Should I or should I not apply for residency/TIE

[zanuck]

Sorry, yet another question about whether my wife and I should apply for Residency.

We have had holiday homes in Spain since 2004.
We pay our imputed income tax on Form 210 every year.
We are non-residents, based in the UK, do not have a green paper or card and spend up to six months per year in Spain.
We do not rent out our house, it is solely for our and our family use.
We spend typically four to six weeks at a time in Spain and never exceed 183 days in total.
We know about the 90 days out of 180 day period rule.

I tripped over this article (from June 2020) after being led to it by another relating to tax increases for non-resident Brits who do rent out their second home in Spain.
https://www.thelocal.es/20200630/brexit ... o-register

This is a quote from the article

Harris also encouraged second-home owners who spend a lot of time in Spain to register as residents or face only being able to spend 90 days in Spain out of every 180-day period after December 31st.

"If you are spending up to six months a year in Spain we would encourage them to register in order to access healthcare but also to meet their fiscal obligations," he said.

"Really under EU law after being three months in a country you should register, so we think people should register if they want to spend that amount of time in Spain."

As I wrote above, the maximum time we spend in one go in Spain is six weeks, so, should we apply for Residency now or not.
We are coming over this weekend for four weeks, so not much time to get things done.

Just read my enquiry back, and realised that the last three words above, have unintentionally been paraphrased from the mad man in Downing Street My apologies.

[markwilding]

This is going to be a bit of a minefield and I don't feel qualified enough to answer your question but I would like to pick up on something. As far as I'm aware it won't be 90 day in a 180 day period in Spain but 90 days in a 180 day throughout the entire EU so if you visit France or any other EU country, with the possible the exception of Ireland, this will be included in the 90 days.

If you drive down through France, the time would start at Calais not at the Spanish border.

[El Cid]

If you apply for residency you will be deemed tax resident because to retain residency you must be physically resident for 6 months.

That will scupper your plans straight away.

Sid

[elusive]

You should only apply for residency if you are moving here full time and becoming spanish residents. Lots of ppl on other boards etc seem to be thinking of doing it to avoid the 90/180 but according the national police its illegal as you are making a false declaration. And as cid says you would be deemed to be tax residents as for the first 5 years you cant leave spain for more than 6 months in each one without losing your residency rights. Offically you would also lose right to NHS uk treatment as you arent a resident anymore. Also you cant drive on a U.K licence when here nor drive a uk plated car if you are a "resident"

Ppl are opening up a can of worms by taking this route to avoid the 90/180. Hacienda will have a field day.

Yeah its 90/180 in any E.U schengen country. A few arent in it ie ireland etc but it starts the moment you cross into your first one

[costakid]

I would stay as you are. We are in a similar situation and I travel to Germany and Belgium a few times a year for business but I am staying a UK resident.
Also who knows, Boris or the Spanish may have deal and the 90 in 180 rule may not exist. One thing for sure the Spanish economy needs the brits here as much as possible.

[El Cid]

It would be difficult for Boris to do a deal with Spain as they are bound by the Schengen Agreement and do not have the ability to change it unilaterally.

Sid

[zanuck]

Sorry for slow reply, been trying to fit a new radiator onto existing pipework....

markwilding, thanks for your reply, I was aware of the 180 days in any Schengen country; because of our proximity to Dover, we (in a normal year) travel to France quite a few times, so have already realised that we need to include those days into the total.

El Cid, thanks for your wise words as always.

elusive, thanks for your response too, you've confirmed my understanding of why one would want/need to become Spanish residents - unfortunately whilst one of us would love to move there full time, the other one is more hesitant

costakid, interesting to find someone else in the same boat as us, we'll be on a Brittany Ferry on Friday evening

I have to say that I hummed and hahed about posting my enquiry - I was sceptical about the truth/wisdom of the article that I quoted and you all have collectively convinced me to stay as we are.

Thanks to all of you
zanuck

[elusive]

Agree with cid. Theres no way spain will leave the schengen area just so brits can stay for 4 instead of 3 months in the winter. It would also have to be reprecipical

Nice to hear from you zan.. hope your all well.

[zanuck]

Yes all well thank you elusive, hope you are too!

[katy]

You couldn’t actually stay for 6 months before Brexit without registering.

[zanuck]

Yes katy, I knew that, thanks - our longest stay including the ferry crossings was 181 days, being mindful of not crossing the 183 day threshold; but most stays are, as I wrote upfront, 4 to 6 weeks.