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.
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; rollovers and Roths follow other rules.
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.
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.
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.
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 1988 agreement still governs totalization.
