Category: Interesting topics

  • Paying the purchase of a Spanish property in stages: a story about family, trust and taxes

    Paying the purchase of a Spanish property in stages: a story about family, trust and taxes

    I just came back from a property completion in Fuengirola that has proved anything buy easy. While sipping an extremely hot americano in the plane, elbows locked between two passengers-I hate it when I get assigned the middle seat- I started to to convey into paper, well in this case it is a laptop, my…

  • Practical case: phishing and bank transfers on completion of a Spanish property purchase

    Practical case: phishing and bank transfers on completion of a Spanish property purchase

    Phishing is a type of online scam where hackers try to trick a person to provide personal information, like passwords, bank details, etc but it could also lead to misleading lawyers and trick them to make a bank transfer to the fraudsters´ bank account. I was in a property purchase completion this week at the…

  • Oxford, annual conference and Brexit

    Oxford, annual conference and Brexit

    Antonio Guillen attended the annual conference of lawfirm Gunnercooke, where he is a partner, and met his colleagues, including Spanish lawyer Claudia Font, to talk about the progress of the firm as well as other interesting topics such as personal development, stress management and of course…Brexit. One of the things that Antonio pointed out to…

  • Renting property in Barcelona

    Renting property in Barcelona

              Ah, Barcelona. Lovely city. Famous for its gastronomy, football, fashion and its Architecture, specially buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi such as the Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila or Parc Güell. A very cosmopolitan city with inhabitants of all countries and cultures. Also a great place for foreign remote workers and professionals…

  • What is the plusvalía tax? And why should it be charged after the death of a person?

    What is the plusvalía tax? And why should it be charged after the death of a person?

    This is a question very frequently asked by our clients. The question usually comes with a frown on the face. Clients understand the concept of Inheritance tax: someone dies, and the Tax office applies a tax because the beneficiary gets “presumably” wealthier. So far, so good but what is the plusvalía tax then? Clearly, the…

  • Gunnercooke LLP shortlisted for UK Law firm of the year

    Gunnercooke LLP shortlisted for UK Law firm of the year

        Picture of Manchester where Gunnercooke LLP has one of its offices (together with London and Leeds). An extract from LegalWeek Allen & Overy (A&O), Kirkland & Ellis, CMS and Fieldfisher are among eight firms set to battle it out for Law Firm of the Year at the British Legal Awards next month. The…

  • Buying property in Spain under-value

    Buying property in Spain under-value

      Spain is still recovering from the brutal economic recession that has affected its economy for the last 10 years. One of the main consequences of the recession was the collapse of the property market where properties went down in value consistently, reaching lower values that left many property owners in negative equity as their…

  • I am British. Can I still get a Spanish passport?

    I am British. Can I still get a Spanish passport?

    I have connections with Spain. Can I apply for a Spanish Passport so I can keep my European status in the event of a potential hard-brexit?                   Now that Brexit has been implemented, some British citizens with connections with other European countries are considering applying for dual…

  • Practical case

    I NEED TO APPLY FOR A SPANISH NATIONALITY FOR MY CHILD WHO LIVES IN PAKISTAN. HOW CAN I DO IT? At Gunnercooke LLP we have seen a noticeable amount of enquiries from Spanish-Pakistani families where one of the members of the family is Spanish and the other one is usually from Pakistan (or another country).…

  • Have your clients paid high Inheritance or Gift taxes in Spain in the past?

    Pursuant to the European Court of Justice´s decision of the 3/9/2014 they could be entitled to ask for a refund The Spanish inheritance and gift tax is a national tax but the Spanish Government transferred it to the regional bodies (autonomous communities), who have autonomy to legislate and collect the tax. The autonomous communities have…