Renta (income tax)

There are some conditions that don't have to submit a form, so if you earn under a certain amount you may get through without having to make a submission. For the rest of us you will have to supply details.

As with all Spanish bureaucracy, the forms are complicated and legalistic, consequently just about everyone we know uses a Gestor. We know of some people who tried to do it themselves, then were fined because of mistakes.

Tax years run from January to December (in contrast to the UK's April to April) and you have less time to prepare your tax affairs - 6 months compared to the UK's 9 months. Since UK and Spanish income must be declared, this may mean that you need to have slightly better records of UK savings, rather than waiting for the annual April tax certificate that most savings accounts provide.

However, there may be an upside in that generally it seems that the government encourages over-payment of taxes during the year. So you may find that you're due a rebate because of factors such as rent that you're paying or your mortgage.

If you are self-employed (autonomo), then you will need to declare and pay tax quarterly on income earned and, if you are billing Spanish companies, they will withold some payment from you to pay as tax on your behalf, so you don't get the year's grace on taxation then all of a sudden a whopping great bill that you find going self-employed in the UK.

The final renta declaration is then when everything is reconciled.