Spain hits new record with 57.6 million inbound tourists to November - an increase of 5%

 

 

Spain was visited by a total of 3.3 million inbound tourists in November, representing a 9.3% increase and 280,000 more tourists. The Canary Islands and Catalonia were the autonomous regions to benefit most this month, with increases of 17.9% and 14.6%, respectively.

Spain has set another all-time record after receiving 57.6 million inbound tourists between January and November, which is a year-on-year increase of 5% according to the FRONTUR survey drawn up by the General Sub-directorate of Tourism Information and Studies of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

Merry Christmas

 

 

VP Advisers wishes you and your family a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

 

We really appreciate your trustness in our firm.

 

See you in 2014.

The VP Advisers Team

Are deductible Christmas dinners and Christmas hampers?

Many companies celebrate Christmas lunchs or Christmas dinners with their employees and there are still companies that give their employees a basket full of food and drink as a gift. Companies will ask the suppliers for an invoice to deduct the expenditure but is correct the deduction of such expenses?

Major Spanish export sectors maintain momentum

 

According to the October Foreign Trade Report, Spanish exports have increased by 6.2% since January to 196.61 billion euros - a new record since these figures began to be registered. The trade deficit fell by 55.9% year-on-year between January and October. In October, exports grew by 1.8% and imports grew by 1.1%.

THE SPANISH ECONOMY TODAY: DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE.

 

The Spanish economy has amassed significant economic and financial imbalances. The diagnosis and analysis of these issues must be the starting point for the design of a self-consistent economic policy. The imbalances are chiefly located in three fields: financial imbalances, negative growth and severe job destruction. Each feeds upon the other, so creating a negative dynamics that must be reversed.

Broader powers for central bank in the works

 

In an effort to prevent another national financial catastrophe, the government is to pass legislation giving the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Commission (CNMV) broader powers to prevent bank failures and fight illegal market speculation, sources said Thursday.

The need to document sales and services

 

In business as in life often we tend to simplify the maximum we can and especially in regards to paperwork, but too much simplification can bring negative consequences for not clear from the beginning all the points of the business relationship .

A large part of sales and services are agreed verbally. Legally a verbal agreement is as valid as a written one, but it is more convenient to document sales and services to avoid further problems..

Spanish Economic Policy

 

 

The starting point of the design of economic policy must be the identification and analysis of the magnitude of the difficulties faced by the Spanish economy. Prior to the present economic downturn – which has so far prevailed for more than four years – Spain enjoyed powerful growth. The growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita from the mid-1990s to 2007 was higher than the European Union average by 0.5 points. It is indubitable that Spain’s membership of the Economic and Monetary Union and the adoption of the euro were significant growth drivers. However, the absence of cyclical synchrony with the core economies of the euro area and a monetary policy that was overly expansionary for Spain encouraged the emergence of imbalances.

Unemployment falls in November for the first time on record

 

Jobless claims fell for the first time ever in November in the current historical series, which dates back to 1996, as the Spanish economy showed signs of stabilizing after pulling out of its longest recession in decades.

According to figures released Tuesday by the Labor Ministry, the number of people officially registered as unemployed fell 2,475 from October and by 98,909 from the same month a year earlier to 4.808 million.

Special Agreement with he Social Security Office.

 

As a rule, it is an agreement signed voluntarily by the workers with the Treasury General of the Social Security with the aim of generating, maintaining or extending, in certain situations, the entitlement to Social Security benefits, and with the obligation to pay the corresponding contribution payment to their exclusive account.

In other cases, such as the special agreement for companies and workers subject to labour force reduction plans that include workers of 55 years of age or over, the signing of the agreement is enforced by the Provincial Directorate of Labor and the agreement is signed by the company and the worker on the one hand and the General Treasury of the Social Security on the other

Court rules one-year trial work contract without compensation illegal

A court in Barcelona has ruled that the one-year trial labor contract without the right to severance pay created in the 2012 reform of the labor market is in breach of international law.

The ruling stemmed from an unfair dismissal case brought by a laborer taken on by the rubber recycling company Alfredo Mesalles in Gavà, Barcelona province, who was given such a contract and was dismissed eight days before the one-year trial period was up.

SELF-EMPLOYED RETIREMENT PENSION

Today we will learn more things about the retirement of the self-employed . When a worker reaches the retirement age he/she can get Access to the pensions depending on the years of contribution and their bases, which in most cases will be lower pension tan for those of a hired worker employed. This is because during the working life, the self-employed usually prefers to contribute for the minimum basis with the intention of paying a lower monthly payment each month. This is either because it will complement that with a private retirement plan or because the decission of avoid to pay in excess due to uncertainty in the future of the working life.

FAMILY BENEFITS (III). ECONOMIC BENEFIT FOR THE BIRTH OR ADOPTION OF A CHILD IN LARGE FAMILIES, SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES AND THOSE WITH DISABLE MOTHERS

 

Can be beneficiary of the benefits Parents or adopting parents due to the birth or adoption of a child in the events of large families and single-parent families and in the cases of mothers with a disability that is equal to or greater than 65% who meet the established requirements.

STREET MARKET: AN ALTERNATIVE TO BECOME SELF-EMPLOYED

Markets , stalls, stands ... who has not ever gone to the weekly appointment that many towns and municipalities held for decades? Whether markets in weekly markets or in the streets, this activity is an important commercial and tourist boost for many regions and, with the advent of the crisis, has experienced tremendous growth in recent years.

LAST VISIT TO SPAIN OF THE EUROPEAN SUPERVISORS BEFORE THE END OF THE RESCUE

Monday begins the fifth and last visit to Spain Troika to review the progress of the country assistance program . The arrival of the representatives of the creditors of the rescue - the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund comes just a fortnight after the finance ministers of the euro area , the Eurogroup , would support the end of Spanish banking bailout in January, a "clean" , ie , output does not need extensions.

SPAIN SETS A NEW RECORD OF TOURISTS TO OCTOBER THIS YEAR

Spain has set another all-time record in October, after receiving 5,475,000 inbound tourists, representing a 6.9% year-on-year increase, according to the FRONTUR survey, drafted by the General Sub-directorate of Tourism Information and Studies of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism.

FAMILY BENEFITS (II): ECONOMIC BENEFIT FOR MULTIPLE BIRTHS OR ADOPTION

Family benefits are provided to cover the financial needs or extra expenses of certain people, caused by family responsibilities and the birth or adoption of children in certain cases.

WHEN CAN BE USED DIFFERENT SERIAL NUMBERS FOR INVOICES

Today we will discuss about an issue that sometimes could cause some confussion to the companies or self-employed professionals. We are talking about the use of different invoice serial numbers.

FAMILY BENEFITS (I): ECONOMIC BENEFIT FOR DEPENDENT CHILD OR MINOR IN FOSTER CARE

The application for family benefits is one of the issues on which our customers are more interested and because of the deep crisis that plagues us the number of families who use them have been increased in the past months, so in order to give answer to the big demand of information today we begin a series of articles with the purpose of informing you about the following family benefits and the necessary requirements to get them:

What is the Single Euro Payments Area?

Today we discuss about a big change at European level that affects the banking and commercial transactions throughout the European Economic Area.  This is the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area ).

Announcement of extension of permanent entrepreneur support contract to part-time workers

In light of certain positive data released recently, the President of the Government highlighted the risk of thinking that "we have entered a period of smooth sailing and that we need only let the economy run its course, on its own, to lead us out of the crisis". He stressed that "we certainly shouldn't relax or rest on our laurels. I insist, we cannot allow ourselves a single moment of relaxation or relief".

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY BECAUSE SUCCESSIVE FORMATION (Sociedad Limitada Formación Sucesiva)

Today we are discussing about a new company form that has been incorporated by the recent entrepreneurs law.It is called Limited Liability Company because Successive Formation ( Sociedad Limitada de Formación Sucesiva –SLFS-).

Basically is similar to a normal Limited Liability Company (SL) , but the main difference about this new one is that the founders partners are not obliged to make an initial investment for the capital stock, so it may be contributed gradually. But to be applying this way, it must meet a number of specific obligations to ensure the protection of third parties in their financial, trade and labor .

THINKING ABOUT MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY?

 

In a previous article we explained the necessary requirements to become fiscal resident in Spain and the most significant was living in Spain for more than 183 days in a year, but what happens if you want to comeback to your country or going to a different country than Spain for living?  

WHY IS IMPORTANT TO PRODUCE A SPANISH WILL

We should know about how important is having a will in Spain in case of people national of other countries when they have property in Spain as it can be a house, and being or not residents in Spain.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR SELF-EMPLOYED

Since August 2010, self-employed people (known in Spain as “autonomos”) can perceive unemployment benefits. The protection system gives access to unemployment benefits for a maximum period of 12 months and 70% of the base. Law 32/2010, of August 5, did justice to one of the oldest demands for self-employed : to collect unemployment. Finally established and a couple of years after its adoption continues to generate some questions that we will try to solve.

HIRING WORKERS? DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

Today we will talk about the obligation to carry out the Health and Safety at Work prevention (HSW) by the self-employed or companies. The Law 31/1995 states among other things that as entrepreneurs, exist the obligations to:

• Take the necessary measures for the protection of workers
• Inform and train workers regarding the HSW.
• To act facing an emergency situation and facing serious and imminent risk .
• Monitoring the health of their workers.
• Establish an organization and tools for prevention.

In case of small businesses or self-employed, the law sets some limits to the obligation, or not, to take personally the HWS or otherwise refer to a prevention service.

REDUCED SELF-EMPLOYED FEES FOR PEOPLE YOUNGER THAN 30

Last February came into force The Royal Decree -Law 4/2013 of measures to support entrepreneurship and to stimulate growth and job creation. The new law estates an important measure to stimulate young  people to run their own business, a € 50 flat rate for young entrepreneurs starting their professional activity , which can now be accessed if the following requirements are met:

SPAIN'S GREAT WAGE FREEZE REACHES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACCORDS

Even collective bargaining agreements reflect the process of the loss of purchasing power through salary devaluation that Spanish workers have been suffering from two years now: a growing number of them accept that wages are not going to rise, and in some cases that they will even fall.

DEDUCTION FOR INVESTMENTS IN START UPS OR RECENTLY CREATED COMPANIES

The recent Law to support the entrepreneurs added a new tax credit for investments in start -ups and it is interesting to know in case you are considering about taking actions in this way.

This deduction is applicable only in the full state fee (cuota íntegra estatal) and corresponds to the 20% of the amounts paid for the acquisition of shares in start -ups or meeting the requirements.

ENTERPRENEURS LAW: REDUCED SELF-EMPLOYED FEES FOR PEOPLE OLDER THAN 30

As previously announced by the government, social security reductions that were applied earlier this year for those under 30 years , have been extended to all groups of entrepreneurs , regardless of their ages .

Law 14/2013 , to support entrepreneurs and their internationalization estates that "The self-employed with 30 or more years of age that register their actvities by the very first time or who have not been self-employed in the last five years may apply the following reductions on the self-employed fees, for a maximum period of 18 months , according to the following scale: "

THE LIMITED LIABILITY ENTERPRENEUR

One of the main advantages of using a limited company with respect to carry on the business compared with doing it as a self-employed person is that the personal assets of directors and partners are protected against any corporate debt. The recent Entrepreneur Law creates limited liability through which individuals may avoid liability for business debts concerning their main house under certain conditions.

A FURTHER 21 BILLION EUROS IN DOUBTFUL LOANS SURFACED

Spanish banks have increased the amount of refinanced and restructured loans considered to be doubtful by 29% to 92.224 billion euros in the wake of tighter classification criteria imposed by the central bank.

According to the supervisor’s latest Financial Stability Report released Wednesday, banks now categorize only a quarter of the loans they have renegotiated with borrowers to be up to date on servicing, compared with 42% prior to the introduction of the new criteria introduced at the start of this year.

Free Business Registration.

Our office is a PAE, the only business office in Orihuela Costa registered at the Industry, Tourism and Commerce Ministery as PAE in order to offer FREE BUSINESS REGISTRATION (Free Self Employment Registration and Companies Formation) to all the persons that are looking for a new business life. 

NEW IVA CASH BASIS SYSTEM

Starting on the 1^st of January 2014, the Law 14/2013 introduced as a new option, the Cash based system for the IVA tax.

This is a way for the companies and professionals attached to this tax declarations working in a new way that allows not declaring the Incomes IVA until the moment is received the payment from the client. In the same way, the Expenses IVA amounts of those outstanding invoices from suppliers cannot be claimed until the invoices are paid. 

TAX FINES AND SANCTIONS ON TAX FORMS OBLIGATIONS (II)

On this new article we will see about other different tax fines and sanctions that can affect to people or corporations.

HOUSEHOLD DEBT DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 2007

Household debt in Spain fell to its lowest level in over six years in September as families continue to deleverage, the Bank of Spain said Monday.

The central bank said the liabilities of families declined 0.5 percent, or by 4.287 billion euros, from August to 798.045 billion, the lowest level since February 2007. Compared with a year earlier the magnitude of the decline was 4.5 percent. Household indebtedness has now declined for three months in a row after a pick-up in June as families took on more consumer loans.

LIMITED COMPANIES THAT ARE INACTIVE FOR MORE THAN 1 YEAR SHOULD BE DISSOLVED

In a previous article we discussed the obligations of a dormant company, now we will see the possible consequences of a company left dormant for a long period of time.

Leaving a company sleeping without dissolution is a situation in which there are numerous entities. However, sometimes we overlook that in the case of limited companies, being inactive for a period exceeding one year is a legal cause of dissolution.

1st OF NOVEMBER CLOSED DUE TO BANK HOLIDAYS

INFLATION NEGATIVE RATE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2009

 

The specter of deflation in the Spanish economy has returned. Prices have fallen in October, with the estimated annual inflation rate for the month at -0.1 percent. If the data is confirmed, it would mean the first negative Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate since October 2009, when the figure was -0.7 percent.

THE END OF RECESSION?

The National Statistics Institute (INE) confirmed on Wednesday the announcement last week by the Bank of Spain that the recession is over, thanks to a positive growth rate of 0.1 percent for the third quarter.

Experts, however, agree that the recovery will be a slow one.

Advance data released by the INE on Wednesday coincided with figures from the Bank of Spain, which said last week that a return to growth has been possible thanks to strong exports.

PROCESS YOUR NIF (Fiscal Identification number) FROM SPANISH CONSULATES

The spanish tax office (AEAT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement to streamline the allocation of tax identification number to nonresidents without going to an office of the AEAT. This measure, which is a further step in the implementation of eGovernment abroad, start with a pilot in eight consular offices in countries with investment potential and broad economic and financial links with Spain.

Three million Spaniards now live in dire poverty.

After five years of crisis, more than three million Spaniards are now living in dire poverty, as defined by monthly income of under 307 euros, according to a report by charity organization Cáritas.

A recent Cáritas Survey, which is included in the organization’s Social Reality Observatory for 2012, shows that the percentage of the population now living below the breadline has almost doubled from 3.5 percent in 2007 to 6.4 percent last year.

Stock market recovery helps boost number of millionaires in Spain by 13%

 

 

The number of millionaires in Spain increased by 13 percent to 402,000 between the middle of last year and the middle of this year, despite the country being mired in its longest recession in half a century. That’s according to the latest Global Wealth Report, which was released Wednesday by the research department of Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

TAX FINES AND SANCTIONS ON TAX FORMS OBLIGATIONS (I)

Today we are going to explain with some detail what are the consequences of not complying with our tax obligations, or do it out of time.

Penalties for submitting tax forms after the deadline
 

If there is not a financial damage to the Tax Office , then apart from the surcharge addition , the following sanctions shall be established .

Five things you should know about the Electronic Notifications Service

If you're self employed, maybe you have received in recent weeks a notice from the Social Security on the Order ESS/485/2013 that regulates notices and communications by electronic ways with the Social Security Authorities. We are going to answer five basic questions to clarify the main doubts about the new electronic notifications service.

The President announces that government will raise growth forecast to 0.7%

Mariano Rajoy announced, in the Upper House of Parliament, that the government will raise its economic growth forecast for the coming year from 0.5% to 0.7%. Furthermore, he stressed that pensions will neither fall nor be frozen and that public servants will receive their extraordinary payments in both 2013 and 2014.

Spain loses 15 billion euros a year in potential VAT revenue

Europe has been bent in the past few years on austerity, cutting pensions, wages and public sector jobs to rein in deficits. But there are signs that the problem also lies in the revenue side as a result of tax evasion.

For years, large companies have indulged in so-called financial engineering, using tax havens to pay the minimum amount possible. And, according to figures released Thursday by the European Union's statistics office Eurostat, Spain loses around 15 billion euros a year in potential value-added tax revenues because of evasion, as well as bankruptcies and statistical errors, among other factors. In the period 2008-2011, the loss in Spain was estimated at 65 billion euros.

Non Residents tax obligation

It is a common case that a person from outside Spain is acquiring a property in Spain maybe as an investment or just a holiday house for spending in Spain few months during the year. From the moment that the house is bought, several taxes obligations start within.

Five things you should know about European Health Insurance Card

1.      What is the European Health Insurance Card?

A free card that gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, under the same conditions and at the same cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country.

Cards are issued by your national health insurance provider.

1,607,609 foreign citizens registered with Spanish Social Security system in August

The number of foreign citizens registered with the Spanish Social Security system stood at 1,607,609 in August. This figure represents a decrease of 25,294 or 1.55%. In year-on-year terms, the number of foreign citizens registered with the system continues to fall.

The year-on-year decrease in the number of foreign contributors stands at 8.05%, which compares with a rate of 3.36% for the Spanish Social Security system as a whole. These two indicators show a continuation of the trend already seen in previous months, insofar as that job losses continue to have more impact on foreign workers than those of Spanish nationality.