bankrupt banks construction credit crunch economy spain spanish tax unemployment a
A few days ago the Financial Times published an in-depth report on the economic situation in Spain. I was so impressed by the article that I have written a brief synopsis of the most important points, as I think it made very interesting and surprising reading.
The downturn in the Construction industry has doubtlessly raised unemployment and caused building firms to go bankrupt, however the situation is not entirely gloomy. Mr Casanueva, who heads JP Morgan Chase in Spain and Portugal is reported as saying, “there’s no reason for a rebound. So the probable scenario is a stable, low-growth situation for several years.”
I don’t claim to be an expert on Taxation matters but since sorting out my Tax in Spain has taken so long, I thought I’d share my experience and try to explain in layman’s terms what the basic Tax principles are.
In my particular case, because my work is home-based and I have clients in different countries made it particulary complex. I was unsure if I came under the English or Spanish Tax systems. The more I read about it the more confused I became because not only did I have to take the Tax Laws of Spain/UK to take into account but International Tax Treaties too!
I didn’t know where to begin, I started by phoning up my Spanish bank (Solbank), they had a Tax Advisor helpline but they could only really give general advice. Continue reading »
accountant autonomo healthcare national insurance pension self-employed spain spanish tax a
Being self-employed in Spain can be an expensive affair.
Just recently we changed our tax status from UK self-employed to Spanish autonomo and it has not been easy!
What came as a big shock was the cost of national insurance contributions in Spain, these come to 240 euros a month and that is EACH. (This works out at £400 a month). In the UK national insurance is around ten quid a month! Continue reading »
