abbey/santander share dealing

I've tried unsuccessfully twice to get the free share dealing pack from abbey. That was talking to a "real person" on the phone. I've rung again today and found a ghastly speech recognition system on the share dealing line - I don't hold out much hope :-(

Has anyone managed to get this pack??

Reply to
Mike Scott
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I had to make a decision for my mother who held Abbey shares from their flotation - although she happens to be Spanish, she has absolutley zero idea about finance (that was always my dad's job in life when he was alive) so I took the decision that I didn't want any additional tax declarations to deal with - especially not ones from a country where I have no idea what the rules are. So I decided to sell the shares in the market just before the deadline. Best decision I've made in a long time.

I'm now off to finish off my dad's almost overdue tax return for

2003/2004 (thanks to Ronald Raygun for his valuable knowledge on document numbers). Dealing with people's estates can be a right PITA sometimes...

regards, RM

Reply to
Reestit Mutton

My partner and her brother jointly own a few Abbey Shares which were left to them by their father. They are now Santander shares. Assuming, when they sell, they make a gain of less than £15,000, I understood that there was no need to declare it?

Reply to
Richard Faulkner

Not quite...

Banco Santander has set up a postal dealing account which is free for small shareholders, under certain conditions:

  • That you owned no more than 2,000 Abbey shares at 4.30pm on 12/11 * That you live in the UK and have an address here. * That your shares are held through Grupo Santander nominee service

You will also need your shareholder number, which was detailed on several of the letters sent out by the bank to shareholders once the bid was recommended. You should also be aware that because the service is postal, you will not have any control over the price you receive. It will merely be the market price at the time your order is executed. Neither will you be able to sell just part of your holding, it?s all or nothing. However, one enormous advantage of using the service is that you get round all the complexities of Spanish tax.

The address for an information pack is:

Grupo Santander nominee services The Causeway, Worthing West Sussex BN99 6DA

Tel 0870 532 9430 or fax 0870 600 3980

However, if you have more than 2,000 shares or choose not to use the free service you fall under both UK and Spanish tax regimes. You may have to fill out Spanish tax return form 210. You will not fall under Spanish capital gains rules because of the double-taxation agreement between the two nations.

However, in theory heirs of an Abbey shareholder fall foul of Spanish inheritance tax on disposal as well as UK inheritance tax, and this is levied from estates of roughly £11,020, much lower that the British threshold of £263,000.

THIS LAST BIT is something I didn't want to have to look into in addition to the complexities sorting out my late father's estate in the UK. Time is money...

Also, if we kept the shares, Spanish tax also afflicts Banco Santander dividends. Payments will be made net of a 15% witholding tax, yet you will still be liable for UK income tax on the gross dividend without benefit of the 10% tax credit. Top rate UK income tax earners would pay

32.5% of any Banco Santander payout, compared with a 25% tax on a UK firm?s dividend. This will not change even when the Spanish bank gets its shares listed on the UK market.

I dread to think what kind of declarations may also have to be made wrt income in Spain as a result of these dividends. Probably none, but I simply didn't have the time to investigate this issue in addition to everything else when the issue arose.

HtH RM

Reply to
Reestit Mutton

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