Do we have to read Article 28?

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Q.

I read in your recent article on the new double taxation agreement between Spain and the UK that the new requirement to declare civil service and military pensions is not applicable until next year. However, my tax advisor assures me that, for the first time, I must declare my military pension in this year’s return, and that the agreement is in force immediately. Your comment would be welcome as I am now confused.

B M (By email)

A.

Have your tax advisor read Article 28. 1. II, and at the very end of the new UK-Spain tax treaty, he will find that it says various parts of the treaty will be applied to the ‘fiscal periods’ following the enactment of the treaty.
The Tax Treaty was signed in 2013, and was published in the Spanish Official State Bulletin on May, 2014, to go directly into effect.
So now the treaty is in effect.
However, when we apply the next ‘fiscal period’ for UK companies and residents, this means April of 2015 because the UK tax year runs from April to April.
The Spanish tax year, however, is the natural year, which means the treaty is applied from January 1, 2015, to taxpayers resident in Spain.
This in turn means that the treaty is applied to the tax declaration made in May-June 2016, for the tax year 2015.
I hope this makes it clear.

Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

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David Searl

You and the law in spain Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.

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