A practical guide to money for Americans living in Spain. This section starts with the problem that shapes everything else: in practice, FATCA reporting makes some Spanish banks cautious about accounts held by U.S. persons, and you tend to find out at the counter. We cover how to prepare for that conversation, what a bank can ask a U.S. person to sign and declare, how to open an account and get a Spanish IBAN early enough to sign a lease and set up direct debits, and what to do when a branch says no.
We also cover moving money from the United States to Spain, including the 1 percent U.S. remittance tax and the Spanish cash declaration at the border, managing U.S. brokerage and retirement accounts from Spain, what changes when a U.S. custodian sees a Spanish address, the PFIC rules that make many European funds a poor idea for Americans, currency and timing, Spanish mortgages for U.S. citizens, and how to structure your finances across two countries so nothing is reported twice or missed.
Detailed guides for Britons managing money across two countries, from opening a Spanish bank account to leaving UK tax residence cleanly. This section covers the tax side of a move from the UK: how and when you stop being UK resident, how UK pensions and other income are taxed once you are resident in Spain, and how the Spanish tax return treats UK income and assets, including what must be declared and when. We explain how the UK and Spain share taxing rights under their treaty and where HMRC still has a claim on your money.
We also cover the practical banking questions: opening a Spanish account as a Briton and what happens to your UK accounts, sending pounds to euros without losing money on the exchange rate, and how wills and inheritance work across the two systems, including which law applies and which tax. Every figure is dated and linked to the official page it comes from, and we say plainly where a result depends on your personal situation.
HMRC's Statutory Residence Test in order, split year treatment, Spain's calendar year residence test and the treaty tie breaker for the year both countries can claim you.
What a Spanish bank asks a Briton before and after residence, who has a right to the basic payment account, how to complain, and what UK banks, ISA providers and customs expect when you leave.
Keep a U.S. account, get your broker's policy for customers abroad before any address changes, and open the Spanish account knowing why the FATCA question comes up at the counter.
Living in Spain does not change your answer on a Spanish bank's FATCA form. What the self-certification asks, what the bank reports, and how the police certificate of non-residence works.
How Britons moving to Spain can compare pound to euro transfer quotes: the reference rate, the markup, fixed and intermediary fees, the UK disclosure rules and what Spain asks you to declare.
A wire funded from your U.S. bank account is outside the 1 percent remittance tax. The exchange-rate margin is the cost that matters, and Spain declares cash, not wires, from 10,000 euros.
Which law decides who inherits when a Briton dies in Spain, how a Spanish will and the Last Wills certificate work, and how Spanish inheritance tax and UK Inheritance Tax fit together.
Spain's mortgage law covers any individual borrowing against a home, with no residence condition. Why dollar income can make a euro loan a foreign-currency loan, and the timeline to the deed.
Your broker's policy decides what you can still buy, the PFIC rules make a European fund an expensive fix, and Spain reports the account on Modelo 720 and counts it for the wealth tax.
Which country taxes your UK workplace, government and State Pension once you live in Spain, how to stop UK tax at source with HMRC's Spain form, and where the official pages go silent.
How a Briton resident in Spain declares UK interest, dividends and rent, claims the foreign tax credit, treats an ISA and reports UK accounts and investments above 50,000 euros on Modelo 720.
What changes for a British buyer in Spain since 2021: the NIE, notary and registry, transfer tax by region, the 24 percent non-resident owner tax, military zones and the 3 percent on a later sale.
What HMRC and Spain each ask when a Briton in Spain sells or lets a UK home: the 60-day report, the 18 and 24 percent rates, home relief, rent withheld at source and the Spanish credit.
Who can use Spain's special impatriate regime after a move from the UK, the routes that open it, the rates, the six-month Modelo 149 deadline and what the treaty pages say about UK income.
What an arras deposit can cost you, the checks before you sign, the notary deed and the Property Registry, transfer tax or VAT by region, and the yearly taxes a Spanish home brings in both countries.
What the Spanish tenancy law (LAU) says on term, deposit, guarantees, rent updates and early exit after the October 2, 2026 repeal, plus the deposit rules of Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia.
How Britons draw the UK State Pension in Spain, keep its yearly increase, request the S1 and register it with Spain's INSS, and what changed for voluntary National Insurance in April 2026.
Payments continue for U.S. citizens in Spain and can land in a Spanish euro account. Spain taxes the benefit and deducts the U.S. tax, and the 1986 agreement still governs totalization.
Once you are a Spanish tax resident, the treaty hands your 401(k) and IRA withdrawals to Spain. The United States taxes you anyway and credits the Spanish tax; a personal IRA's Spanish class is open.
Who files Modelo 720, the three 50,000 euro blocks, the March 31 deadline, how U.S. accounts, IRAs, a 401(k), a house, an LLC or a trust land on it, the fines since 2022, and Modelo 721 for crypto.
The U.S. side of life in Spain: Form 1040 deadlines abroad, the FBAR and Form 8938, the exclusion or the credit, Spanish funds, the treaty and a nonresident spouse, beside the Spanish dates.
What an American resident pays and files to buy a car in Spain: the regional transfer tax, the registration tax, road tax, insurance, the ITV and what shipping a U.S. car involves.
The one-month fianza, the 2-month cap on extra guarantees, lodging rules in Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia, what a landlord may deduct and how to claim the deposit back.
