"Embargo" Cany anyone help ?

The Spanish Tax Ofiice have placed two Embargo orders on my bank account with the La Caixa bank and have debited a total of 1400 Euros which has cleaned out my account. 

Neither the bank nor my lawyer can tell me what they are for.

My lawyer has said that i need to go the tax office in Alicante with my N.I.E. but i now live and work 6000 miles away so this is not really a cost effective option. He also said that the tax office would have notified me first at my address in Spain to tell me they would be debiting the money from my bank account but i moved out of my home in Spain over 2 years ago.

Has anyone got any idea what the Embargo is for or have had a similar experience and could help me

Maybe none payment of your taxes?

 Any reference in the Bank charge?

If you were trading,or in business in spain,you could have forgotten to declare something.

All purchases made in Spain for trade are recorded against your NIE.

I worked in Spain for ten years,and had two or three  smaller embargos amounting to your deduction taken from my bank

over the first 3 years of trading.

Accountant told me they have found something that i had not declared,and best not to pursue it.

Made sure i kept better books,and the problem eventually went away

I do have a copy of one of the bank charges but not sure where to look for the reference number.

But i was never in business or trading in Spain.

If you want, you can send it to us so we can check it out for you

Joy and Hope for the 2011!

Maria

It's more than likely additional transfer tax if you bought a bargain property in the last couple of years.

The tax office will have tried to notify you of the assessment and if the post is not collected within 7 days then they proceed to notify via official bolitin.

It's quite easy to find out and I'm surprised your lawyer does not know how?

But for sure you will owe that and more!

No thats not the case either

I did buy a property in 2007 but handed it back to the bank the following year has i had split up with my partner and she wanted a settlement out of it even though there was no equity in it. So we handed it back to the bank and walked away.

that does not mean there is not unpaid transfer tax relating to your acquisition.

I am inclined to think it's property related.

Maybe unpaid IBI as you might still be the registered owner at the Town Hall?

Were you working or autonomo?

I have now seen his paperwork. It is clearly an IBI charge. I already sent an email to you pff001 with instructions.

Hope and Joy for the 2011!

But it was not a bargain property we lost a lot of money on it and the house was in joint names.

I was not working or autonomo but my ex partner was / is surely they would have chased her for the money and not me.

I left Spain last year and she is still there

Well done Maria! I did say possibly IBI.

Amazing some lawyers just don't know how to dig!

But pff001 some of these embargo problems can be a nightmare to sort out especially if the money should not have been taken in the first place as the file needs to be passed from office to office and desk to desk before and if ever you get back the money if it was not owed in the first place!

Thank you Maria i will take a look at it now and get back to you

You too Faro the only bonus is there is nothing left in my bank account to take as it has cleared it out over 1400 Euros in total

If you scan the bolitin oficial it's amazing the number of English names appearing and most probably know nothing about it.

It's best in Spain to have nothing in your own name that way they can't get you.

The Spanish authorities have sweeping powers!

"I did buy a property in 2007 but handed it back to the bank the following year has i had split up with my partner and she wanted a settlement out of it even though there was no equity in it. So we handed it back to the bank and walked away.!"

When you say "we handed it back to the bank and walked away" what do you mean exactly?  The property was bought in joint names; there is an escritura in joint names for the property then (?and for a mortgage?); the Property Registry shows it in both names.  Until and unless there is an escritura transferring title to the bank or to anyone other than you, then you remain liable for taxes on the property - IBI and, in your case non-resident income tax at least. 

Was title transferred?

yes we both went to the notary and transferred the title back to the bank