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Originally Posted by Bircho
That health agreement was to allow Spanish citizens in the UK access to the NHS and in return Spain wouldn't try to regain Gibraltar and also allowed Gibraltar to become part of the EC.
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Nonsense - as you would know if you read the source I provided. The health agreement was reciprocal. And if you have a source that shows Spain had to "allow" Gibraltar to become part of the EEC along with the UK, do please provide it. Spain has pressed its claim over Gibraltar continuously since Franco, which tends to preclude the possibility that its sovereignty was somehow settled between the governments in 1973.
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Think you are getting what happens with double taxation rules mixed up. The UK has double taxation rules with virtually the whole western world. Basically, it means that if you are taxed in Spain at one rate, you can deduct the tax you have paid in Spain against your UK tax allowance (and similarly Spanish citizens can do the same from UK earnings). That is nothing to do with the EU. There are no income tax rules within the EU and even if there was, we would still be entitled to opt out. It is in the treatys already.
For a UK tax payer, as it stands, if you rent a property in Spain the allowances you can offset are very similar to that of the UK and in Spain the tax rate is 19%. There are, however, other taxes you can offset as well that you pay in Spain so you can offset the full amount. It gets complex!
At the current time, all let property in the UK is at the basic rate (20%) however, this is changing come next month and the rate you pay is based on your income rate so if you are a higher rate tax payer that is the liability you will have to pay (ie the difference between 40% and 19% in Spain.
When Spain joined the EU in 1986, and various decress since then, the rules became if you rent a property and you are not a citizen of the EU, then you pay 22% of all income. That means you cannot offset the costs against the income - its a huge difference.
I agree that will only affect the 200,000 Brits with property rentals in Spain, but the amounts involved will be significant. I cannot see Spain changing their Laws to suit the Brits to be honest. In fact, the Spainish Government is probably rubbing its hands together ready for a windfall (and if people choose to sell then they will still get their 8.5% property tax (paid by the buyer so they definitely get their money) or if people choose not sell but also not to rent they still get their INIR tax so they won't be bothered).
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The point I was making was a lot simpler than you're treating it. It is simply this: bilateral agreements between European countries have been commonplace over a great many years. It is the EU that is the anomaly in historical terms. If Spain and the UK can reach such an agreement, despite Spain being under a dictatorship and pressing territorial claims over Gibraltar, then there is no reason to think similar arrangements can't be reached post-Brexit.
In fact I find the prospect of the UK forging relations bilaterally, tailored to the interests of us and the third party, rather exciting. Much better than the EU's one-size-fits-nobody approach.