Spanish economy grows by 2.7%, the highest rate since start of crisis, leading to creation of 458,000 jobs

In the first quarter of 2015, the Spanish economy posted a quarter-on-quarter rise of 0.9%, two tenths higher than in the last quarter of 2014, according to the figures published by the National Statistics Institute (Spanish acronym: INE).

If you perceive pensions from abroad you can tidy up your tax situation without penalties only until June 30

The law provides that resident in Spain must declare all their income in this country irrespective of their source, without prejudice to the various international treaties could establish. Many residents who receive income from their countries of origin, or others, think it is enough to be paying taxes at source and not take into account the fact that not to fill up the income tax in the country where they live or not including all the worldwide incomes may cause them penalties, surcharges and default interest.

Spain's external price competitiveness improves in the first quarter

In the first three months of 2015, the Spanish economy posted a gain in external competitiveness versus the EU, taking Consumer Price Indices as a reference, as a result of the depreciation of the Euro against the currencies of these countries and by the greater decline in Spanish prices against the average prices of other EU countries.

The major depreciation of the Euro in the first quarter of the year was the main driving force behind Spain's gain in competitiveness versus the OECD. However, competitiveness versus this area was also gained through prices, due to Spanish consumer prices contracting to a greater extent than prices in other OECD countries.

Number of National Insurance contributors once again tops 17 million

​The number of contributors rose in all autonomous regions for the second straight month, under the key regimes and in the most representative sectors (both under the general regime and the self-employed regime). Noteworthy were the figures for hotel and catering industry, and trade.

The seasonally-adjusted figure (up 87,215) supports this positive trend, and the increase in April strongly beat the figure posted in 2014 (up 48,212). There have now been 21 straight months of growth.

Recorded unemployed fell again in April, the largest decline since records began

The number of recorded unemployed at the Public Employment Services fell by 118,923 in April. This is the largest fall in unemployment in a month of April since records began. In the last seven years, recorded unemployment in April has fallen by an average of over 25,000.

​In seasonally-adjusted terms, recorded unemployment fell by 50,160, the best figure posted for a month of April. With the exception of July 2014, the number of unemployed in seasonally-adjusted terms has been falling month-by-month since May 2013 and has now fallen for a total of 24 months.

What if my Tax Return is wrong or I did not file it in time?

The deadline for filing the 2014 tax return will be on 30 June but ... what if after the period ended, we realize that there was an error and want to fix it? How to act now?. How to act in each case varies depending on whether the mistake favors the tax authorities or us. 

ARE YOU RESIDENT IN SPAIN FOR TAX PURPOSES?

The way in which individuals and bodies corporate pay tax in Spain varies depending on whether or not they are residents of Spain.

1. INDIVIDUALS

 Individuals shall be deemed to have their principal residence in Spain if they meet any of the following conditions:

 • They spend more than 183 days per calendar year in Spain. Occasional absences shall be taken into account to calculate the period of residence, except when said individuals prove they have their tax residence in another country. In the case of countries or territories classified as tax havens, the Spanish tax authorities may request proof of residence in the tax haven for 183 days per calendar year.