Certificate of Fiscal Residence - what to do about the 'foreign income'
Thread poster: Ines Burrell
Ines Burrell
Ines Burrell  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:11
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English to Latvian
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Feb 18, 2017

Recently, there was a forum post about getting a Certificate of [Fiscal] Residence from the UK for Spanish agencies (http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/310556-uk_based_translators_and_spanish_agencies.html ). I am now in the same boat, and I have figured out the hoops I have to jump to get it. However, one question remains - in order to ge... See more
Recently, there was a forum post about getting a Certificate of [Fiscal] Residence from the UK for Spanish agencies (http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/310556-uk_based_translators_and_spanish_agencies.html ). I am now in the same boat, and I have figured out the hoops I have to jump to get it. However, one question remains - in order to get the certificate, I have to declare foreign income, even if it is an imaginary figure. But what happens later when I file my next tax return? HMRC will expect me to declare this foreign income, right? Yet all the income, even coming from abroad, is earned here, in the UK, so it is not foreign income. A bit of Catch 22. Or am I overcomplicating things?

Any advice would be vastly appreciated.
Ines

Edited: a bit slow on the uptake today, sorry!

[Edited at 2017-02-18 19:44 GMT]
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Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:11
French to English
Erroneous URL? Feb 18, 2017

Hello,
The link you post does not take me to the thread you describe and I cannot find it listed either.
Could you perhaps check and repost, or tell me what my brain has not figured out yet?
It looks like the Spanish agencies just need formal proof for tax purposes that you are based/registered in the UK, not in Spain. It's usually to do with EC taxation rules 'n' regs on VAT.
Thanks, Nikki

In the meantime,
... See more
Hello,
The link you post does not take me to the thread you describe and I cannot find it listed either.
Could you perhaps check and repost, or tell me what my brain has not figured out yet?
It looks like the Spanish agencies just need formal proof for tax purposes that you are based/registered in the UK, not in Spain. It's usually to do with EC taxation rules 'n' regs on VAT.
Thanks, Nikki

In the meantime, this may help :
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-certificate-of-residence
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/tax-credits-technical-manual/tctm04007



[Edited at 2017-02-18 19:08 GMT]
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:11
Danish to English
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URL is correct Feb 18, 2017

The URL is correct, but Proz has stuck ")." on it because there is no space. You need to take that off manually (or the asker needs to edit his post and insert a space).

[Edited at 2017-02-18 19:42 GMT]


 
Ines Burrell
Ines Burrell  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:11
Member (2004)
English to Latvian
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TOPIC STARTER
How abut this? Feb 18, 2017

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

The URL is correct, but Proz sticks ")." on it because there is no space. You need to take that off manually.


(http://www.proz.com/forum/money_matters/310556-uk_based_translators_and_spanish_agencies.html )


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 23:11
Danish to English
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URL Feb 18, 2017

Indeed. It would be a good idea to edit your first post.

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:11
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Foreign income Feb 19, 2017

Ines: assuming you are resident in the UK for tax purposes and that you invoice from the UK for all the translations you do, then your income is UK income.

You cannot declare imaginary figures for non-existent "Foreign Income". That would be illegal and would get you into serious trouble. Don't do it. Don't let anyone living in another country persuade you to do it. Your responsibility is to the tax authorities of the country in which you are resident, and not to the tax authoritie
... See more
Ines: assuming you are resident in the UK for tax purposes and that you invoice from the UK for all the translations you do, then your income is UK income.

You cannot declare imaginary figures for non-existent "Foreign Income". That would be illegal and would get you into serious trouble. Don't do it. Don't let anyone living in another country persuade you to do it. Your responsibility is to the tax authorities of the country in which you are resident, and not to the tax authorities of any other country where you are not resident.

[Edited at 2017-02-19 09:15 GMT]
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Ivana UK
Ivana UK  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:11
Member (2005)
Italian to English
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Declare 0 under foreign income Feb 19, 2017

Burrell wrote:

However, one question remains - in order to get the certificate, I have to declare foreign income, even if it is an imaginary figure.

[Edited at 2017-02-18 19:44 GMT]


No need to declare any foreign income as such - just enter 0 and then skip to the next section:

"If you are not in receipt of foreign income, what are the circumstances under which you require a certificate? (If this relates to foreign property ownership, please provide the full address of the property/properties) below.

Circumstances under which you require certificate":

That's what I did a couple of years ago and I haven't had any problems.

The form can be found at the following link:

https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/PT_CertOfRes

HTH

[Edited at 2017-02-19 15:24 GMT]


 
Ines Burrell
Ines Burrell  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:11
Member (2004)
English to Latvian
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TOPIC STARTER
I did Feb 19, 2017

Ivana UK wrote:

Burrell wrote:

However, one question remains - in order to get the certificate, I have to declare foreign income, even if it is an imaginary figure.

[Edited at 2017-02-18 19:44 GMT]


No need to declare any foreign income as such - just enter 0 and then skip to the next section:

"If you are not in receipt of foreign income, what are the circumstances under which you require a certificate? (If this relates to foreign property ownership, please provide the full address of the property/properties) below.

Circumstances under which you require certificate":

That's what I did a couple of years ago and I haven't had any problems.

The form can be found at the following link:

https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/PT_CertOfRes

HTH

[Edited at 2017-02-19 15:24 GMT]


And all I got is the letter, not the certificate. Apart from the fact that they entered the wrong house number (on the letter, not on the address), it also clearly states that it is not for purpose of claiming benefits under any Double Taxation Agreement with the UK. Now, I can read it just fine, but the Spanish side is going to see 'Not for' and 'Double Taxation Agreement' because people who read these documents are not linguists.

I received the letter on Saturday, so tomorrow I will be emailing it to the agency, but I can more or less see how this is going to play out (I have already given up on one client in Spain due to their legendary inflexibility when it comes to paperwork). Sadly, I really like the project and it is a long term one at that, but if the only way to get the actual certificate is to declare foreign income, which I have no intention of doing, because it is not foreign income, then I need to put the brakes on this as fast as I can.

I guess I was hoping somebody would have been in this situation before and could offer some advice.


 


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Certificate of Fiscal Residence - what to do about the 'foreign income'






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