Tax breaks for all in Spain

The McBroon Clan of Scottish ministers and sporran-hanging MPs, having ruined the British economy, have now been exposed as tax dodgers with many of them getting taxpayers to pick up the bills from the accountants they hired “to make sure we were paying the correct of amount of tax”.

For “correct” read “minimum”. And the worst offender appears to be Alistair Darling, the man in charge of tax matters and who recently declared war on tax havens and all those business people using them.

Since he and his predecessor as chancellor, the head of the McBroons himself, came to power they have increased the tax burden on the British citizenry to the highest levels for decades. So why should the rest of us part with a penny of the ever-increasing taxation being demanded by a man who doesn't pay his own fair share?

McDarling's tax avoidance was revealed by the Daily Telegraph because his expenses claims showed that he'd 'flipped' his designated second home - the one on which he could claim running costs from the taxpayer - four times in four years.

In 2004, when he was Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Darling claimed that his main residence was a small flat in Lambeth, owned by Lewis Moonie, a fellow Labour MP. Mr Moonie - another part of the spider’s web of Scottish McBroon MPs - had bought the flat from Gordon Brown.

But for McDarling, designating this flat as his main residence - despite the fact that his wife and children lived in Scotland - allowed him to bill taxpayers for the upkeep of his much larger Edinburgh house, bought for £570,000 in 1998…

It would take an accountant to unravel such a web of deceit and maximise the tax avoidance, so it’s no surprise he hired one and put his fees on the taxpayer’s tab. The saga is detailed in the Daily Mail and is worth reading.

Also worth reading for taxpayers planning to invest some of their cash the McBroons have not yet grabbed, is an article on how to buy a bargain property in Spain – including Spanish bank repossessions – and avoid all the McBroon property taxes. No capital gains tax – benefit enjoyed by McBroon and other MPs – and no inheritance tax, no currency exchange problems etc.

The scheme is called Libertad – Spanish for Freedom – and more Brits are planning to follow the example of the McBroons and minimise the amount of tax they hand over.

Take a tax break in Spain...

The anger of the British public bubbled over when Housing Minister, Margaret Becket tried to defend herself, fellow ministers and MPs on television over the expenses scandal and again hours later when new figures showed housing repossessions were up 50% and mortgage arrears up 62% - despite the “help” provided the McBroon Government.

Yet another McBroon failed initiative as 1,000 families a week are turfed out of their homes as a result of banker greed and sheer incompetence of the McBroon Government. MPs handed millions for kitting out their second homes, while British families struggle to pay the mortgage in a recession caused by the McBroons.

British over-50s are thinking it’s time to get out as they realise they will be paying in increased taxes until Retirement Day. Also thinking of quitting are many of the wealth generators after the punishment handed out to them in the latest McBroon Budget:

• New top rate of income tax at 50% for those earning over £150,000;
• Loss of personal allowances for those earning over £100,000;
• Levying a basic rate only relief on pension contributions over £150,000.

Former Labour Party contributor Tim Waterstone, described the 50p tax as a “spiteful political move” and heralded it as a “disincentive to entrepreneurs”. There are already reports of entrepreneurs announcing their plans to relocate to Switzerland, Monaco and the Isle of Man.

The international lawyer, Mark Wilkins has suggested Brit high earners might consider an even better lifestyle in Spain –“A country where the tax regime does not seem to be fuelled by the politics of envy. A country that is some three hours from office desk to home office, has exceptional road, transport and health infrastructure, some of the best golf courses on the planet, as much beach as you and your kids can dream of, schooling that sits head and shoulders above many of its UK Ofsted counterparts…”

He also points to an average of 325 days of sun a year and an average summer coastal temperature of 36 degrees, a current property market offering real value for money and an EU recognised initiative to ensure that previous planning uncertainties are a thing of the past.

Mark Wilkins outlines the tax position. “Spain has as its highest income tax rate – a 43% ceiling, applicable to earnings in excess of €53,407.

“Wealth tax has been effectively abolished in Spain and the personal allowances for all resident earners – regardless of earnings - vary from €8,551 for a joint declaration to a cumulative child allowance that rises with the 4th child to €4,182. Consequently, in addition to a saving on income tax of 7%, it seems in cash terms earning £150,000 and electing Spain as your tax residency may well leave you, under the current Spanish regime, materially better off."

If that is a lifestyle decision you want to investigate, start with Libertad, a tax break purchase method that helps keep family money in the family. The Sun newspaper reviewed Libertad in detail and the latest Spanish property bargains can be found online.

Gov. boost for property in Spain

As the McBroons shed their crocodile tears over being found out on dodgy expenses and go on the telly waving repayment cheques to reconnect with the voters - so they are not X-outed at the next election - it’s clear that the head of the bandit clan himself is to blame for the fiasco.

McBroon was in charge of the economy for ten years and so-called in charge of the country for two years and the unspeakable Mick Martin was in charge of the House of Commons for this current Parliament allowing the buying spree of MPs. Brit taxpayers are suffering from the antics of this useless pair.

Another catalogue of fiscal failures to heap upon the many that have blighted Britain and surely to be followed by McBroon failure at future elections, starting with the European and local elections next month.

Unlike McBroon, who has failed to say “Sorry” for his ministerial failures, his equivalent, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero admitted that his government had erred in managing the country’s deepening recession. “It is obvious that the government made mistakes in its forecasts,” the socialist premier said during the annual parliamentary debate on the state of the nation.

Wow, words we have yet to hear on these shores?

But then Snr Zapatero, revealed, among a list of new economic stimuli, the removal of tax breaks on mortgages as a way of future control of the housing market, but effectively a great incentive for folks to rush out and buy now - before the threat becomes real in 2011.

Like McBroon, the Spaniard faces the electorate on 07 June with the EU elections and, as in the UK, serious consequences are likely. His other incentives included tax cuts to small and medium-size companies which maintained or increased employment, incentives to car purchases, measures to stimulate the property market, and cutting government spending by a billion euros.

Those measures can be helpful to over-50s British buyers of property in Spain, using the Libertad tax break and co-ownership deals on offer from leading specialists in the market and Spanish banks.

Spanish property slowdown produces bargains for all

As media coverage of the UK and Spanish property markets increases in line with the house price decreases, now might be a good time to look at the true status of the real estate sector across Spain.

A year ago planning approvals reached an all-time high for Spain at an annualised 700,000, as developers, although sensing the impending slowdown, had not started to halt applications in the notoriously extended planning pipeline. They have now, declining to around 120,000 for the latest quarter and looking like 350,000 approvals for the current year.

Given the current financial state of the Spanish economy and its engine-room construction sector, no-one is going to start building that many homes nor find buyers to sign-up for them.

Strangely, housing starts are holding up much better than planning approvals. According to the Ministry of Housing, housing starts fell by only 36 percent in the first quarter to 108,275. Over the 12 months to the end of March there were 484,199 housing starts, 26 percent less than the previous 12 months.

While housing starts dropped, the number of new-build properties completed has been rising. Not including social housing, 165,698 new properties were completed in the first quarter of the year, 23 percent more than the same time last year.

Over 12 months 610,349 properties have been finished, an increase of 3.4 percent over the previous 12 months - more than Britain, France and Germany combined.

The Housing Ministry has also revealed that 423,000 new households were created in 2007, of which 80 percent are owner-occupied, and 20 percent renting. 423,000 purchases made from the 610,349 homes completed is a success rate of 70 percent sales – pretty good, especially in recessional times?

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By the end of 2007, there were 24.5 million properties in Spain, an increase of 2.7 percent over 2006.
16.77 million properties, or 68.5 percent of the total stock, are used as primary homes.
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Sales of unsold housing could start to increase as new Spanish Government tax breaks and subsidies, coupled with heavily discounted prices, tempt buy to let investors back into the market and first-time buyers to start looking seriously again.

The current scenario might also look tempting for north European buyers: Widest choice, at the lowest prices, with the greatest tax breaks could be the new Holy Grail for investors and own users – first time buyers as well as vacational use - especially couples planning retirement?

Think about this - there are probably 100,000 key in hand properties in prime locations on the Costas, ready for careful inspection and securing on the back of a negotiated discount price. There are insider experts who can meet tempted buyers at the airports of Barcelona, Alicante, Murcia and Malaga and Gibraltar and reveal their whereabouts…