Budget News
March 24th, 2008 - Sandra MarshallYou will all have no doubt read quite a bit by now about the budget in the UK, but I thought a quick summary of the 2 main things that affect we expats might be useful, having said that the first one only affects those of a certain age!
Firstly for anyone who is retired your Winter Fuel Allowance has gone up from £200 to £250, and from £300 to £400 if you are over 80, AND slightly strangely some might think you do qualify for this whilst living in sunny Spain; even more strangely those expats suffering the freezing winters in Canada do not!
The other key thing which affects people who travel back to the UK frequently, is that there has been a softening of the new planned ‘test of residency’ rules which were expected to severely tighten the number of days you could be in the UK each year and still remain non-resident for tax purposes.
The plan had been to count the day you arrived and the day you left towards the total allowance of 91 days (averaged over four years), which would have seriously curtailed the business activities of many non-resident UK businessmen.
Now from April 6 the new rules will count any ‘midnights’ you spend in the UK as a day of presence for the residence test purposes. This has followed consultation with advisory groups and is a welcome change to what was originally planned.
In addition exemptions will be given for anyone who is simply changing transport in the UK as long as they don’t have a business meeting whilst there.
Personally neither of these changes affects me as I am too youthful for the first, and currently spend most of my time here in Almerimar with only a few trips back to the UK, but it all bodes well for the future.
About Almerimar
Almerimar is located in the region of Andalucia, Spain. The nearest airport is 30km away in Almeria. Other airports that are within 3 hours include Malaga, Murcia, Granada, and Alicanti. Other holiday resorts in the region include Mojacar , Aguadulce and Roquetas de Mar
Almerimar is a great place to live as an expat amongst the expats, or to work amongst the Spanish. There are all kinds of properties including villas, apartments and town houses for rent or sale. It is a very traditional part of Spain, with traditional Spanish foods so if you plan to travel to Spain either to look for jobs, for your company to trade with companies in Spain, or to learn Spanish and enjoy the Spanish weather then come and take a look.
If you are interested in purchasing a property in Almerimar please visit our sponsors Mirror of the Sun or Mediterraspain
Almerimar is also one of the largest marinas in Spain with over 2,000 births and excellent boatyard facilities.
