santander shares

anaita

would you be able to help me, I have 100 shares in Santander which was given to me free when they took over Santander many years ago.its worth about £300, I was told if I sell them I would have to declare Spanish tax,I am not self employed but I pay my taxs to the government.will I have to declare this if I sell them,and would the tax be high.as I probably will not get a lot back.and how do I get around declaring the Spanish tax as I don't want to get a fine.

eskbanker

As well as your own paperwork, it's probably worth reading up on this from previous threads on the subject (search for 'santander shares tax form'), such as https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5722640/santander-shares-and-my-tax-return

As I understand it from these, there are usually some onerous requirements to complete Spanish tax paperwork but if selling the shares at a loss (from the value at acquisition date) then these don't apply.

UK tax isn't an issue at your level of shareholding....

MarkCarnage

For that level of holding, unless you are resident in Spain, I wouldn't even bother. Who told you that? I appreciate that the SAN UK website probably tells you that you have to do that, but they are only doing what they have to to keep themselves right.

If the shares are from the takeover of Abbey National or A&L then they are almost certainly held in the Equiniti Nominee service and you would have to sell via them.

I have had quite a significant holding in SAN in the past, and never declared sales to Spanish authorities. Don't take that as specific advice, but I sold quite a lot over a number of years. Didn't even know that it was a requirement to be honest. The main hassle was the witholding tax on dividends.....got round that for a while by taking scrip and selling it.....

MarkCarnage

To put it in perspective, SAN have over 1m UK shareholders (from the Abbey Nat and A&L takeovers). Do you really think that the Spanish tax authorities are going to bother trying to enforce submission of this form for all of them? Bear in mind that after the 2017 rights issue most of them would theoretically have had to submit a form as their rights were disposed of (shares sold).

Santander and their agents have to spell out what shareholders are supposed to do - whether they do it or not is up to them. The vast majority will either not have a reportable gain or one so small as to be negligible. Particularly at current share price....

And to reinforce, for small shareholders there is very unlikely to be any UK capital gains tax implication so HMRC won't give a toss.

If it were me I'd just sell them and not lose any sleep over it.