Beckham Law Meets the UK LLP: Spain’s Tax Office Issues Game-Changer for Expatriates
Spain’s “Beckham Law” was designed to attract international talent. But in practice, it has evolved into something more fragile: a regime that can be lost not only through obvious breaches, such as changing residence status, but through technical missteps in the architecture of income. One such risk has worried inbound taxpayers for years: what happens […]
Britain’s Closest Cousin? Why Spain Is More Familiar Than You Think
Here’s a question that might make you spit out your tea (or café con leche): Which country is most similar to Britain? If you guessed Denmark, Sweden, or perhaps Canada, you’d be in good company, but the reality points in a different direction. According to The Economist’s recent analysis of OECD countries, the answer is […]
Decisions by the UK against illegal workers and it’s implications for businesses
Decisions by the UK against illegal workers and it’s implications for businesses. Recent talk within the legal and political realm has been centred around the Prime Minister’s remarks on the 31st of March 2025 setting out a number of quite strict policies, especially focusing on addressing the problem of illegal migration. Now, we all know […]
Exploring the lesser-known traditions of the Bar in England and Wales
Exploring the lesser-known traditions of the Bar in England and Wales. The Bar, as a profession, and Barristers, as esteemed members of said profession, are often considered to be part of a mysterious world that is far different from that of the lay person, especially when you see them wearing the wigs and gowns which […]
Can I apply for Beckham Rule if I am a director of a Spanish Company?
Yes, if you moved to Spain to run a business through a Spanish company as a director you may apply for the Beckham tax regime for a maximum of six years even if you are a shareholder of that company. If the company is a “passive assets-owning company,” the director’s stake in the company cannot […]
Buying a Business In Spain – Confidentiality Agreements
Buying a Business In Spain – Confidentiality Agreements Welcome to the second article in our series on buying a Spanish business. In this series we discuss in detail all the steps involved in purchasing a business in Spain. These are: Buying a business in Spain is a complex process, therefore, it is best to instruct […]
Acquiring A Spanish Company: The Due Diligence Process
Acquiring A Spanish Company: The Due Diligence Process. Here’s some good news if you’re considering purchasing a Spanish company. The economy grew more than expected in the first quarter, a sign of resilience as inflation eased at the beginning of the year. Spain is predicted to avoid a recession. Sectors experiencing significant growth are services […]
The advantages of buying and investing in Galicia and inland Spain
Buying and investing in Galicia and inland Spain. Galicia, in north-western Spain, is not as well-known as some other regions but for those who enjoy the attractive countryside with the combination of coast, mountains, rivers and picturesque villages along with cooler temperatures, it is an excellent choice. It is cheaper than more popular areas of […]
Non fungible tokens (NFTs) explained
Non fungible tokens (NFTs) explained. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are gaining in popularity. We take a look at exactly what they are and how they work. What is an NFT? The term non-fungible refers to the fact that NFTs are unique and not interchangeable. As tokens, they show ownership of unique items such as art, […]
Del Canto Chambers expands with new office in Mallorca
Del Canto Chambers expands with new office en Mallorca. Del Canto Chambers is opening a new office in Palma, Mallorca, as the London-based barrister chambers expands its work across the UK and Spain in response to increasing demand for advice on the opportunities available in the Balearic Islands. Covid-19-related restrictions encouraged many to re-think their […]
Del Canto Chambers Galicia is born
Del Canto Chambers Galicia is born. Six reasons to open an international law and tax office in northwestern Spain Del Canto Chambers opens a new office in Galicia. The reasons? Perhaps it is its cities on the sea and surrounded by forests or perhaps the fact that Galicia has one of the best ways of […]
Right to one´s image in the digital age
Right to one´s image in digital age. Last month we all woke up reading that Spencer Elden, the man who was photographed as a baby on the album cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind, is suing the band. The news ignited the debate about privacy and lawful use of children’s images as today, with the increase of […]
Using a family investment company to pass on wealth
Using a family investment company to pass on wealth. For families looking for a secure and tax-efficient way to manage and pass on wealth, a family investment company may offer some distinct advantages. Traditionally in anglo saxon jurisdictions, trusts have often been used to protect wealth and shelter assets from Inheritance Tax liability. However, over […]
Global minimum corporate tax and impact on tax treaty shopping
Global minimum corporate tax and impact on tax treaty shopping. The G7, and later the G20, met in June 2021 to sign a new tax agreement designed to stop multinational and online tech companies from avoiding tax in many of the countries in which they operate by seeking out favourable tax havens elsewhere. The deal […]
Intellectual Property: tax issues in creating, holding and disposing of IP
Intellectual Property: tax issues in creating, holding and disposing of IP. Dealing with the tax situation for your intellectual property (IP) can be complicated. Governments often apply tax benefits to IP to encourage development and innovation. With the creation and ownership of IP increasing faster than ever, it is worth understanding the benefits available and […]
Gibraltar tax agreement with Spain
Gibraltar tax agreement with Spain. What does the tax agreement between Spain and Gibraltar mean for you? Gibraltar is not just a rock. The city is a special place, with a very interesting history that reflects the constant flux of relationships between Spain and the UK. The overseas territory has a thriving economy, based on […]
Starting a business in Spain
Starting a business in Spain. Thanks to its strategic position between Europe, Africa and Latin America, Spain has grown as an economic node of great importance in sectors like transportation, hospitality and technology. Its workforce, while cheaper than in many other European countries, has an excellent education. For these and other reasons, foreign businesspeople often […]
Copyright implications of Crypto Art, smart contracts, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for the independent creator
Copyright implications of Crypto Art, smart contracts, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) for the independent creator Copyright will not disappear despite the apocalyptic messages sent by so many techies, failing to understand a basic concept: creators and artists deserve a fair pay for their works. It is true that we fall short to recognise the social […]
Setting up a business in the UK
Setting up a business in the UK. The UK has long been one of the best places in the world for setting up a business. Company formation and registration are relatively cheap and easy and the UK’s tax structure means in the early, less-productive years a business will not be heavily taxed. It is important […]
What is copyright? UK copyright policy
What is a Copyright? UK copyright policy. Copyright can be simplified down to the legal right that an owner has over their piece of work, giving creators the ability to sell, rent, licence, copy and share it to a third party, and providing protection to prevent others from using their work without their permission. Copyright […]
Is independent lawyering under siege?
“Leon Fernando Del Canto published an article in The Barrister magazine’s Easter Term 2021 edition, entitled “Is independent lawyering under siege?” In the piece, Leon examines the rise of big law firms and the impact this is having on the social representations of how ‘an independent lawyer’ is perceived, not only among the general public, […]
Non-Fungible Tokens: The digital purchasing platform taking the virtual world by storm
Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFT’s for short, have been floating around the news and social media for the past few years, but only in the past year have they really taken the world by storm. They first arrived in 2015 and have since gained popularity all over the globe. An NFT is a piece of data […]
Spanish tax authorities use big data to check the residency status of international expatriates
The Spanish tax office’s (Agencia Tributaria – AEAT) Annual Tax and Customs Plan for 2021 is paying closer attention to international expatriates based on expenditure patterns and travels. Spain’s tax agency has announced that it will be using so-called big data to track the movements of high net worth individuals to check whether they are […]
Understanding trademarks: 5 trademark FAQs
A trademark is a mean to identify the goods or services of a particular organisation. By registering a trademark, you can safeguard your intellectual property by law. Protecting your brand is vital, as misuse can be damaging to your company’s reputation. Registering a trademark and defending it against violations means you can create trust on […]
A Spanish Lawyer and Barrister in United Kingdom
Hiring a legal professional is a tricky decision, particularly when one needs an urgent opinion on financial or fiscal and tax matters.
The rise of the family office
A family office is a flexible, convenient way to control investment, administer family affairs and deal with estate and tax planning. It is not a luxury for any family concerned with adequate succession planning and assets management. A single-family office deals with the affairs of just one family, while a multiple family office manages the […]
Manage and grow your firm in the new UK-EU relationship (video)
Last January 28th our Head of Chambers, León Fernando del Canto, joined the panel discussion in Clio’s webinar: How to Manage and Grow Your Firm in the New UK-EU Relationship. Some questions they’ve discussed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBHoPTVptY&t=11s León Fernando Del Canto leads Del Canto Chambers International Tax & Legal team. Fernando is a tax qualified English Barrister […]
The value of music publishing catalogues
It has been a struggle for the music industry to adapt to the online world. By the year 2000 it was already clear sales were going down and the CD was becoming obsolete. People were sharing files illegally and the boom of Napster was a real threat for artists who were already grappling with the […]
Intellectual property after Brexit
Intellectual property after Brexit. Global economy has moved progressively towards a more knowledge-based assets. Intangible assets account for more than half the value of companies and their importance is growing. Currently, companies compete more on innovation, creativity, and quality than on price. This has made Intellectual Property (IP) a powerful tool for enterprises to become […]
Technology does not always drive innovation
Technology does not always drive innovation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is also taking place in the legal sector and it is the time to stop to ponder and consider the true innovation that technology brings into our lives as legal professionals. In this article I expose the different pillars that comprise effective innovation, which are […]
How to relocate your business to Spain
How to relocate your business to SpainWhile businesses face challenging times on a global scale, UK investors are viewing Spain as one of the more attractive markets in Europe in which to be based post a Covid-19 economic slump. With concerns over a second lockdown rife, combined with the realisation that businesses can operate remotely […]
Boilerplate Clauses in Commercial Contracts
Boilerplate Clauses in Commercial Contracts. When it comes to daily life, you sign all sorts of contracts. Think you don’t? You might be surprised. When you get a phone and “accept” the disclosures and user agreement, that’s a contract. Lots of contracts surround financial work, such as loans for cars and homes. And most of […]
Internet defamation, the web cannot be the Wild West
Many call for a quick and achievable resolution for internet defamation. Unfortunately the Internet defamation is more usual than desired. It is not hard to imagine that at this very moment a person, hopefully, neither you nor I, is being defamed on the internet. Turn on with a single click. The screen of any terminal […]
Starting a business in Spain – Freelancer or Limited Company?
One of the questions asked by the entrepreneur residing in Spain is whether she should work as self-employed or should set up a company. Although we could consider for this analysis more types of companies, we chose Limited company (Sociedad limitada – SL) because it is the most common. It is important to clarify that […]
Defamation in digital media – Competent jurisdiction?
Our colleague Nuria Monjas de Castro has published an article about the problems of competent jurisdiction due to defamation in digital media. There is no a universal regulation to determine the competent court. It is a complicated issue that is usually resolved by applying a general rule: the domicile court of the defendant will be […]
McDonald's: new target in the EU tax offense
The European Union is tax-tackling McDonald’s and demands that the fast-food company pay a huge to Luxembourg for back taxes, just as it did with Apple. The American fast-food giant McDonald’s could face a fine imposed by the European Union of 466 million Euros in back taxes to be paid to Luxembourg. We are witnessing […]
Del Canto Chambers explains Apple Inc's case at Bloomberg in Spain
The economic journal Bloomberg BNA has published statements made by León Fernando del Canto in an article analyzing the fiscal situation faced by Apple in Europe after being sanctioned by the European Commission to pay 13bn euros in back taxes to Ireland. Journalists Rick Mitchell and Ben Stupples wrote in their article “Apple may face […]
The Times – Apple, state aid and "illegal" tax breaks
08-09-2016 | THE TIMES El diario británico The Times ha publicado unas declaraciones de nuestro Managing Partner, León Fernando del Canto sobre la reciente multa de 13.000 millones de euros que la Comisión Europea ha impuesto a Apple para pagar a Irlanda en concepto de impuestos atrasados.
International Taxation: No peace for evaders
HM Revenues & Customs proposals for sanctions against tax evasion, the BEPS project and Islamic finance have been the highlights of the week at Del Canto Chambers. International finance has led the way this week at Del Canto Chambers. We have analysed the emerging sector of Islamic finance, the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) […]
Del Canto Chambers discusses international tax evasion
This article will provide in- depth analysis on the measures that the OECD and the European Union are carrying out to combat international tax evasion. This week at Del Canto Chambers we have focused on providing analysis on international tax evasion. Since 2013, the OECD, has leads the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. […]
BEPS: Welcome to the OECD 2.0
The OECD is trying to resolve some of the classic international tax issues in the context of the digital economy. Welcome to the OECD 2.0 Since 2013 the OECD’s BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) is combating international tax fraud with a true multilateral tax reform proposal in a paper called “Action Plan on Base […]
BEPS project: global consensus against tax evasion
The OECD leads an international project to fight tax fraud that places a special focus on cross-border taxation of corporate income tax. In economic terms, “globalization” means the same as “world market”. Doing business globally also involves generating wealth on a global level, which, eventually, must be taxed. Countries, through multilateral or bilateral agreements, negotiate […]
Family Office services: tips to consider in the UK and Spain when setting them up
Different jurisdictions and tax schemes are keys to bear in mind when an FO is established A Family Office (FO) is a kind of business created to manage the single family or group family’s assets and wealth. It deals with wealth management such as financial, real estate and corporate investments and tax optimisation and its […]
Duties of a Company Director of a Spanish Limited Company (Sociedad Limitada – SL)
Duties of a Company Director of a Spanish Limited Company The Sociedad Limitada (SL), the Spanish name for Limited Liability Company (LLC), is the most common form of company in Spain and is similar to a limited company in other countries. Like any form of company, a Sociedad Limitada (SL) is aimed at performing all […]
Short-term double or quits on M&A and taxation
While in Europe markets are shrinking due to the Brexit, in the Middle East a new super-bank is being created which will start to operate in early 2017. Brexit, the European banks crisis (with Italy and Portugal just about to be rescued), the emerging economies’ lower growth and international markets’ instability are affecting the financial […]
New European Data Protection Regulation
The EU was needing a new law regarding data protection in order to replace the EU directive which dates from 1995, when the internet was still in its infancy. So finally last week, after more than four years of negotiation, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was passed in Strasbourg. This new law […]
Is Intellectual Property on its last legs?
What is money for authors? The reward for their creative work. In Money, Pink Floyd says: Money, it’s a crime. Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie. There is always someone else taking a slice of the authors rights pie. Producers, studios, publishers and distributors. As well as the public, skilled […]
Shall we talk about your book? The ten key legal points in publishing contracts
You have finished your novel, essay or poem and are ready to publish it. You literary work is original, and yes, congratulations, legally you are an author even before publication. Authors’ rights Your literary work is protected in Spain by what are known as “authors’ rights” (derechos de autor), regulated by the Spanish Ley de […]
Balancing the Books
£2.9bn, the cumulative worth of the 92 league clubs in England and Wales for 2010/11, up 9% on the previous season. Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance showed that despite the challenging economic conditions, football clubs are continuing to increase revenues and with £1.2bn paid to the treasury in Tax, football’s worth to the overall […]
OECD launches Tax Inspectors Without Borders
10/05/2012 – The OECD’s Task Force on Tax and Development, meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, has launched the concept of Tax Inspectors Without Borders/ Inspecteurs des impôts sans frontières – a new initiative to help developing countries bolster their domestic revenues by making their tax systems fairer and more effective. Building on that concept, the OECD […]
Lea Global Named Second Largest International Association
Konsilia is the LEA Global member in Qatar and Spain since 2005. Now LEA Global / The Leading Edge Alliance, has been ranked by the International Accounting Bulletin as the second largest international association of independent accounting firms for 2012. The LEA Global is an international alliance of independently owned accounting and consulting firms. Established […]
Tax: OECD to Simplify Transfer Pricing Rules
According to an article published by OECD on 28.03.12, at a meeting at OECD’s first Global Forum on Transfer Pricing tax, officials from 90 countries agreed on the need to simplify transfer pricing rules, strengthen the guidelines on intangible issues and improve the efficiency of dispute resolution. Transfer pricing rules determine how international transactions within […]
OECD Recommends Action on International Tax Loopholes
Aggressive tax planning – untaxed income, multiple deductions and other forms of international tax arbitrage – is a growing concern for all governments. OECD’s new report Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements: Tax Policy and Compliance Issues describes arrangements that exploit national differences in the tax treatment of instruments, entities or transfers to deduct the same expense in […]
KPMG Survey Suggests Progress on UK Tax Competitiveness
According to Andrew Goodall, at the Tax Journal, the UK’s corporate tax competitiveness ‘appears to have finally turned a corner’, KMPG said as it summarised the findings of a survey of 50 large businesses operating in the UK. In 2009 only 17% of respondents said the UK had ‘the most competitive tax system compared to […]
OECD Meets with Business Commentators on the Valuation of Intangibles for Transfer Pricing Purposes
On 7-9 November 2011, delegates from Working Party No. 6’s Special Session on the Transfer Pricing Aspects of Intangibles (“WP6-TPI”) met with private sector representatives to discuss definitional and ownership issues related to transfer pricing for intangibles. The agenda for the meeting, presentation material submitted by private sector participants and list of participants have now […]
USCIB Comments on OECD Intangibles Project
At the end of September, the taxation committee of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) issued its comments on the scope of the OECD’s project on the transfer pricing aspects of intangibles. The OECD had released a scoping document for this project in January of this year. The USCIB comments largely focused on […]
Jurisdiction for domain names
From Conflicts of Law Net I got this interesting case discussing the jurisdiction applicable to a domain name dispute. What are the potential tax consequences of this case? If a domain name jurisdiction is that of its registration, may we infer that a tax presence could be deemed too? The legal reasoning of this case […]
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER PRICING REVIEW
Konsilia, the Spanish and Qatari member Firm of The Leading Edge Alliance contributed to the publication of “Transfer Pricing, a comparative Analysis of 60 countries” published by REA, our associated Firm in Peru. The report compares the regulatory treatment of transfer pricing in 60 countries and how they affect the allocation of gains in intra-group […]
Questions regarding the prevalent Tax Law of the European Union
Once again the Campus of Jerez was the centre point for a development framework of a special forum which involved tax advisors, students, university professors and personnel from the Tax Office. On this occasion, a new conference took place on questions of the prevalent taxation within the European Union which the University of Cadiz imparts […]
The web cannot be the Wild West
Many call for a quick and achievable resolution for defamations. It is not hard to imagine that at this very moment a person, hopefully, neither you nor I, is being defamed on the internet. Turn on with a single click. The screen of any terminal is illuminated and the right to honor remains in the […]
London, global center of Family Offices
The British capital has the highest concentration of Family Offices in Europe, a booming business sector that manages high-net-worth families’ wealth. London is the Europe’s financial capital, headquarters of numerous businesses that move and attract extraordinary investments. Amongst its most vigorous businesses, is where Family Offices (FO) are found. They are companies that manage the […]
