| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Moving to England Thread poster: Luis M. Cuerdo Galarraga
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Hello,
I will be moving from Spain to England (Colchester) for at least 2 years and I would be thankful if you could help me with several questions:
Banking:
Which banks are good? (less fees)
Should I keep billing in Spain and then order transferences or bill directly in England?
Would it be a good idea to use paypal or moneybookers as a middleman for the transferences?
Taxes:
Should I keep registered in Spain or should I pay my tax... See more Hello,
I will be moving from Spain to England (Colchester) for at least 2 years and I would be thankful if you could help me with several questions:
Banking:
Which banks are good? (less fees)
Should I keep billing in Spain and then order transferences or bill directly in England?
Would it be a good idea to use paypal or moneybookers as a middleman for the transferences?
Taxes:
Should I keep registered in Spain or should I pay my taxes in England?
Thank you,
Luis
PS I tried to find previous topics on this issue, I would also be thankful if you could direct me to any related topic. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Russell Jones 
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
Italian to English
Hi Luis
Firstly can I point you to some previous discussions on Banks in the Translation in the UK forum: http://www.proz.com/forum/794
Enter Banks in the Search box and you will see a number of entries.
Secondly, a current account at the main UK banks is generally free if you are not overdrawn. There may be fees for specialist services and the cost of international transfer... See more Hi Luis
Firstly can I point you to some previous discussions on Banks in the Translation in the UK forum: http://www.proz.com/forum/794
Enter Banks in the Search box and you will see a number of entries.
Secondly, a current account at the main UK banks is generally free if you are not overdrawn. There may be fees for specialist services and the cost of international transfers is a particular case; many of the discussions I have referred to are on this subject.
Colchester is Britain's oldest town (founded by the Romans) and, as I went to school there - many years ago - it has many things to commend it (as long as you are not expecting to find the excitement and facilities of a major city)
Good luck.. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Welcome to England | Mar 12, 2010 |
Hi Luis,
When we moved to England some years ago and opened a business account we went to HSBC as they have good deals and cooperations with all major European banks.
Lloyds is a very good bank as well, but they did not offer the same rates as HSBC.
Billing: it depends: where are most of your clients situated?
Are you a freelancer or do you want to start an agency?
If you are a freelancer it is your choice. If you start an agency here in England I think billi... See more Hi Luis,
When we moved to England some years ago and opened a business account we went to HSBC as they have good deals and cooperations with all major European banks.
Lloyds is a very good bank as well, but they did not offer the same rates as HSBC.
Billing: it depends: where are most of your clients situated?
Are you a freelancer or do you want to start an agency?
If you are a freelancer it is your choice. If you start an agency here in England I think billing here in England is easier. But you have to check where you have to pay less taxes.
And where the financial statements are easier to be done. It is quite easy over here in comparison to Germany.
To the question of registration: Normally you can do two things: staying registered in Spain as a domicile of second choice. This is important if you earn money there too or have rented out flats or have own property in Spain. You would then have to pay Spanish taxes on this. But you will be liable to English taxes anyway. Community Tax etc.
That is what we did. And there is another thing: there are European tax agreements between all mebmer states: If you are paying taxes in one country this will be accounted up to a certain level on your taxes payable to the British taxman.
And: If you live more than 180 days per year in England you will be paying taxes in England and not in Spain anymore. Always with the deduction of your Spanish taxes you had to pay for diverse reasons! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thank you Russel and Sivara! | Mar 12, 2010 |
Thank you Russel, the link you handed me is very helpful and I will have something to read for a while I am glad to meet someone from Colchester since it was a pretty unknown city for me. I have checked wiki and city articles, but feel free to share anything I should know about the city!
Thank you Sivara, I am a freelancer and most of my clients are in continental Europe (Germany and Spain) I guess I will remain "Span... See more Thank you Russel, the link you handed me is very helpful and I will have something to read for a while I am glad to meet someone from Colchester since it was a pretty unknown city for me. I have checked wiki and city articles, but feel free to share anything I should know about the city!
Thank you Sivara, I am a freelancer and most of my clients are in continental Europe (Germany and Spain) I guess I will remain "Spanish" at the beginning and get informed there about being a "British" tax payer.
Thank you both again!
Luis ▲ Collapse
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| Going back home, too | Mar 12, 2010 |
I think. We currently have two choices. We still bank with first direct, online branch of HSBC. Hubby also had an HSBC business account. You have to watch these, as they start charging for transactions after the initial honeymoon period. We also had accounts in RBS.
I don't know about Spanish taxes but a translator friend of mine in the West Country said something about not starting up a company as the deductions and expenses you can claim for are more or less zero now plus if ... See more I think. We currently have two choices. We still bank with first direct, online branch of HSBC. Hubby also had an HSBC business account. You have to watch these, as they start charging for transactions after the initial honeymoon period. We also had accounts in RBS.
I don't know about Spanish taxes but a translator friend of mine in the West Country said something about not starting up a company as the deductions and expenses you can claim for are more or less zero now plus if you take a dividend from your income, you pay a whopping 36% tax, used to be 20% some years ago. I can PM you the reasons why this has happened, and other pitfalls of a limited company, as no political issues are allowed here so I cannot explain any further. If you are still tempted to open up a limited company, contact the Companies House for more rules and regulations.
I think my friend was talking about trading as a name, or something. Sorry to be vague, I only worked as a freelancer in the UK for one month so incurred no tax as my personal allowance was greater than the tax.
Last of all, if you get paid euros in Spain, the exchange rate is very favourable right now. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
Italian to English
Just to add to what Sivara has said, if you decide to become a self-employed translator in the UK, the registration procedure is simple - just register as self-employed here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/iwtregister-as-self-employed.htm
and that will automatically lead to requests for National Insurance contributions (for Health Services etc) and the annu... See more Just to add to what Sivara has said, if you decide to become a self-employed translator in the UK, the registration procedure is simple - just register as self-employed here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/iwtregister-as-self-employed.htm
and that will automatically lead to requests for National Insurance contributions (for Health Services etc) and the annual request in April to submit an Income Tax return (for payment by the end of January the following year). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sonia Hill
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
Italian to English
Hi Luis,
I have an account with First Direct, which is part of HSBC. It is all done online and I don't pay any charges for incoming transfers in foreign currencies. Foreign cheques are relatively cheap to cash too. The customer services are very efficient and I would certainly recommend it.
As Russell says, most UK current accounts are free, but you need to look at charges for foreign transactions.
I think that if you are resident in another EU country for ... See more Hi Luis,
I have an account with First Direct, which is part of HSBC. It is all done online and I don't pay any charges for incoming transfers in foreign currencies. Foreign cheques are relatively cheap to cash too. The customer services are very efficient and I would certainly recommend it.
As Russell says, most UK current accounts are free, but you need to look at charges for foreign transactions.
I think that if you are resident in another EU country for over 6 months of each year, you are liable for income tax in that country. This was certainly the case when I was living in Italy. From what you say, you are going to be living here for two years at least, so I am fairly sure you would need to pay income tax over here. The tax system here is quite straightforward (or at least much more straightforward than I found it to be in Italy). You will also be liable for council tax over here.
Most of my clients are in continental Europe too and I have no problems receiving payments in euros and then paying my taxes in pounds.
I hope you enjoy your stay over here.
Sonia ▲ Collapse
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
Italian to English
Sonia Atkinson wrote:
You will also be liable for council tax over here.
Council tax is levied by the local council (Colchester Borough Council): http://www.colchester.gov.uk/service_landing_level_2.asp?sec_id=3416
How much you pay depends on your accommodation and how many qualifying adults live there. They will be notified by your solicitor (if you buy a property) or, I think, by your landlord (if you rent).
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 18:13
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| One option for payments | Mar 12, 2010 |
You could simplify things a bit by billing Euroland customers in euros and receiving the money in your Spanish bank account, and billing UK customers in sterling into your UK account.
That avoids some of the headaches of exchange rate fluctuations etc, but it does depend on whether that will give you enough money in sterling to keep you alive. I do things this way, doing one big transfer every now and again when the exchange rate is good (that's never at the moment, of course!) as t... See more You could simplify things a bit by billing Euroland customers in euros and receiving the money in your Spanish bank account, and billing UK customers in sterling into your UK account.
That avoids some of the headaches of exchange rate fluctuations etc, but it does depend on whether that will give you enough money in sterling to keep you alive. I do things this way, doing one big transfer every now and again when the exchange rate is good (that's never at the moment, of course!) as there is a flat rate per transfer.
Don't forget your brolly! ▲ Collapse
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Russell, I was a bit baffled by your comment about council tax depending on the number of qualifying adults living in the property. When we bought ours 10 years ago, we were placed in a band and we are still in the very same. The tax keeps going up every year and the council has never asked us how many adults live there, or if they have, it makes no difference. The number of occupants has gone down from four to two, the tax hasn't changed at all. In fact, when we left the UK some time ago an... See more Russell, I was a bit baffled by your comment about council tax depending on the number of qualifying adults living in the property. When we bought ours 10 years ago, we were placed in a band and we are still in the very same. The tax keeps going up every year and the council has never asked us how many adults live there, or if they have, it makes no difference. The number of occupants has gone down from four to two, the tax hasn't changed at all. In fact, when we left the UK some time ago and the property was empty, I tried to get a discount for non-occupancy and thus not using any services. To no avail. The smart reply was: you can still use our libraries. Doh? How?
Sorry, this is off topic, if you feel that way, pls delete this and PM me, I would like to know. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
Italian to English
| | You don't have a choice about where to pay tax | Mar 12, 2010 |
You're deemed to be domiciled, and therefore required to pay tax, in the country where you actually reside. Therefore you can not actually choose to which country you prefer to pay tax.
You intend to spend at least 2 years in the UK. You therefore have to register for tax in the UK.
You used to be able to rely on not spending more than 90 days in the UK to be able to claim non-residency. But this was debunked by a rec... See more You're deemed to be domiciled, and therefore required to pay tax, in the country where you actually reside. Therefore you can not actually choose to which country you prefer to pay tax.
You intend to spend at least 2 years in the UK. You therefore have to register for tax in the UK.
You used to be able to rely on not spending more than 90 days in the UK to be able to claim non-residency. But this was debunked by a recent court case (Gaines-Cooper).
Your only alternative is to register as a non-dom. As such you still need to tax in the UK on your income in this country, but other income would be taxable in the country where it was earned. Problem is that you now have to pay an annual fee of £30,000 for this privilege. Not likely to be a sensible proposition for freelance translators.
It never ceases to amaze me how many freelance translators seem to think they have a choice as to where they officially reside. Although you can twist various countries tax laws with the help of a competent accountant, the basic premise is that you pay tax in your country of residence.
@Amanda - council tax is based on the number of adult residents. I get a, not very generous, 25% deduction due to the fact that I'm the only adult residing at my property.
[Edited at 2010-03-12 22:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Vicky Nash
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:13
English
| Bank accounts | Mar 13, 2010 |
Hi Luis,
With regards to business bank accounts (and generally banks don't like you using personal accounts for business purposes) Santander offer a permanently fee free account and don't charge for incoming wire transfers. Until I switched to them recently, I was with Natwest (part of RBS) and they charged a minimum of £10/month plus extra fees for wires transfers - anything from £1.00 to £7.00 depending on the sort of transfer.
So far Santander have been very helpf... See more Hi Luis,
With regards to business bank accounts (and generally banks don't like you using personal accounts for business purposes) Santander offer a permanently fee free account and don't charge for incoming wire transfers. Until I switched to them recently, I was with Natwest (part of RBS) and they charged a minimum of £10/month plus extra fees for wires transfers - anything from £1.00 to £7.00 depending on the sort of transfer.
So far Santander have been very helpful and have provided a fast and efficient service.
Hope that helps
Vicky ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Nice to know | Mar 13, 2010 |
Thanks Vicky, good to know this. Aren't they Spanish?
| | | | | Thank you Amanda, Madeleine, Sheila, Sonia, Russell, Vicky! | Mar 13, 2010 |
You have been all very helpful so far.
As far as I understand the best choice for me would be to keep invoicing in my Spanish account and wire the money to England once in a while into a personal account.
So I would have to negotiate with my Spanish bank (savings bank) to get a good deal.
This rises a couple of questions,
I guess there is no problem paying taxes in England although I am invoicing into a Spanish account (?), maybe it is enough ... See more You have been all very helpful so far.
As far as I understand the best choice for me would be to keep invoicing in my Spanish account and wire the money to England once in a while into a personal account.
So I would have to negotiate with my Spanish bank (savings bank) to get a good deal.
This rises a couple of questions,
I guess there is no problem paying taxes in England although I am invoicing into a Spanish account (?), maybe it is enough to change the address in the invoices (?).
Luis ▲ Collapse
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