Also, the Tax Office, in their efforts to make things easier for the tax payer, has an online facility whereby your fiscal representative can submit your tax return online, giving the amount you need to pay and your bank account number, and letting the Tax Office collect the money whenever the time comes.

Although this system is excellent and should be foolproof, unfortunately we have found that it also has its disadvantages…

Firstly, we cannot confirm exactly to our clients when the Tax Office is going to debit their payment, so we have to stress how important it is that they ALWAYS have that amount available in their account. Of course, most of them only need to have an unusually high utility bill or an unexpected debit (like their annual house insurance, for example, or the bank’s account maintenance charges…) to find that the money they had put aside for their taxes is no longer available.

Another problem we have found is that some banks still have not updated their clients records, or that they still have their old passport number as NIF in their account, instead of their NIE number. When the Tax Office’s payment request (using the taxpayer’s NIE as reference) is checked by the bank’s system (which has the taxpayer’s passport number as reference), because the identification reference numbers don’t match, the system automatically rejects the payment request and the taxes do not get paid.

We have found all of the above through receiving over 150 letters from the Tax Office informing us that the non-resident taxes for some of our clients, which were submitted in July and August, could not be collected, and that they need to be paid now, late, with a 20% fine for late payment.

How can we avoid this happening in the future? By making sure that we always have more than enough balance on our bank accounts and checking it and topping it up regularly (tax returns that were submitted in the summer did not get charged to the client’s accounts until the last week of December!!) and also, by making sure that, next time we are in Spain, we pop along to our local branch and UPDATE our details on the account and let them have a copy of our NIE number.

If this has happened to you, you are more than welcome to contact us for further advice.

Many house owners are faced with this problem. They need to legalise the refurbishments in order to sell their property, but they cannot do it because they need the consent and the presence of a President and an Administrator of a Community that has never been created…

So what can be done to solve this? Apart from creating an Owners Community from scratch, a process that will take a lot of time and headaches…

Luckily, this situation tends to happen with small Residentials that have not got many owners, which makes things a little bit easier…

At ABC Solicitors we have successfully solved this problem for many clients that were in this situation. We take care of everything. We contact all the owners and gather all necessary documentation on their behalf, and organise whatever procedure is best depending on the community’s specific circumstances. We also accompany you to the Notary’s office and make sure that you end up with the documentation that you will need to legalise whatever works or refurbishments you have had done to your home. The cost of the procedure is shared between all the owners, so for very little money you can have the peace of mind of knowing that you can sell or carry on living on your property without the stress of looming fines or future legal problems.

Do contact us if you think you might be in this situation. We have offices in Torrevieja and in Orihuela Costa, and we can look at your specific situation and offer you a solution that suits you and your neighbours.

Nobody likes to seem suspicious when we are at a bank opening a bank account, or taking up a savings or pension plan, for example…it makes us feel vulnerable and silly, so we tend to throw caution to the wind and sign the documents, hoping that in fact it is all standard wording and that what the nice person at the bank is telling us about the services we are purchasing is, in fact, what it says on the contract…Worse still is when the documentation is all in Spanish and we get a quick two minutes verbal translation of what is written on it.

We have had several cases in which clients have come to our offices after realising that what they had signed up for was not in fact what they thought they were getting. Clients that invested large amounts of money thinking that on maturity of the policy they would get a nice return, only to realise that, in fact, the return they were counting on did not materialize and the capital invested had all but disappeared… Or clients that thought they were opening a short term high interest savings account to find out some time later that in fact their money was tied up in bonds that could not be accessed or liquidized for a few more years…Add to this what has been going on with banks in Spain lately, with all the fusions and takeovers, and you can see why it is so important not to enter into any formal agreement until you have read and understood absolutely everything concerning the transaction.

Next time you find yourself in a similar situation, get copies of everything the bank gives you, thank the teller profusely and tell them that you will be back, a couple of days later, once your legal advisers  have had a chance to examine the deal and have explained to you all the terms and conditions involved.

It is your money; make sure that you retain control of it…

We understand that Aldea Asesores was in the process of obtaining your money from the bank that had issued the guarantees. Unfortunately, we do not have any way of knowing if they were successful or not, or if they indeed received the money from the bank and they forwarded it to you and the matter was resolved to your satisfaction.

So we can update our records, we would be grateful if you could confirm the status of your claim. Did you receive all your monies back from Aldea or are you still waiting to receive it?

If you are still waiting, since Aldea went into liquidation in 2009, we would need to assume that they kept your funds, as we cannot confirm otherwise unless we contact the bank that issued the guarantee on your behalf. If we do this for every client on the list that we have prepared, it will be a costly and lengthy process for us, so we would rather contact you directly and enquire first.

If you would like us to make enquiries regarding an outstanding payment for your bank guarantee and ascertain if the bank still has the funds or if they paid them to Aldea Asesores SL, please do write to us by return. Once we can determine your specific situation, we will be able to give you sound advice regarding how we can recover your funds, and what would be the best procedure. All you need to do is contact us directly.

May we take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year 2012 and thank all our existing clients for the trust they have deposited in us.

Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions related to this matter. Depending on your specific situation, we will be delighted to advise you on the best way to proceed.

PROPERTY LEGALISATION

It is now that time of the year when we will be getting the IBI Tax bills for the properties we own in Spain.  This tax would be the equivalent to the Council Tax that we pay in UK.

If we do not pay our IBI Tax bill (known colloquially as the SUMA bill in the Costa Blanca area) directly through our bank and we do not pay it on time because we are not in the country, we run the risk of defaulting and having to pay accrued interest for the delay. We have seen many clients that owe several year’s IBI Tax because they did not have a direct debit set up with their bank and had not received their tax bill through the post (even though it is getting better, post service is still quite poor in the area, specially for newly built properties).

To avoid future problems, it is better to set up a direct debit with the bank. And this is where ABC Solicitors comes in. We can arrange the direct debit for you and sort out any outstanding amounts that you might owe to your Town Hall, either by paying them on your behalf or, if the amount is too large, arranging a payment plan for you with SUMA.

If you would like to know more, please contact ABC Solicitors directly and we will give you personalized advise.

Due to the summer holidays the offices of ABC Solicitors in Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa have different opening hours.

In July we are open from 0800 – 1500 and in August from 0900 – 1500.

new solutions to solve problems regarding property rentals.

In the area of ​​Spanish Levante and specifically in the south of Alicante and Murcia, we find many homeowners who need or want to rent out their property, especially in the summer or other holiday seasons.
But many owners feel a bit insecure because of the risk that their tenants do not pay the rent. Therefore the Association of Real Estate Agents in the province of Alicante has created a tribunal, serving both landlords and tenants, to settle such disputes at a minimum time, solutions are usually issued within a maximum period of 3 months.
To claim with this court it is only necessary to sign an annex at the same time as the lease contract between landlord and tenant is signed. Once this attachment is signed, the parties are obliged to follow it, losing the possibility to make any other claim regarding the rental before the ordinary courts, because the matter can only be filed with the Court of Arbitration.

The decisions of this court are entirely legal and are presented in the corresponding courts to be carried out. The period of time for this decisions is about a month. Much less time if we consider the terms being considered when it comes to ordinary courts.
Another advantage of the Court of Arbitration is the low cost to the plaintiffs, as it is usually around 400 € and not the thousands that can cost a normal trial.

For more information or questions, please contact ABC Solicitors.

When are you a resident?

·         If you spend more than 183 cumulative days in one calendar year in Spain, that is: 1 January to 31 December, which is the tax year. You become liable whether or not you are formally registered in the Registro Central de Extranjeros.

·         When your economic or professional activities are in Spain

·         Or when your spouse lives in Spain and you are not legally separated, and/or your dependent minor children live in Spain

If one of these points refer to your personal situation and therefore you are obliged to do the Tax Return, ABC Solicitors can help you with it.                                    

In case you have any queries, please contact us by phone, or send us an email.