using the statistics provided by my service contractor, I can also indicate the most popular posts in terms of the number of people who visited the pages. They were, in order;

1. New Generation QROPS 2012

Major changes have been made by the UK Government to the rules and regulations about Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS). Though only formally announced on 21^st March 2012, these changes became effective from the start of the new UK Tax Year on 6^th April 2012.

New Generation QROPS shows more detail.

     

2. Getting Professional Advice

I have been contacted by three expats in Spain who have been victims of appalling advice, bordering on fraud. Had these cases happened in the UK I would have referred them to either the Financial Services Authority (FSA) or the Financial Services Ombudsman.

But Spain is different and largely unregulated. It is still possible to get properly authorised and qualified advice.

     

I regularly refer readers of Financial Pages in Spain to authorised advisers that I have checked out.  Please email me for a referral

I deal, not just with financial advisers but also the following professionals;

·                                             Suitably qualified accountants

·                                             Professional lawyers

·                                             Chartered surveyors in Spain

·                                             Property professionals (AIPP)

·                                             Company formation for property ownership specialists

Getting Professional Advice is the detailed post.

3. Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion

Question : What is the difference between Tax Avoidance and tax Evasion?

Answer : A prison cell

Somewhat dramatic but since tax evasion is illegal and can lead to a prison sentence (in Spain, Ireland or the UK) it is well worth remembering. Tax avoidance, though not illegal does sometimes come into sharp focus, as organisations seek to find loopholes in legislation.

Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion is the detailed post, including definitions

* * * * * * *

Financial Pages in Spain continues to grow, as I can see from the statistics. Whilst Spain and UK dominate the views of both the Website and Blog, there have been readers from many other countries including Germany, France, Malta and Canada.

Any issues which arise can be answered on an individual basis if you email me. I’m happy to receive questions from anywhere but my real expertise relates to the UK and Spain.

I am happy to take suggestions from readers about future articles. Please email me with your own ideas or issues that you think need raising.

REMINDER from Financial Pages in Spain

I’ve owned property in Spain since 2002 and hate to think how much I’ve wasted on exorbitant bank charges on foreign exchange of the years!

So I’ve linked up for a new foreign exchange service. It is available in any major currency around the world but doesn’t offer cash transactions. This is a bank to bank arrangement and is priced to beat the major banks.

But you can test it for yourself! Get a quote from your normal supplier, and then get a quote from La Torre Fx.

Even on a transfer from the UK branch to the Spanish branch of my own bank, I made a big saving using La Torre Fx. It costs nothing to get a quote. But if it’s a better deal for YOU the application process is quite straightforward. Check here

Thank you for previous feedback and requests for referral

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

davidgoodall.spain@gmail.com

Pensions - Definitions, terms & Expressions

Includes QROPS Update

·         Cut through the jargon

·         Get a professional Adviser

·         Understanding QROPS & QNUPS

This is a straightforward alphabetical list which helps to cut through the jargon often used when discussing pensions.

A Day
6 April 2006 was the day the UK Government pension simplification rules came into effect.

ASP - Alternatively secured pensions
At the age of 75 an alternatively secured pension would allow an individual withdrawal of income, similar to an unsecured pension fund such as income drawdown

Since 6^th April 2011, no new ASP can be commenced but existing ones can continue until the next review date. The existing ASP fund can be transferred to Income Drawdown (Unsecured Pension) plan or an annuity commenced.

AVCs – Additional Voluntary Contributions
A pension top-up for an occupational pension scheme. The scheme members pay contributions into an arrangement run by the employer to boost the main pension.

FSAVCs – Free-Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions
A pension top-up policy for an occupational pension, but separate from the employer’s pension scheme and normally run by an insurance firm.

CNMV
Comision Nacional del Mercado del Valores is the principal financial services regulator in Spain and responsible for authorising investment products. A CNMV adviser can be recommended, please click here

DGS
Direccion General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensions is the Spanish regulator for insurance products which can be marketed in Spain. Email me to be referred to an authorised adviser

FSA
The Financial Services Authority - the UK's financial services regulator. The FSA also ‘passports’ authorised advisers to operate in Spain. For a recommended adviser click here

Group Personal Pension
A type of personal pension offered by some employers but not classified as occupational (see money purchase pension).

Lifetime allowance
This is a limit on the value of retirement benefits that you can draw from approved pension schemes before tax penalties apply. The Lifetime Allowance is £1.8m in the 2010/11 tax year.

Lifetime annuity

A lifetime annuity converts money from a pension fund into pension income, which is taxable. There are different types to suit different circumstances and generally treated favourably for tax purposes in Spain.

Money purchase pensions
Some occupational pensions and all personal, group personal, stakeholder, FSAVCs and some AVCs are money purchase pensions. The contributions are invested in, for example, the stockmarket or bonds. The size of the fund depends on the contributions and how well the investments perform. At retirement, there is a choice of options to provide you with a retirement income.

Occupational pension
These are only available through employers and run by pension scheme trustees. There are two types – salary-related (defined benefit) and money purchase (defined contribution).

Personal pension
A pension policy taken out by an individual from an insurance company or another financial institution and into which personal contributions are made. It may also be offered by employers.

Protected rights pension
This is the part of a pension fund which was used to contract out of the UK State Second Pension (SERPS or S2P) that must be used to buy a protected rights annuity.

QNUPS -  Qualifying Non UK Pension Scheme, which means it meets the criteria set by the regulations the UK government brought out in February of 2010. This means that or a UK or non-UK resident, there is an opportunity to make contributions to overseas schemes, established as QNUPS, with the knowledge that those funds will be sheltered from UK IHT. Individual advice should be taken in all circumstances from a regulated and authorised adviser. Please email for a recommendation.

By definition, a QROPS is a QNUPS but the reverse cannot be said.

Q - Day
6^th April 2012 is the day on which fundamental changes to QROPS became effective.

QROPS - Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes
These became available from A-Day. It is a pension scheme set up outside the UK that is regulated and recognised for tax purposes as a pension scheme in the country in which it is located. QROPS have been established in various countries across the world, many in jurisdictions with beneficial tax rules. For specialist advice click here

Salary-related pension scheme (final salary or defined benefit)
A type of occupational pension. The amount of pension you get is worked out on your salary at or near retirement, or when you left employment, and your pensionable service.

Stakeholder pension
A type of personal pension that has to meet certain standards set by the UK Government. An individual can take one out or it may be available through an employer, but is not classified as occupational. 

State Pension
The UK Pension Service (part of the Department for Work and Pensions) will pay the basic State Pension based on an individual’s National Insurance contribution record. In addition, individuals may also qualify for the State Second Pension based on their own earnings and National Insurance contributions.

State Second Pension
The State Second Pension is an additional State pension paid on top of your basic State Pension. This was called SERPS. Self-employed people cannot build up a State Second Pension.

Tax-free lump sum
An amount of cash set by tax law which you can take at retirement free of tax. Salary-related occupational pension schemes may have different rules on the amount of tax free cash you can take. This is only tax-free to UK residents. Tax-free cash should correctly be called ‘Pension Commencement Lump Sum’ (PCLS) since it can only be taken as the first benefit from a pension Plan

Unsecured Pension (Income Drawdown)
This is an alternative to buying an annuity but provides an income whilst the pension is still invested. At age 75, the unsecured pension must cease and be replaced by either a Lifetime Annuity or ASP. For non UK residents or those intending to become non-resident, QROPS could be another alternative.


Pensions Advisers, including the ones that I recommend, will be happy to cut through the jargon. Email me for a recommendation

The following further reading is also recommended;

QROPS (UPDATED) - Comparing Jurisdications

http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/qrops-2012-comparing-jurisdictions.html

UK Pension but you Live in Spain
http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/new-generation-qrops-2012.html

Getting Professional Advice
http://expatsfrombritain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/getting-professional-advice.html

David Goodall

Financial Pages in Spain

Email: davidgoodall.spain@gmail.com