What happens when you travel into or out of Spain and you want to bring large amounts of cash or other payment methods with you to buy a property or to set yourself up to live here for example?
And what happens if you want to do the same within Spain when you're moving regions for example?
Law 10/2010 on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, states that people acting on their own behalf or on behalf of a third party, must submit a prior declaration when they move money in the following cases:
- Exit or entry into the national territory with means of payment for an amount equal to or greater than €10,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency.
- Movements within national territory with means of payment for an amount equal to or greater than €100,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency.
Essentially it means that if you're moving any money into or out of the country which is equal to or more than €10,000, you will have to declare it to the authorities and explain why you're doing so and what you need it for.
There is a higher threshold when moving money within Spain.
According to the law, movement is understood to be any change of place or position that is verified outside the home of the owner.
It’s not just actual cash that the law is referring to, it specifically mentions, 'means of payment'. The law states that this includes:
- National or foreign paper money and metallic currency.
- Methods which give their holders the right to claim a financial amount without needing to prove their identity or their right to that amount. This includes traveller's cheques, promissory notes or money orders, whether made out to bearer or signed but omitting the payee's name, endorsed without restriction, made out to a fictitious payee or in any other form whereby ownership is transferred upon delivery.
- Prepaid cards, understood as non-nominative cards that store or provide access to monetary values or funds that can be used to make payments, acquire goods or services, or to obtain cash, when said cards are not linked to a bank account.
- Raw materials which can be sold for high cash value such as gold or jewellery.
If you are moving money into or out of Spain, you must declare that you’re going to move the money in advance by submitting a completed S-1 form to the Provincial Offices of Customs and Special Taxes of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT).
They will then verify all the data and make sure it’s all correct and legal before you move the money or bring it into the country for example.
You can download the form and learn more about it via the Agencia Tributaria website here.
To complete the form, you will need to provide the following information:
- The country of origin and destination of the funds
- The exact amount you're moving and currency it’s in
- The method of transport such as by air or sea
- Source of the funds – for example did it come from your salary, inheritance, sale of property etc?
- Purpose of the transfer – Why are you moving this much money to Spain? What do you intend to do with it here?
According to experts at digital tax preparation platform Tax Down, the form must be presented at every stage during the transport process and shown at customs if requested.
Aena, Spain’s airport management, also states that this must be declared at customs.
Failure to complete this declaration form, or if you provide any false information, it is considered a serious offence. If caught you may have to pay a hefty fine or may even be charged. The fine could be between €600 to 50 percent of the value of the money.
If you’re moving money within the country equal to or greater than €100,000, you must submit a declaration electronically to AEAT rather than downloading and completing the S-1 form.
This is done via the following website: http://www.aeat.es.
Once all fields have been correctly completed, the system will display a validated declaration with an electronic code. You will need to show this code if required by officials.
This will ensure that you've moved the money legally across the country and the authorities can identify where it's come from.
The Spanish government is in the process of passing legislation which will automatically classify large amounts of undeclared cash brought into or taken out of the country as having been obtained illegally, as well as increasing the fines for those who can't prove the origin of said funds.
**READ ALSO: Spain to tighten rules on bringing cash in from abroad **