Bank embargo for non-residents

[spanish_lad]

Sheilap, this is the correct procedure. You confirm to the bank that you are still non-resident and the bank applies to the police for confirmation of your non-resident status for which they charge you about €10 for each account holder every two years.

i´d guess im counted as a fiscal resident as i pay income tax here, (well the boss does), and a spanish resident as i no longer live at my uk address, what do you need to give them for proof of address in spain? my NIE has my old address on it, and the town hall refuse to change it i have bills in my dads name?

they already send all my bank post to my spanish address.. so i dont know what they are playing at really

[Beachcomber]

Your certificate of registration on the foreigner's register should show your address, so will your Spanish driving licence, padron certificate etc.

[Beryl1914]

I have had forms from the Bank to fill in over the last 4 years ax purposes and I Bank with Casa Sur.
Up to now I have had no problems and hope I don't when I get back out there?

[Beachcomber]

It does seem to be CajaSur that has perpetuated this problem. It may be best to check with them that they are not now placing the onus on you to produce this certificate.

[sheilap]

[/quote]It does seem to be CajaSur that has perpetuated this problem. It may be best to check with them that they are not now placing the onus on you to produce this certificate

I bank with CajaSur and they where the one's who sent me the form to fill in .

[Beachcomber]

When did you last receive forms to fill in?

[spanish_lad]

Your certificate of registration on the foreigner's register should show your address, so will your Spanish driving licence, padron certificate etc.

must try and get a day off to get that foreigners register certificate thing... oh and a spanish licence might be handy, according to this forum you dont "need" one tho? got a padron.. 1 out of 3

[katy]

My Daughter has an account with Solbank and I think they do it automatically. I will check with her (I open the statements and mail them on), but I think she was charged a whopping 27 Euros (inc. IVA) for this "service"

[Beachcomber]

Yes, they seem to make two separate charges one of just over €20 and one of just over €6 and this is for each account holder.

Banco Popular charges just over €10. Why should there be such a difference?

[julian]

is it also neccessary to have the NIE number? my parents, non-residents, have both signed the non-resident document the bank asked for, but they do not have NIE numbers, they have no property here, the bank account is their only official contact with Spain

[Beachcomber]

I did read somewhere that people who used a passport for opening their account were specifically affected. It has always been that you are supposed to have a NIE number in order to open a bank account but, until now, this requirement has been largely ignored by most banks.

I think you should probably check with their bank.

[julian]

I did ask the bank today, they say it´s not neccessary to have NIE, but with many years of experience here of being told something that later turns out to be inaccurate I am a bit wary about the info I receive from those that should be in the know !!

[Troglodyfae]

Just a heads up regarding the joint account question I posted earlier.

Bank manager told me it was not a problem as not only have I had my NIE for the last 7 years, but as I am also self employed this does not affect me and it is taken as read that I am going for my residencia. Gestor also confirmed the same.

Our account cannot be touched but they both did say that it would be better if I had my residencia but both understand why I am waiting.

This information might not help anyone else but I thought I would just clarify this situation as you never know there might be others in a similar situation.

[sheilap]

I received my certificate to fill in post dated the 2nd August and has to be back with them by the 11th October free post at that All the way back to Cordoba

[Beachcomber]

Troglodyfae, are your bank manager and gestor not aware that the residencia, as such, no longer exists? Perhaps you should inform them that it has been superseded by the certificate of registration on the foreigner's register.

[Troglodyfae]

Yes Beach they are aware, merely my terminology in the post. I used to have residencia, but did not renew, for reasons I do not need to go into.

I have filled in my application for the residencia certificate, but not proceeded any further at this point in time. I am fully aware of the process, and requirements.

My point, which is now starting to become insignificant, was that neither my gestor nor the bank manager felt I had any cause for concern regarding and embargo on our joint account, because I did not have the certificate.

[Beachcomber]

I don't think accounts are being embargoed, just frozen, but this appears to be happening to a limited number of non-resident accounts. The reason for this is that non-residents receive interest on their accounts free of tax so if you have a resident's account but have merely failed to renew your resident status I should not think you would be affected.

The whole thing seems totally ridiculous and unnecessary anyway because non-resident holders of Spanish bank accounts are obliged to declare them, and any interest they receive on them, to the tax authorities in their home country.

[flan_taster]

If you open a bank account in Spain and live in UK and pay tax in UK (so you're a Spanish Non-Resident) you need to inform the Tax Man in UK.
however the UK tax man is very much more interested in those accounts that are of some size and where interest has been earned and not taxed by anybody although a withholding tax is nowadays applicable.
The UK Tax Man has recently used its legal powers to obtain information about holders of offshore accounts from a number of banks.
The European Commission has last month increased the withholding tax on INTEREST to 20% which is rising to 35% in 3 years. More details about this tax is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_U ... olding_tax

[Sandramay]

Hi Beachcomber, you wrote 'The reason for this is that non-residents receive interest on their accounts free of tax'

I'm very interested because we were told we could not have an interest deposit account as we are not residents. Is this a general rule? We also get no interest on our current account which is the main reason why we only keep enough in it to cover direct debits and charges. We are with Caja General. We would willingly transfer a larger amount via Currencies Direct to get a better € rate, but this is negated by lack of interest in Spain. We tend to use our Nationwide debit account to top up the Spanish account when we are in Spain.
I imagine there may be quite a few members in the same situation. Still if they are freezing accounts perhaps the money is better off under my bed here

[Anonymous]

No, this is certainly not a rule. I know several non-residents who have funds invested with their Spanish bank.

These funds are mainly the proceeds of sales here in Spain. I wouldn't suggest that anyone move funds here for the purposes of investing especially as I read a report a few days ago that there is a question mark over the liquidity of some of the smaller Spanish banks.