EU CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS FOR BRITS?

The EU Parliament  is to discuss the possibility of EU membership for citizens of countries that vote to leave the EU.  A proposal was made by an MEP in Luxembourg.

WHEN THE DUST SETTLES

When the dust settles, you see where you have been. What will ‘we’ see?

Common Reporting Standard goes into force

You may remember me reporting that the Common Reporting Standard, an internationally agreed tax reporting mechanism, has now fallen into place and that sharing of financial information has started, retroactively to 1st January 2016.

Time Bomb!

It could be said that uncertainty is the nemesis of good long term financial planning and living in today's world you could be forgiven for throwing your hat in and tucking yourself away for a few years: Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Donald Trump, Italian Constitutional Referendum, German and French elections, the rise of nationalism, and the list goes on. 

Your LIFETIME right to vote in UK elections has just been granted.

Harry Schindler, war veteran and lifelong campaigner to reinstate the lifetime right to vote in UK elections, has recently been informed that as UK citizens we will have the right to vote in the next UK elections in 2019, even if we have been resident outside the country for more than 15 years.

For Brexiteers and Remainers alike!

It was only a matter of time before I got onto the subject of Brexit once again. I have been trying to avoid it like the plague and certainly will refrain from offering any views here.

However, I do want to inform you about some very important developments for UK citizens who are living in Italy.

 

Property: rising prices in Italy?

Property is always a favourite topic in my Blogs and whilst I profess to know very little about the property market itself, other than that which I can see with my own eyes and hear about other people's experiences, it does appear that the Italian property market is seeing a 'Rialzo'. 

Exchange rate volatility...what can you do?

Let's face it, the British pound is not going to appreciate to pre BREXIT levels against the euro anytime soon. We are in for the long run, and it could get worse.  

BREXIT and UK car insurance

You may be reading this and be a resident in Italy whilst driving round a car with UK number plates. (Hopefully you are not reading this whilst driving, but I think you understand my point!) 

Coveting the shiny stuff

Dear Reader, please forgive me for I have sinned. It has been quite some time since my last Blog and during this time I confess I have been having impure thoughts. 

Italy retrieves €30bn from tax evaders in 2015.

Pier Carlo Padoan has declared that the Guardia di Finanza discovered €30bn of undeclared assets in 2015.

Some alternative BREXIT thoughts and why Italy could be next.

The last couple of weeks entertainment have taught me that there are decades when nothing  happens in the world and weeks where decades happen. I have bounced from anger to frustration and back again. and am still trying to understand the logic for the BREXIT vote. I am slowly getting to that place and thought I might share some alternative, and thought provoking views.

Tax Cuts......?

Before you have to steady yourself at the mere thought of tax cuts in Italy, I have to warn you, (sorry, I am so used to warning people about tax increases that it comes naturally to use the word, 'warn'), or I am pleased to inform you that if you can hang in there a little longer they may be on their way. 

 

And 'I am' talking about 'Income tax Cuts' (IRPEF)!

Oily thoughts.....

I have been travelling around Italy a lot in the last few weeks.  I hit a busy time and when the calls come I hit the road.  

 

However, one thing has struck me more than most in the last few months and that is that things, in Italy, don't seem to be quite as bad as they were a year or two ago.  I see more businesses opening, the ones that survived through the depth of the crisis years are doing more trade, and it feels like there is a general improvement, albeit small, I must admit.  Am I hallucinating, or maybe it is just that summer feeling arriving again? 

Bad Banks

If you are not already aware Banca Popolare di Vicenza missed its target to raise cash through a share sale recently and missed by a very long way indeed. 

Overseas rental property - have you thought about this...?

Overseas rental property - have you thought about this...? Financial markets are very quiet at the moment. From my view point the financial world appears to be almost at stand still.

Have you made a will for your Italian property?

Have you made a will for your Italian property?

 

Whilst there seems to be a general lull in financial markets, in the lead up to the British vote to leave Europe, I thought I would interrupt with a notice on my next event which may interest you. 

For some time I have been noticing that many of my clients, possibly you included, have not made sufficient plans for the succession of their properties in Italy in the event of their deaths. This may be as simple as making a Last Will and Testament to establish to who, and how, the asset is distributed on your death. 

However, as we all know, in Italy, things are not that straight forward and the rule of 'forced succession' (i.e. a proportion of the asset MUST BE distributed to children, spouse etc) may or may not be applied to your property in Italy. 

For this reason it may make sense to have a written Last Will and Testament in Italy to either reflect your last wishes as written in your country of origin, OR merely to have a written statement of how you wish your property to be distributed on your death.

Without written evidence of your wishes various interpretations can be made and tax authorities can hold up the passing of assets, in a timely manner, to your beneficiaries. In addition, your beneficiaries may not speak Italian and may need to take expensive legal advice to administer your estate.  Small actions now can minimize all these problems later. 

For this reason, The Spectrum IFA Group (Italy) have partnered again with Studio Legale Internazionale Gaglione  (Rome)  to provide you with a morning of questions and answers on this very topic.  

Wednesday May 23rd 2016 at Michele's Pastisserie in Castiglione del Lago starting at 11:00am. 

Should I make a Last Will and Testament in Italy, or not? 

Do the new Inheritance Tax proposals in Italy affect me? 

If my beneficiaries don't live in Italy do the forced succession rules apply to them? And what if they do live in Italy? 

Can I opt for my preferred jurisdiction to be taxed on death? 

What process will my beneficiaries have to through if I do not leave a Last Will and Testament in Italy? 

These are a few of the questions which can be answered on the day. 

The event will open at 10:30am for coffee, tea and pastries, followed by a prompt 11:00am start to the talk.

All attendees are encouraged to ask questions of the speakers, ROBERTA MORETTI AND GIUSEPPE GAGLIONE of Studio Legale Internazionale Gaglione, or you can just come along and listen. 

Due to the outstanding success of the previous event, when held in Bagni di Lucca, numbers will be limited to a maximum of 30 people to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to ask questions, so book early to reserve your place.   

Due to the importance of the subject matter, I would also ask you to kindly share the information of this event with people you may know who are not on my E-zine mailing list so that they may also attend if they wish.

To book a place you can contact me on gareth.horsfall@spectrum-ifa.com or call me on +39 333 6492356

Exemption from the canone RAI if you do NOT own a TV.

I wrote recently that the law had changed regarding the TV licence and if you did not own a TV then you would still have to pay the licence fee, in your electricity bill in July,  if you were 'connected' in some way.  

...nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes".  

You, no doubt, have heard this said many times. I have! But where does it originate from?  Doing a quick online search I find that it has been attributed to quite a number of individuals but the most famous seems to be Benjamin Franklin. 

Residency Debate

These days I seem to have an almost weekly enquiry over the subject of residency in Italy and what constitutes being, or not being, resident in Italy for tax purposes.

Tour de Finance 2016 - Sarzana (La Spezia) and Milan

It is that time of year again when we start to crawl out of our winter holes, do some touring around Italy and start getting out and talking to people directly where they live.

RENEWING your 'Register to vote'!

Last week I decided that I would check with my last registered council in the UK to ensure that I was able to vote in the upcoming UK referendum on Europe.  I managed to speak with someone and was told that I was not registered to vote.  I explained that I registered over a year ago and voted in the last UK election.

It's tax time of the year again!

This time of year is always a difficult one for me as I am faced with the horrendous task of having to sort through all my business expenses, fatture etc for the previous tax year.  I have a natural tendency to avoid doing this as it takes me a full day to thoroughly complete the task.  My commercialista has been asking for these papers since the end of January and I only managed to get them in one week ago. 

Declaring under 'Voluntary Disclosure' in Italy.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for me to be approached by people who have been living in Italy for quite a number of years, but who are yet to declare their assets abroad.  

IMU and RAI

If you were not already aware then the payment to RAI for the TV license will be collected in your July Electricity bill, with whichever service provider that you use.

UK private pensions. Big changes coming!

World financial markets drifted lower again recently. (And Brexit will not help matters)

More Brits abroad need to register for the upcoming Referendum!

UK expats urged to back Cameron’s decision and vote ‘remain’ in 23rd June EU referendum

Working with the right partners.....

At The Spectrum IFA group we put a lot of effort into making sure that we work with the right collaborative companies.  That means FX currency exchange firms(our preferred is Currencies Direct), accountants for expats in Italy (Studio Del Gaizo Picchioni), lawyers for expats in Italy (Studio Legale Internazionale Gaglione) and asset managers.

Our preferred asset managers are Rathbones UK and Tilney Best Invest.  They manage the majority of our clients money and they do a great job.  Our mandate for them, on behalf of our clients, is quite simple.  'Caution: Safety first, returns second'.

It is on that note that we like to see when they are making the right decisions to better their businesses and it is on that note that we are proud to announce that Tilney Best Invest are acquiring Ingenious Asset Management, a London based discretionary investment manager with over £1.8 billion worth of assets under management.

On completion Tilney Best Invest will be responsible for £11.2 billion worth of assets.

Size is important in this day and age.  It means security. We want to know that the firms that we partner with are secure for our clients and that they have a philosophy that closely matches ours.  To that end they must work within our strict rules regarding How we work at The Spectrum IFA Group.  (click to learn more). 

If you are not getting the best from your investments in these volatile markets then get in touch on gareth.horsfall@spectrum-ifa.com or call me on +39 3336492356

Guardia di Finanza on the scent.......

Here is the latest from our preferred commercialista Antonio Del Gaizo at Studio Del Gaizo Picchioni.........

The war on cash is just getting started

You may have always been of the opinion that holding money, in cash, in your bank has been safe.  But not anymore!

UK buy to let property is a bad investment...and here's why!

You may find this blog a little provocative.  

It's the end of the world as we know it........

Given events in the world's financial markets since the start of 2016 we could be forgiven for hearing the words to the famous R.E.M song ringing in our ears. However, if you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that The Spectrum IFA Group holds an Annual conference at the start of the year and in 2016 it was Venezia.  This is where we try to make sense of 'end of the world' prophecies.

New difficulties when opening bank accounts for yacht crew.

Yacht crew have always had certain 'complications' when trying to open bank accounts offshore for their time spent on the boat.

With the introduction of the Common Reporting Standard from 1st January 2016, things might be about to get that little bit harder.

This is an extract email from a bank (with whom we work) regarding their new procedures when opening bank accounts for yacht crew.  If you are a yacht crew member or about to embark on being yacht crew then you may need to consider the following information when managing your financial arrangements.

Extract reads as follows: