Rotherham expats face 'ridiculous' £9,000 bill from Spanish authorities eight years after returning to UK
A Rotherham couple have been hit with a £10k income tax bill from Spanish authorities - despite never working there and moving back to the UK.
Richard Brown, aged 70 and his wife Jane, 71, retired to Spain in October 2010 before returning to Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in April 2017.
When the couple moved to Andalusia, Richard continued to pay tax on his UK pension to HMRC, meaning he did not have to pay any tax to Hacienda, the Spanish Treasury, given the two countries operate a shared double taxation agreement.
However, on May 2, 2025 - more than eight years after leaving Spain - Richard received a letter, from HMRC, saying they owe Hacienda €11,143.57 (£9,439.16) for the 2016 and 2017 tax years.
The couple say they have not been provided a reason for the tax bill in the documents they received.
Richard – who worked for Halifax as a computer operator before retiring early after having a major stroke at 45 – says he can't understand why there is a debt in his name.
And Jane, who now cares for her husband and has had to deal with the UK and Spanish treasuries, says the ordeal has caused her great stress.
She said: “I just can’t believe it. It's so upsetting, and it’s so stressful because I have to deal with the whole situation – it’s been a complete bolt out of the blue.
“If we had only been back a year I could half understand it, but eight years after leaving the country, it's a complete joke.
“We’ve been back in the country for eight years and the letter we received last Friday is the first correspondence we’ve had.
“Not a single reason or explanation for the tax or why it has grown over time has been given, which makes it seem like a scam.
“They’ve suddenly decided there was a debt and I believe they sent the letters to our old address, which is why it’s accumulated and it’s gone to HMRC.
“It’s pathetic, it’s a ridiculous situation. I’ve read somewhere that you are better off paying it and then trying to claim it back, but why should I pay it if we don’t owe anything.
“Apparently it can take up to four years to claim it back. But I might not be here in four years, which is probably what they’re hoping for.
“We are shocked to the core.”
The couple initially lived on a residential caravan site with other expats in the Andalusian village of Alameda.
They moved to a neighbouring village, Fuente de Piedra, to a rented villa in July 2015, before returning to the UK in April 2017 with Poppy, a Podenco rescue dog.
She says the situation has been made worse by the interest on their alleged debt which has accumulated, despite the couple only finding out about the bill at the start of May, even though the original claims were made by the Hacienda between 2022 and 2023.
Jane believes this should not be included on the bill, and says HMRC is further exploiting the situation, adding on £47.77 for UK interest.
She said: “Why do HMRC suddenly believe Spanish bureaucrats and take on the case, rather than fighting our corner.
“They know we’ve paid tax in the UK and we can prove that, we’ve still got our 2016/17 tax returns.
“I honestly thought it was a scam, and my first initial reaction was to chuck it in the bin – but I’ve been in contact with HMRC and they say it’s a real debt.
“And the interest, how can they charge me interest on a debt that I didn’t know anything about – it’s like a phantom debt.
“I’m willing to pay it if we genuinely owe it but there’s absolutely no way we owe anything, and if we did, it would never be that much.
“We retired early to go and live in Spain, because Richard had a stroke when he was 45, and we decided to live off his private pension.
“And did everything by the book, paying for a bilingual specialist to sort out our affairs when we were in Spain, and we notified them when we left the country and deregistered from their system in the right way.
“I’ve sent them an email saying I don’t agree with their claims but they haven’t responded yet. I rang the tax office here and they told me to get in touch with Spain – I had to use Google Translate to write the email.
“But where is the burden of proof? If Richard owes tax off Spain, they should be claiming it from HMRC where we paid tax. Neither of us worked in Spain at all.
“I think it’s them wanting a quick quid from expats who have gone over there.”
The report by Amsterdam & Partners LLP describes the Spanish tax authorities as “rampant” and “out of control” in pursuing residents under the country’s 2004 “Beckham Law” tax incentive program, which coincided with David Beckham's move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2003.
Foreign nationals would pay just 24 per cent on their Spanish-sourced income as tax, up to a limit of €600,000 - significantly lower than standard progressive tax rates, which go up to 45 per cent.
But Amsterdam & Partners LLP's analysis claims that expats are facing unexpected tax demands from investigations launched years down the line, and that are penalties are issued to “pressure” households into paying immediately or accepting a settlement.
Christopher Wales, a British tax expert and co-author of the law firm’s white paper, said: “Our white paper documents shocking abuses of state power. Our investigation has uncovered systemic use of excessive audit practices involving false and nonexistent claims.
"A few victims have been successful in appealing these false claims, but it takes years, and justice comes far too late.”
Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of the firm and co-author of the report, added: "This has created an intimidating climate of fear which has no place in a democratic country. The testimonies we have collected have been nothing short of shocking."
HMRC and Hacienda were approached for comment by the South West News Service (SWNS).