What about the UK/Spain Tax Treaty?  

Doesn’t that stop you paying too much tax?  

 

Whilst the treaty between the UK and Spain means that the same income or gain is not taxed twice, not all income or gains are taxed in both countries. The problem is, if you don’t know the rules, you can end up paying more tax than you need to do if you are paying it in the wrong country.  

 

Also, where income or gains are taxed in both countries, although you can offset the tax paid in, say, the UK against the tax due in Spain, if the tax payable in the UK is higher you will not get a refund of the difference in Spain. So ideally, if you can avoid paying the higher UK rate altogether, you can reduce your tax bill this way. However, just not paying the UK tax is not an option, so you need to take advice to make all of your income as tax efficient as possible.