Spain Money Saving Tips and Offers

We managed to get €118 euros back when we did our tax year this year, which was a huge relief as a lot of Spaniards I know have had to pay hundreds and even thousands to Hacienda this year when in previous years they would have got money back. I guess this is a sign of the times, with a desperate government desperate for cash.

I know a lot of expats living in Spain (who don't own property) don't bother doing tax returns, even though they should do by law.  I think I am the only non-Spaniard in our Gibraltar office that does a tax return in Spain.  Nobody else bothers, even though they are Spanish residents.  I think I'd rather stay on the good side of the Spanish tax man, just in case!!

We did our tax return at our local Agencia Tributaria office completely free of charge, rather than pay 50-70 euros each that a gestor would charge.  So we saved money here as well.  We took all our paperwork (DNI, my NIE, evidence of earnings from employers, borrador etc.) to our appointment and a very efficient functionario did our tax returns then and there for us.

I was required to pay 27 cents back, and my wife got 118.55 euros back.  If we did a joint declaracion, we would have owed the Spanish tax man €1,600 euros!!!

Less than a week later, our 118 euros was in our bank account.  I just wish everything else in Spain was so efficient.