BRITISH COUPLE WIN TAX CASE AGAINST SPANISH GOVT
March 10, 2009
After a year-long battle at the European Court of Justice, it is believed the case will now pave the way for thousands of other Brits to make similar claims from the Spanish Government. The average tax reclaim size currently stands at £14,100 plus interest. However, it is believed that as many as 10,000 Brits could be affected and entitled to reclaim as much as £140m. Other European countries affected could come forward to reclaim more than £350m.
The tax loophole, originally exposed by currency exchange brokers HiFX and Spanish lawyers, Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates (CAMA), came about after British non residents paid a Spanish Non Residents’ Income Tax rate of 35% on any capital gains, compared to a rate of 15% paid by Spanish nationals.
“We launched the website (Spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk) last year in a bid to help those British people affected by this CGT loophole to put their cases forward before the Spanish Government,” said Mark Bodega, director of currency specialists HiFX. “It is fantastic news that the first British couple has been successful, and that a total of 600 other British claimants are now in the process of putting their cases forward.”
Commenting on the issue, CAMA’s Emilio Alvarez said: “We have successfully put forward to the Spanish Government, and won, the first British case and we are now able to lead other British people forward and reclaim the money they were wrongly overcharged. However, as timings around reclaims are so tight under Spanish law then it is vital people come forward as soon as they can so their cases can be registered and put forward, or they could miss out.”
Source - OPP