For Advice Firms in Spain: One View of Every US-Connected Client

If your firm advises expats on the Costa del Sol, in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia or the Balearics, a growing share of your book has a US connection: US citizens, green card holders, or British clients with a US spouse. Their money rarely sits in one place. A typical household has a Spanish bank account, a US brokerage account, an IRA or 401(k), a UK pension and sometimes property in two countries. You see the part you manage. The rest is held away.

US-connected clients resident in Spain report the same assets to two tax authorities, on different calendars and with different thresholds:

• Modelo 720: Spanish tax residents declare assets held outside Spain when a category (accounts, securities, real estate) exceeds 50,000 euros, between 1 January and 31 March for the previous year.
• FBAR: US persons file when their non-US accounts total more than $10,000 at any point in the year. For a US citizen in Spain, the Spanish accounts are the foreign ones.
• Form 8938 (FATCA): for a single filer living abroad, required above $200,000 at year-end or $300,000 at any time in the year.

Each of these needs year-end and highest balances per account. When the numbers live in six institutions, someone spends January chasing statements. On top of that, several US brokers now restrict accounts for customers with a non-US address, so client money may have to move. See which custodians are closing non-resident accounts.

• One view of each client's accounts across Spain, the US, the UK and more, including the assets you do not manage.
• Tax-ready data packs the client can hand to their accountant, so your firm is not the one chasing statements in January.
• A tax outlook and a scenario planner, so a review meeting can cover a move, a sale or a pension decision with the whole picture on the table.

An adviser in Marbella invites a US-UK couple to connect their accounts. By the end of the week the firm sees ten accounts in three countries, of which a fifth are with the firm. The household's US brokerage account is flagged as one that may be restricted. The adviser opens the review with that flag, and the client's accountant receives a data pack for Modelo 720 and FBAR instead of a box of statements. See the sample Spain household report (example data).

Aequify does not replace your client's tax adviser. It gives both of you the same numbers. For the full list of what to collect from US-connected clients in Spain, read our compliance checklist for wealth firms in Spain and the free held-away account review template.

Accounts connected before 31 December mean year-end balances are ready in January. Founding firms can try Aequify free for 60 days with their first client households. See how Aequify works for advice firms.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Thresholds and dates are as published by the IRS and the Spanish Tax Agency at the time of writing.