The 90 in 180 day limit applies to non-EU citizens visiting Schengen zone countries. This is most of the EU, but not Ireland, along with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The financial resources and other conditions required for residency are subject to the rules of the country concerned. I am slightly surprised by the statements that the required level of income is "difficult to determine" and that the process of acquiring residency "has no interest in capital."stockton wrote:To explain.
I own a house in the EU. To visit that house for more than 90 days in 180 one needs a residence permit, although in reality I am only a long-term tourist.
To obtain and maintain a residence permit one needs to demonstrate an income of an amount which is difficult to determine, but could well be significantly above my current income. The permit process has no interest in capital.
It is consequently appropriate to find a way to generate income.
The country where the house is owned is not specified but taking Spain as an example, the process currently involves applying for a non-lucrative visa (NLV - a visa which permits residing but not working in Spain). The initial visa is for 12 months, with 2 subsequent renewals each for 2 years duration. After 5 years worth of NLVs, permanent residency can be applied for.
For a single person, the amount of annual income required to be demonstrated in the NLV application is 4 times the Spanish IPREM (a published level of minimum adult income, currently around 7,000€ pa). For each additional "dependent" (spouse, dependent child, etc) the requirement is 1 times IPREM. So a couple requires a joint annual income of around 35,000€ but Spain will accept liquid savings in lieu of income, so a couple able to show around £30,000 in bank accounts would meet the financial requirement (at current exchange rates) for the initial application. For a subsequent two-year application the amount involved would be twice that. I understand that a mix of savings and income can also be used to demonstrate meeting the financial requirement.
The other important requirement in Spain for NLV applicants is holding private health insurance issued by a Spanish registered insurer. For Brits over state pension age it is possible to apply to DWP for an S1 form which can then be registered in Spain and, once registered, entitles the holder to treatment under the Spanish health system on the same basis as a Spanish resident, replacing the need for private insurance. (The NHS reimburses Spain as part of this arrangement.)
For Spain, there are loads of sources of information about NLVs, including official Spanish sources written in English. I would be highly surprised if that was not also the case for the other EU countries popular as winter destinations with Brits.
If those British citizens applied for residency prior to the end of the transition period (31 December 2020), they have protected rights under the Withdrawal Agreement and are not currently subject to the income requirements that apply to visa applicants. The UK's departure from the EU will, over time, have a considerable impact on the demographic able to retire to, or be swallows in, the Costas and Canaries.stockton wrote:The income typically required for a couple of third country citizens to obtain an EU residence permit is about 1700 euros per month. There are many retired British citizens living in Europe who do not have this level of income and do not know whether they will be expected to demonstrate such an income at some time in the future.
There are also others who have not, for one reason or another, do not yet have their paperwork in order.
This is definitely something to be wary of. The Spanish qualification for tax residency is 183 days in any calendar year and Spanish law applies tax on worldwide income and assets. However, being a Spanish tax resident does not necessarily disqualify being a UK tax resident. UK tax residency is determined by the 100 or so pages of the UK's Statutory Residence Test. It is quite possible to be a dual tax-resident (and sometimes quite difficult to avoid this). In principle, dual tax treaties prevent the same income or capital gains being taxed twice in two jurisdictions. However, in practice both jurisdictions take their slice and the taxpayer is left with the bureaucratic nightmare of claiming the excess paid from the secondary jurisdiction (still acquiring my T-shirt for 2019/20 on this one).scrumpyjack wrote:Presumably you would then become tax resident in that country and subject to their income and capital gains tax? If so you might end up paying a lot more tax than you would in the UK as most countries in the EU tax dividends more highly. Also any income in your ISA would also become taxable in that country as other countries do not recognise UK ISAs as a tax shelter. Maybe just stay there just under half the time and not be resident?
Unfortunately stockton appears to be caught by one of the downsides of Brexit. He has a holiday home in the EU and previously he would have been able to come and go at will, including spending lengthy periods of more than 3 months at his holiday home in Winter. Now that is no longer possible. Whilst it is debatable whether the 90 day rule is actually enforced much at the moment, few seem prepared to take the risk of overstaying. Enforcement is likely to be a lot more rigorous once the EU's ETIAS (EU Travel Information and Authorisation System) is fully implemented (currently planned for sometime in 2023).