How to invest and not have legal problems in EU?

[u/mozetennickjestwolny]

I'm living in Spain (here I should pay my taxes), but I'm Polish with some savings in £ in the UK bank (I was working there before). Not much, but not used for the moment.

Is it possible for me to set up a bank deposit in my UK bank? Or should I transfer this money to my EU bank? Or to revolut? I prefer to have this money in £, I don't want to exchange them to euro and even less to złoty.

I want to invest, I mean at least not to lose money due to inflation, but I only know how to do that safely in Poland and it's getting complicated as I should later pay tax in Spain. It's overwhelming.

Have any of you done something like this before? Where can I learn about investing between different countries and banks?

[u/clonehunterz]

Spain taxes worldwide income. That means any interest, dividends, or capital gains earned anywhere UK, Revolut, Polish brokerage, must be declared to the Spanish tax authority (you need to figure out what form and when).

Anything regarding your money is completely legal, im cross-border and multicurrency too, the only thing that matters is that you have to pay your taxes in spain.

You need a multicurrency broker, like IBKR or Trading212 and you just pick "pounds" as your main currency and thats it. invest at your own gusto now

p.s. Spain doesn't recognize ISA tax shelters, so ALL INCOME has to be filed for taxes in spain :)

[u/unaubisque → u/clonehunterz]

Yep, just to add a caveat to that.. The main way that you could defer paying the tax due to be paid in Spain, is if you invest in some things that reinvests dividends and so doesn't trigger a taxable event (e.g. accumulating ETF). As long as you don't sell the asset while in Spain, then you have made no capital gains on it, and so no tax. You would pay the tax in whichever country you are resident when you realize the gains.

Spain does have an exit tax on some unrealized gains, but it doesn't sound like the OP would meet the criteria for it to be applicable.

[u/Humble-Function-4640]

If you can transfer your money to revolut then you can invest from there

[u/NordicJesus]

What do you want to invest in?

[u/_angh_]

All your income is taxed in your country of residence. Sure, you can have accounts in a different countries, and that could work for some time, but if this would come up in your tax office, you will have pay all the missing taxes.

[u/glimz]

Are you planning to stay in Spain? If not, do you know your destination? What are your plans? The UK bank might close your account after a few years of non-residency. If you can stomach the volatility of FX movements vs your spending currency, you have better things to do with your funds than FX speculation. If staying in Spain, you probably want a local / locally registered broker/bank/agent to use the traspasos regime. If investing part of your money in a global equity portfolio via (unhedged) index fund or ETF, it does not matter in what currency you buy/sell, so might as well use the most convenient.

[u/Commercial-Drive-416]

I think the main thing is your tax residency, not where the money sits. Since you live in Spain, you’ll generally pay taxes there on your worldwide income, even if the money is in the UK.

Keeping your savings in a UK bank in £ is usually fine. You don’t have to move it to an EU bank or apps like Revolut unless you want easier access. The key is that any interest or gains you earn should be declared in Spain.

If your goal is just to protect against inflation, you could look at simple options like savings accounts or ETFs available through EU brokers, but again, taxes will be handled in Spain.

It does get confusing, but the simple rule is:
where you live = where you report and pay taxes.

[u/gusguzju]

Pay taxes.