Banking and gifting in the UK while living in another country?

mbzon

p3ncilsharpener said:4

No, because as I said banks are not stupid, they know the tricks people use to fly below the radar.

To be clear I'm in no way saying this is a certainty, or even close to it.  Merely answering the OP's question of if it could cause problems.

It might, and the ultimate problem is they lose the account, which has happened many times on here.  The problem the OP has over a UK resident is that they would not be allowed to open a UK account elsewhere, as they're not a UK resident anymore and I've yet to see a current account that doesn't require the holder to be UK resident at the time of application.

The annoying thing is I want to move it in smaller amounts anyway, as like someone said virtual banks and currency exchange platforms are not as safe as regular banks, or if there is a problem I'd rather have 10k temporarily locked up while I sort it out than have the whole 40k stuck in limbo... I'm guessing I'm not the first person to think this though, and I hope banks also know that and it won't trigger any alerts. 

I really don't see what grounds they could have to close my account though? we are allowed to have the account even as non-residents, and I am allowed to make transfers. If it get's flagged as suspicious, I can simply talk to them on the phone and explain what I am doing. What reason could they close my account?

Notepad_Phil

mbzon said:

p3ncilsharpener said:4

No, because as I said banks are not stupid, they know the tricks people use to fly below the radar.

To be clear I'm in no way saying this is a certainty, or even close to it.  Merely answering the OP's question of if it could cause problems.

It might, and the ultimate problem is they lose the account, which has happened many times on here.  The problem the OP has over a UK resident is that they would not be allowed to open a UK account elsewhere, as they're not a UK resident anymore and I've yet to see a current account that doesn't require the holder to be UK resident at the time of application.

The annoying thing is I want to move it in smaller amounts anyway, as like someone said virtual banks and currency exchange platforms are not as safe as regular banks, or if there is a problem I'd rather have 10k temporarily locked up while I sort it out than have the whole 40k stuck in limbo... I'm guessing I'm not the first person to think this though, and I hope banks also know that and it won't trigger any alerts. 

I really don't see what grounds they could have to close my account though? we are allowed to have the account even as non-residents, and I am allowed to make transfers. If it get's flagged as suspicious, I can simply talk to them on the phone and explain what I am doing. What reason could they close my account?

How do they know it's you on the phone and not some imposter?

If they do want to see you in branch then that is what you'll have to do unless you can persuade them otherwise - e.g. perhaps you might be able to persuade them to let you visit a branch in Spain, but personally I'd think that is not a likely outcome.

If they do put it under a security review then they probably won't close the account, but they likely will block you from accessing it until you satisfy them that you really are you, which might only be when you visit a branch that satisfies them.

As others have said, everything might go through smoothly, but there is always a chance (even if small) that something raises their suspicions and they want to see you at a branch that they are happy with.

pokora

Spanish hrmc will ask from where the money came even if he transfer bit a bit the money. If both of you are living more than 183-185 days in Spain, for tax purposes you have to answer to spanish hmrc. It is a big amount that "appear now" in Spain.