Duty on household goods??

Information and questions about the Law in Spain and Andalucia.
Nijan
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Duty on household goods??

Postby Nijan » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:59 am

I wonder if anyone can help? We are relocating to Spain, from Dubai, in September. We have an apartment in Duquesa, from which we are going to base ourselves and become resident in Spain. We have NIE numbers, issued in 2006 before we bought the apartment, and we are European (British) citizens.

I have been advised (by a shipping agent from Spain) that, as our NIE numbers were issued over a year ago, and we have paid IBI tax on our property, we may be classed as having been resident in Spain and be taxed/charged duty on our (used and well over a year old!!) household goods at Customs in Cadiz when the container arrives! Even though our bank, each year, files the necessary forms (or such) to state that we are non-resident and we have had residence visas in the UAE for some years now (which you don't get if you don't live and work here!). In addition, we have been told that we must have NIE numbers which state we are resident! Which we won't be until we get there! I'm really confused!

As it happens our possessions from Dubai are going to go into storage in Spain for at least ten months, until we find a larger property to buy (as our apartment in Duquesa was for holiday purposes and is already furnished!).

Would anyone be able to offer advice or maybe direct us to someone who could advise us on this. We know what documents we need to submit for the import, but don't see why, if we submit all the necessary documentation, we may still be subject to import duty!

barry
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby barry » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:42 am

I would be interested in the NIE answer. I understand that the number you are given is permanent and denotes that you are not Spanish, nothing to do with resident and would only change if you took Spanish citizenship.

Jool
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby Jool » Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:01 pm

I believe your shipping Agent is incorrect as NIE and paying IBI do not at all signify residence. I would suggest you speak to your gestor who looks after the tax on your apartment and tell them as it may be as simple as filling a different form to that the shipping agent normally uses. This was the case with a car being imported from the USA to Spain as it was out of the EU, loads of problems until a local gestor got on the case.......

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DavidSearl
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby DavidSearl » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:47 pm

Nijan,

There is no reason why the possession of a NIE or payment of IBI should cause you to be regarded as a resident in Spain. Non-resident property owners all are required to have NIE and pay IBI.

When you enter Spain from outside the European Union to take up official residence, you are granted the privilege of importing your household effects and personal possessions without import duty.

You must make a prior deposit of about 50 per cent of the value of the goods. This deposit will be returned to you in about a year, on application. Conditions are that you have not been resident in Spain during the two years preceding your application for duty-free import, that the goods are used, having been in your possession for at least six months, that you undertake to not to sell them for two years, and the goods must enter Spain within three months of your own arrival.

You can make application through your Customs Agent or at the Spanish Consulate in Dubai to the Direccion General de Aduanas, the customs department. You need a complete list, in Spanish, of all your possessions, in duplicate. The Consulate will legalise your application for a small fee.

There are many horror stories about shipping companies. You need an expert "Agente de Aduanas", a Customs Agent, to handle your move.

For more details on moving to Spain, see pp. 18-19 of You and the Law in Spain, available from Santanabooks at the web site listed in the Andalucia Welcome section to this Forum.

Good luck with it, David Searl
You and the Law in Spain

barry
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby barry » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:35 am

Does the NIE need to change to reflet status or is that fixed?

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DavidSearl
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby DavidSearl » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:15 pm

Barry,

If you are a nonresident who already has a NIE, this NIE will be the number on your new Certificate of Residence. If you do not have a NIE, they will give you one on your Certificate.

Best Regards, David Searl
You and the Law in Spain

Nijan
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby Nijan » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:41 pm

This is the third time I've tried to post this evening - hopefully it will get thru!!

I'm a little confused on all this. Our apartment in Spain will become our primary residence. Once we arrive we shall register on the padron, obtain our residence certificates, notify our bank that we are resident for tax purposes, etc., etc. Why would we have to pay 50% of the value of our household goods as a deposit? Especially as there is no way we could afford to do this?

If we have certification that we have been residing in the UAE for the last 7 years at least, have never resided in Spain, have no other property/rental agreements anywhere in the world, why do we have to deposit such a large sum of money that we don't necessarily have? We are having to put our stuff into storage because our apartment in Spain is furnished and could not accommodate furniture and possessions from a 3 bed villa here in Dubai. Maybe we should just store the stuff here in Dubai and ship it to the UK (we're UK citizens) and then transport it from there when we have bought a bigger place to live in? Would that solve the problem???

This has me a little flummoxed to say the least!

Bongtrees
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby Bongtrees » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:34 pm

Out of curiosity I googled ïmporting household effects to the Uk from outside the EU and all the links stated that household and personal effects can be imported free of duty and VAT as long as owner has not lived within EU during previous 12 months and goods are more than 6 months old and are intended for sole use of owner.

Am I naive in assuming that Spain is in the EU as well and law is the same?
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell

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DavidSearl
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby DavidSearl » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:17 pm

For Nijan and Bongtrees,

First, thank you both for pursuing the question further. It turns out, to my embarrassment, that You and the Law in Spain is behind the times in this question.

Spain has finally put into effect CEE 918/83, the European Union regulation to which Bongtrees refers as applying in UK, and now also in Spain. Passed in 1983, Spain only recently put it into effect. So the UK requirements cited by Bongtrees now apply in Spain as well.

Under these regulations, you have one year after your arrival and obtaining a Certificate of Residence to import your household effects free of duty. No deposit is required. You still undertake not to sell them for a year.

For a Spanish citation, go to www.agenciatributaria.es and search for "cambio de residencia con franquicia"

Moving company has a good site also. Try www.anglopacific.co.uk/customguides/spain.pdf

Your removal company should be up to date on the laws. If not, try another company. I advise you to go first to the Spanish Consulate in Dubai and follow their instructions. You still need the application and all the rest of the documentation cited.

I repeat, there are many, many horror stories about moving companies, so be alert.

Good Luck with it, David Searl
You and the Law in Spain

Nijan
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby Nijan » Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:46 pm

Many thanks. We have already spoken to the Spanish Embassy in Abu Dhabi (they, in fact, don't have a consulate in Dubai, it's a commerical office only apparently!). They tell us that we have to get the certificate of residence (that we've resided outside the EU for over a year) from our own embassy, the British Embassy. So we'll take it from there.

We have been supplied with the same document, David, on the anglopacific site - it seems most of the companies here use the same guideines/document.

Hopefully, we'll deal with it! I feel a bit more relaxed now about the whole scenario! I envisaged myself standing in Customs being handed a bill for 50,000 dollars so I could put my tatty old stuff in storage!!

Many thanks for the responses and the pms.

Timski
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby Timski » Sun Mar 18, 2018 7:36 am

Does anyone have an update on this? The British Embassy does not provide any documents for this requirement (not too sure what they do).

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costakid
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby costakid » Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:43 am

8 and a half years after original post. The law may have changed since original post.

katy
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Re: Duty on household goods??

Postby katy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 5:43 pm

I assume that goods transported from Dubai to Spain is nothing to do with the fact that you are British. If you don't have official residency in Spain then there will be duty to pay when coming from a non EU country.
We once had neighbours in Marbella from Ecuador (will I ever forget them :( ) and I remember all their stuff was held up in a warehouse in Algerciras for weeks re. Payments.


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