Talk Quesada forum

I recently deposited a personal cheque into my current account with Bankia & the amount was entered right away.As I may need to use the amount shortly can anyone advise on how long it takes usually to clear & are all branches of Bankia the same for this?

I'm sorry to tell you that i asked the same question at my bank and they said six weeks!!

If its not too late put it into your UK account and use Transferwise. They are brilliant.

Roy W

Three weeks with Caixa.

I left UK many years ago & have no Bank account there now,just a building society account in Gibraltar which only issues in cheques so I would have the same problem.However just been into Bankia & asked if the amount was cleared(7 days later).They took my book & passport & "Computer says YES".So I am pleased.By the way,just in case you are unaware of this--- The Spanish hacienda allows a British national to have up to 50,000 euros in Gibraltar & needs only declare the interest on it on your annual fiscal resident tax return,which is now minimal so won't cause a panic! Over that amount you need to declare the full amount . I had a sterling cheque some years ago so did this & it helps reduce my tax in Spain quite legally.I just hope this will continue after Brexit.

scotfree wrote:I left UK many years ago & have no Bank account there now,just a building society account in Gibraltar which only issues in cheques so I would have the same problem.However just been into Bankia & asked if the amount was cleared(7 days later).They took my book & passport & "Computer says YES".So I am pleased.By the way,just in case you are unaware of this--- The Spanish hacienda allows a British national to have up to 50,000 euros in Gibraltar & needs only declare the interest on it on your annual fiscal resident tax return,which is now minimal so won't cause a panic! Over that amount you need to declare the full amount . I had a sterling cheque some years ago so did this & it helps reduce my tax in Spain quite legally.I just hope this will continue after Brexit.

The Spanish tax regime allows any resident, foreigner or otherwise, to have up to a maximum of Eu 50,000 of assets in each of three categories (banks/savings, property and pensions/bonds/investments) worldwide. If the Eu 50k limit is exceeded in any category, then it is eligible for tax, but only on the income, not the asset itself. The exception to this is Spanish wealth tax, but you'd have to have assets in excess of Eu 700k before this becomes applicable.

It used to be that you couldn't open a bank account in the UK if you didn't live there (although you could continue to hold one that you'd opened before you left the UK), but there are several UK banks now offering accounts to non-UK residents. As all European tax regimes (including the UK) demand declaration of worldwide assets, it may be convenient for people who receive regular cheque payments to open a UK bank account if they don't already have one, especially as it makes no difference to their tax declaration.

That "up to" is what you are allowed before declaring it. You can have as much as you like but have to declare it (though not taxable) annually.
Any assets that you get income from, whether under or over 50k, is liable for tax somewhere.
For example, if you have a house in UK that is worth 200k then you have to declare it on a 720 but no tax is payable on that.
If you receive 8k a year in rental income then you don't have to declare it on a 720 but you do have to declare it on your income tax return. If UK has charged you tax on that income then it can be offset against any tax the Spanish want.