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Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
How to retire to Spain – and stop the taxman raiding your wealth
Sunny Spain is the dream retirement destination for thousands of us – golden coasts, delicious food and a rich culture are hard to resist. It is little wonder that more than 100,000 British pensioners have already settled in the country. Relocating to a warmer climate may be enticing, but it is crucial to plan ahead before making the move. If rushed, it could kick up surprise tax bills and pension headaches. However, the sun could be about to set on this expat dream. Pedro Sánchez, the country's socialist prime minister, plans to impose a 100pc tax on property purchases by non-residents living outside the EU – and may ban sales altogether. He branded these buyers 'speculators', who were out 'just to make money'. While current British residents in Spain would be unaffected by this proposed plan, it threatens to put an abrupt end to the phenomenon. Here, Telegraph Money explains everything you need to know about relocating to Spain, from taxes and visas to pensions and property prices. How much money you will need to retire to Spain Pensioners are categorised as 'economically inactive' in Spain, which means they have to fulfil extra requirements to stay in the country, compared with working age people. There were two types of visas to earn the right to live in the country: the 'non-lucrative visa' and the 'golden visa'. The non-lucrative visa requires proof of your financial resources to pass the income check, which applies for one year. On renewal, the visa then lasts for another two years. As of 2025, the income requirement is €28,800 (£25,043), plus €7,200 per dependent for each year you live in Spain. The immigration authority will also accept available savings. The visa renewal process requires you to prove your income will last over each period, or that you have roughly double the savings compared with the initial one-year application. The income requirement increased by 3.5pc last year, so plan around an annual increase of around this size. Today, if you receive the full new state pension of £11,973 each year, you would need another €13,976 from other sources as a single person. A more flexible option was the 'Golden Visa', which provides permanent legal residency without the requirement to spend any time in Spain – but it required a €500,000 investment in real estate, or €1m in investment funds, bank deposits, or listed company shares in Spanish financial institutions, €2m in Spanish government debt, or a business investment that delivers jobs. But in a crackdown on non-EU buyers, the government axed this scheme, and it closed on April 3 this year. It is another sign of hostility towards British buyers. How you will be taxed in Spain Anyone planning their move must consider their financial and tax situation before they relocate, or risk facing hefty bills. British tax-efficient investments, such as Isas and National Savings & Investments, do not have the same tax-efficient treatment abroad. In Spain, any interest, dividends or capital gains arising within these accounts will be taxable. When it comes to pensions, income is taxable where the pension holder lives. The only exception is government employee pensions, which will only be taxable in the UK. Importantly, the 25pc tax-free pension cash rule will not apply if you take this after relocating to Spain. Your cash lump sum is taxable because Spain does not have a non-taxable element of a pension fund. Those planning ahead may be better off taking the tax-free cash before relocating. Anyone planning to sell their family home in Britain after making the move may also be stung by charges. Jason Porter, of Blevin Franks, said: 'Most countries have some form of main home tax relief, so in the normal course of events no capital gains tax arises on sale, but the UK's rules are significantly different than those in Spain. While the sale may not lead to a tax liability in the UK, it may in Spain if it occurs after you have left.' Similarly, anyone planning to delay selling a British business until they have left to avoid UK capital gains tax, are likely to find the sale taxable in Spain, he added. Spain, like other countries in Europe, has additional taxes that do not exist in Britain, such as a wealth tax. This means expats must fill in additional tax return forms. Any assets must be declared on a wealth tax return where they exceed €2m after use of allowances. Previously, several Spanish regions considered matching Madrid's 100pc exemption to wealth tax. In 2023, the central government, fearing a significant reduction in tax collection, decided to impose a 'solidarity tax' at a national level, starting at 1.7pc on wealth over €3m, then to 2.1pc at €5m and 3.5pc at €10m. There are additional charges that vary between regions. Where both wealth and solidarity tax might be payable, a taxpayer will not pay twice on the same assets. Overseas assets exceeding €50,000 must also be declared on a form 'modelo 720'. Failure to do so could result in significant penalties. Inheritance taxes vary hugely from region to region in Spain. Some areas like Madrid have 100pc relief on inheritance tax, while other regions can charge up to 34pc in death duties. Buying Spanish property Spanish property is much cheaper than the value of an average British home. The national average square metre in Madrid costs €5,316 (£4,638), compared to £8,110 in London, according to Global Property Guide. In Córdoba to the south of the country prices fall to €1,532 a square meter. However, buying real estate in Spain attracts certain taxes, stamp duty and fees. These costs can amount to between 12pc and 14pc of the property purchase price, mainly due to VAT, according to Spanish Property Insight. In addition there are conveyancing fees, typically around 1pc of the property purchase price. Getting health cover or insurance Britons must prove they will not be an 'undue burden' on the Spanish state, which requires them to have comprehensive health insurance. For many of Spain's long term visa options, having full private health insurance coverage is a condition of application. However, if you receive the state pension in the UK you may be eligible for some costs to be covered by the UK government via an S1 FORM. Benefits of retiring in Spain There are many benefits of spending your later years in the sun-filled land of Spain: Property is cheaper, meaning you can get a lot more bang for your buck if you choose to move. It's expat friendly. Malaga, Valencia and Alicante were named the top three cities for expats in 2025 by InterNations, a global community for people who live and work abroad. Spain ranks seventh in the World Healthcare Index, surpassing Portugal and Italy, for instance. It spends 11pc of its GDP on healthcare, which is more than most European countries. However, you will have to get an expensive, comprehensive health insurance. Disadvantages of retiring in Spain But there are serious disadvantages to consider as a backlash against tourists spreads across the country: Spain has certain taxes that don't exist in the UK, such as a wealth tax. Isas and NS&Is do not have the same tax-efficient treatment abroad. While its cities are welcoming of expats, there is a wider backlash against tourism across Spain's holiday hotspots. Last summer, protesters in Barcelona drenched tourists with water pistols to highlight the damage they believe they are doing to their city. The coveted 'Golden Visa' no longer exists. And bear in mind Mr Sánchez's plans to impose a 100pc tax on property purchases by non-residents living outside the EU. It will be enough to dissuade many buyers. You may also experience serious pension headaches. The 25pc tax-free pension cash rule will not apply if you take this after relocating to Spain. Your cash lump sum is taxable because Spain does not have a non-taxable element of a pension fund.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The alternatives to Amex that offer better rewards
American Express (Amex) is synonymous with credit card spending but it's also known for its deals that offer generous cashback, points-based rewards and exclusive perks including priority access to gigs, film screenings and theatre shows. But while these rewards can be appealing, Amex isn't always the best option. While acceptance has improved over the last few years, Amex cards are still not accepted by all retailers. If your aim is to earn reward points or cashback, this will be hindered if some of your favourite places to spend don't accept your card. There can also be incredibly high repayment rates and fees – with the Amex Platinum card charging 691.7pc APR variable, along with £650 a year in annual fees. This means there are more eligibility criteria to fulfil than with other credit cards. For example, you'll usually need a good or excellent credit rating, and some cards will also have a minimum income requirement – in the case of Amex Platinum, you must earn at least £35,000 and have 'no history of bad debt'. With that in mind, Telegraph Money looks at some of the best alternatives to Amex, depending on what you value most from your card – whether it's cashback, rewards, low-cost borrowing or fee-free spending abroad. Best for rewards Some Amex credit cards enable you to earn Avios points that can be redeemed on British Airways flights and holidays. Others let you earn reward points to be spent at certain retailers such as Amazon and Boots, while several Amex cards give you access to pre-sale tickets and exclusive benefits for gigs and theatre visits. Here are some popular alternatives to these cards, depending on what's most useful to you: Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card: flight rewards The Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card gives you 0.75 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases and 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays. What's more, if you spend on your card within the first 90 days, you'll earn 3,000 bonus points. Points can be redeemed on Virgin Atlantic Flights, hotels and travel extras such as airport parking. The card has a representative APR of 26.9pc (variable). Alternatively, you can pay £160 a year to upgrade to the Reward+ version of the card and earn 18,000 bonus points when you make your first purchase in the first 90 days. You also earn 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 spent on everyday purchases and three Points for every £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays. Head for Points, a consumer website that pits the top credit cards against each other, notes this is 'exceptionally good'. According to the provider's website, Virgin Points 'never expire'. At the time of writing, you'd need to have earned 20,000 of them to buy a return economy flight from London Heathrow to New York's JFK airport in off-peak September. Barclaycard Avios credit card: flight rewards and exclusive events You can collect 1 Avios for every £1 spent on eligible purchases with the Barclaycard Avios card, plus 5,000 bonus Avios if you spend £1,000 in the first three months. There's a representative APR of 29.9pc. Alternatively, upgrade to the Plus version of the card for £20 a month and earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent, plus 25,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 in the first three months. You also benefit from discounted airport lounge access. However, the representative APR jumps to 80.1pc APR for this option. According to Barclaycard, you can get a peak economy return flight from London to Milan for 19,500 Avios plus £1. In addition, becoming a Barclaycard customer gives you the opportunity to take advantage of entertainment perks, including exclusive tickets to live performances and events.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘My mother died from a heart attack, but Aviva won't pay her £60k life insurance'
Is your family's life insurer refusing to pay out? Email: money@ Dear Telegraph Money, My mother died recently at the age of 70 from a heart attack. We didn't know she was ill, so it was very sudden. Because of how she died, we were given a provisional death certificate, while the coroners carried out more checks. This proves that she had died, and we were told that this should be enough to take care of her financial administration. But Aviva told us that they needed to know exactly how she died in order to pay out her life insurance policies. She had two life insurance policies – one just for her valued at about £10,000, and a joint one with my dad for approximately £50,000. But given that the policies promise to pay out on death – and my mother has definitely died – why are Aviva refusing to pay? The money was supposed to help cover the funeral costs, but if they won't pay until a full death certificate is issued, we could be waiting for three months. Can you help me convince them to pay out for my mother's death? – Miss M Dear Miss M, I am sorry to hear about your mother. It's an incredibly stressful time for your family and it seems that, despite having official documentation, Aviva has made this worse for you. Its terms state that on policies taken out recently, as your mother's was, the insurer must check for cause of death. Aviva contacted the coroner to verify that all was as it should be, and that there were no suspicious circumstances in play. One reason that insurers could refuse to pay out would be if your mother had not disclosed health problems which she knew about when she took out the policy. But you told me that this was not the case, and that none of your family – including your mother – had known about her condition. Aviva admitted that there had been delays on their part in getting all of the information they needed from the coroners, which they received on July 7. On July 10, after The Telegraph got in touch, they confirmed with your father that the policies would be paid out as soon as possible. The insurer also offered £250 in compensation for its role in the delayed payment. Your father accepted this, and was pleased to be able to refocus his efforts on your mother's upcoming funeral. An Aviva spokesman said: 'We are very sorry to hear about our customer's passing and apologise for the distress caused to her husband and family over the delay in paying out her life insurance policies. We appreciate this must be a difficult time. 'We always look to settle customer claims as quickly as possible and our team followed normal procedure to request a full death certificate and to then get further information from the coroner when this wasn't available. 'We recognise that delays by us in requesting and processing this information has caused additional worry. We have now accepted the claim and by way of apology for the trouble and upset caused we have offered £250 compensation.' The company added: 'We are looking at how we can make improvements so that payments can be made as quickly as possible in future.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘My mother died from a heart attack, but Aviva won't pay her £60k life insurance'
Dear Telegraph Money, My mother died recently at the age of 70 from a heart attack. We didn't know she was ill, so it was very sudden. Because of how she died, we were given a provisional death certificate, while the coroners carried out more checks. This proves that she had died, and we were told that this should be enough to take care of her financial administration. But Aviva told us that they needed to know exactly how she died in order to pay out her life insurance policies. She had two life insurance policies – one just for her valued at about £10,000, and a joint one with my dad for approximately £50,000. But given that the policies promise to pay out on death – and my mother has definitely died – why are Aviva refusing to pay? The money was supposed to help cover the funeral costs, but if they won't pay until a full death certificate is issued, we could be waiting for three months. Can you help me convince them to pay out for my mother's death? – Miss M Dear Miss M, I am sorry to hear about your mother. It's an incredibly stressful time for your family and it seems that, despite having official documentation, Aviva has made this worse for you. Its terms state that on policies taken out recently, as your mother's was, the insurer must check for cause of death. Aviva contacted the coroner to verify that all was as it should be, and that there were no suspicious circumstances in play. One reason that insurers could refuse to pay out would be if your mother had not disclosed health problems which she knew about when she took out the policy. But you told me that this was not the case, and that none of your family – including your mother – had known about her condition. Aviva admitted that there had been delays on their part in getting all of the information they needed from the coroners, which they received on July 7. On July 10, after The Telegraph got in touch, they confirmed with your father that the policies would be paid out as soon as possible. The insurer also offered £250 in compensation for its role in the delayed payment. Your father accepted this, and was pleased to be able to refocus his efforts on your mother's upcoming funeral. An Aviva spokesman said: 'We are very sorry to hear about our customer's passing and apologise for the distress caused to her husband and family over the delay in paying out her life insurance policies. We appreciate this must be a difficult time. 'We always look to settle customer claims as quickly as possible and our team followed normal procedure to request a full death certificate and to then get further information from the coroner when this wasn't available. 'We recognise that delays by us in requesting and processing this information has caused additional worry. We have now accepted the claim and by way of apology for the trouble and upset caused we have offered £250 compensation.' The company added: 'We are looking at how we can make improvements so that payments can be made as quickly as possible in future.'
Telegraph
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Mrs, Miss or Ms? The tiny tweaks that could make your car insurance cheaper
When you're looking for a car insurance policy, you might think that the price only depends on what kind of car you have and how much you drive it. While both of those factors have a bearing on the policy prices you're quoted, the truth is that insurance companies take in the minutiae of all of your personal details when weighing up your level of risk – and, therefore, how much you're charged to cover it. There are some things you can't do anything about, such as your age. However, there are some tweaks you can make that can bring down your policy cost. The key when weighing up whether to change certain details is that they must still be true. If any of the information you provide is inaccurate, or you have lied in any way, you won't be covered if you make a claim. James Daley, MD at consumer group, Fairer Finance, also warned: 'There are lots of little ways you can bring down your car insurance premium – but you need to be careful experimenting with your answers on comparison sites, as you'll quickly get flagged as a fraud risk.' Here, Telegraph Money explains some of the tweaks you can make when searching for car insurance to reduce the cost – from altering your job title to adjusting your mileage. Consider your title Rethink your profession Think about where you park Alter your annual mileage Renew at the right time Consider your title The title used before your name can affect your car insurance quote. Data obtained by Which? shows that drivers using the title 'Mr' faced the highest average premium at £1,695, compared with £1,331 for 'Miss', £863 for 'Mrs' and £720 for 'Ms'. Insurers can no longer use a customer's gender to set prices. However, titles can indirectly reflect underlying risk factors, such as age and driving experience. Switching from 'Miss' to 'Ms', for example, may be worth checking when searching for a new quote – but this change alone is unlikely to result in a cheaper deal. Rethink your profession Insurers rely on claims data to assess which occupations are more likely to make a claim. If your job falls into a higher-risk category, you'll typically pay more for your car insurance. Analysis by Quotezone shows that healthcare assistants and warehouse workers face some of the highest premiums, at more than £1,000 a year. By comparison, nurses (£668.23), administration assistants (£663.49) and HGV drivers (£556.31) enjoy the cheapest premiums. You don't need to go through a career change if your occupation is at the higher end of the scale – instead, it's worth exploring whether you could describe your job in a different way when you're reviewing quotes, according to Greg Wilson, from Quotezone. This is a legitimate option if the alternative description still accurately explains what you do. 'As long as the description remains accurate and honest, variations in an individual's job title could help bring the cost down,' said Mr Wilson. For example, instead of describing yourself as a 'healthcare assistant', try changing it to 'care assistant' or 'care worker' to see if it lowers the cost. Similarly, if you're retired it can be cheaper to make sure you're described as such, rather than 'unemployed'. Think about where you park According to the RAC, wherever you describe as your overnight parking location at the time of applying for an insurance quote, or renewal, will be assumed as where your car is parked the majority of the time. Policy costs tend to reduce the more secure the parking location is – but, of course, it needs to reflect where your car is genuinely parked most of the time. RAC says that for insurance purposes, a 'driveway' can include asphalt, concrete, gravel or grass anywhere outdoors – but somewhere on your property. On-road parking describes a vehicle being parked at the side of the road near where you live, but not necessarily directly outside your property. To describe your car as being parked in a locked garage, this must be an enclosure on your property that is actually locked and requires a key to open it. It may sound obvious, but it's important to make sure the description is accurate – if you make a claim and your car is not parked where you described it, your claim could be invalidated. Alter your annual mileage If you've over-estimated the amount of driving you're going to be doing over the next year, you could be landing yourself with a needlessly expensive policy. This is down to the theory that driving fewer miles can reduce your risk of an accident, which is why lower mileage often leads to cheaper car insurance. But it's not always that simple. Research from Compare the Market found that the cheapest average premiums were for drivers covering between 11,000 and 11,999 miles a year, at £511. By comparison, more occasional drivers covering 10,000 to 10,999 miles paid more on average, at around £645. For this reason, it's worth testing a few realistic mileage brackets when comparing quotes. Just remember that your final figure must still be accurate. Exceeding the amount you've specified can invalidate your cover, and your insurer won't pay out in the event of a claim. Renew at the right time
