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1. Couldn’t be bothered about Modelo 720 and now in panic
mode?
After all the hype, all the articles in the press, all the warnings about heavy fines and the potential
loss of all your investments you decided not to declare your overseas assets on Modelo 720 which
should have been completed by the end of April 2013.
The only good news is that you are not alone, according to GESTHA an 8,000 strong collective of
specialists within the Spanish tax office only 4.9% of those officially classed as tax residents in Spain
with offshore assets worth over 50,000 Euros bothered to report. However on the basis that those
4.9% declared assets in excess of 87 billion Euros it would be very naive to believe that the worst is
over or that this requirement will simply melt into the background.
Indeed we have been advised that the Spanish government will now focus its resources on foreign
residents living in Spain, targeting specific nationalities including British to ensure that in 2014 its
Modelo 720 campaign will have more success.
Other action has been taken by Spain to ensure that it will have more success in tracking overseas
assets held by its residents. Not only has it signed an agreement with the US under the FATCA
(Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) requiring financial institutions to automatically exchange
information, it is also taking the lead in agreeing an information sharing scheme with the UK,
German French and Italian governments. If you couple this with the fact that the UK treasury has
recently made an arrangement with Crown Dependencies to share information as well as several
offshore jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands and BVI there is little chance of holding any assets
either in an individual name, Company or Trust without the UK or Spanish authorities knowing about
it.
Of course other suggestions have been put forward as a way to avoid Modelo 720 such as give up
Spanish residency and live under the radar but do you not think that when there is so much at stake
the authorities would not check this out. We have also heard of individuals being advised to describe
their assets differently to their true description so a UK offshore investment bond suddenly becomes
a life assurance policy or being a beneficiary to a discretionary trust is ignored because there is also a
potential beneficiary living outside of Spain.
All these “solutions” at best have a short shelf life and at worst could land you in a big heap of
trouble. Isn’t it about time you woke up and smelt the coffee? The world has very quickly moved
into a new age of transparency where disclosure is the norm and the only sensible approach is to
2. work with an certified financial planner who takes care of your financial planning and retirement
planning needs to mitigate your tax liabilities and make sure you hold investments and pensions in
the most suitable structure to suit your particular circumstances. The pain of not doing this will be
there for all to see. Modelo 720 will be more rigorous moving forward and the authorities will catch
up with those who fail to report.
YOU NEED TO TALK TO A FINANCIAL PLANNER FOR YOUR WEALTH MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS!
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