Bank Statements ?????

[pansy potter]

Hi

We were checking our bank statement and saw a withdrawal that we have never seen before and wondered if anyone could help us. We have tried to translate it but to no avail. Its Embargo EJCTV.governbalear. Any info to enlighten us would be greatly appreciated !

Many Thanks

Pansy

 

[Sparky]

Hi Pansy Potter, "Embargo" means Seizure. So i assume the Balaeric authorities have taken money from your account.

 

[Project]

Hi Pansy
Most of the time when an embargo is put on your account it's because for some reason a local tax was not paid, i.e the annual property tax and/or rubbish collection. A good way to have a look at this is by putting your name and your NIE into google, often times if you have been owing something from a year or so it will come up with a publication from CAIB which lists all debters. It's an easy thing to happen, I was owing an amount for an abstract thing they used to do here for 4 years without my knowledge until one day I had an embargo on my account for a couple hundred euros and that was that.
The best thing to do with taxes is to get them withdrawn via direct debit, saves a lot of hassle. I hope this helps a bit.

 

[pansy potter]

Thank you Acidburn and Sparky for your replies. We feel terrible that this has happened and gone un noticed in our account and I suppose it can only be a tax we have missed paying as it is for approx 300 euros. The bank have not come back to us yet, as we dont speak Spanish very well we tend to email although our bank manager speaks excellent English. Will we be fined or not making this payment ? I cannot recall having any information sent to us regarding this bill, I thought all our D/Debits re taxes etc were covered when we bought our place 5 years ago ! Never mind at least there was some cash left to pay it !!!!

 

[alcanadakid]

It's easy to miss a payment as very often they are sent recorded delivery and if you aren't there the letter goes back to the tax office to await collection at a future date. We recently experienced this but fortunately we were there when the letter came, although we hadn't been the previous year.We weren't sure what it was either so we went to the bank and in our case they explained that it was a tax for "dirty water" meaning sewage. We went to the town hall and explained that we thought everything was covered by a standing order, which it had been for the first 3 years. The people there were very helpful and full of smiles. We had to pay both years tax plus interest on the previous year which wasn't a fortune. No fines. Ask your bank for an explanation and I am sure they will point you in the right direction. There are three taxes to pay, the council tax, the rubbish tax and the dirty water tax. Plus if you are non resident there is also the non resident tax.

 

[pollensa]

There are three taxes to pay, the council tax, the rubbish tax and the dirty water tax. Plus if you are non resident there is also the non resident tax.

Are you sure about this? In addition to our annual tax return which is dealt with by our solicitor, we have two payments taken out by Direct Debit by the 'Ajuntament de Pollenca':

One is called 'Recaptacio Tributs IBI' (council tax?)
The other is 'Recaptacio Tributs - Arbitris' (rubbish?)

These are both checked by our solicitor each year when they do our tax return so I'm pretty sure they're correct.

Alcanadakid, if you are in Alcanada, is yours from Alcudia? Maybe they do it differently?

What does everyone else pay?

 

[Belladonna]

I have just been talking to a friend who owns an apartment in main land Spain, and they had a shock the other month with their bank statements being frozen, direct debits not paid or the mortgage.
It turned out that there had been a form sent to them which required a re-registration of non-residency. Because they had not been there at that time, and therefore not sent it back, their accounts had been liquidated! They took a rush flight over at easter time, but will still have to check to see what direct debits etc had not been paid in order to catch up again.
Im wondering if the same thing is happening / going to happen in Majorca i.e even though we have filled them all in years ago, it will now be necessary to re-register. Something to be on the look out for.

 

[pansy potter]

Thank You Bella for pointing that out,when you are not there all the time it can happen very easily. We are in the process of changing our bank account to Halifax as it will be much easier to send money over as we bank with them here and sort out various problems. Just this morning I had to sort out a problem, I phoned the UK number ,they put me through and I spoke to a charming lady who spoke perfect English and could sort my problem straight away and give me a confirmation via email. What a relief ! our other bank although wonderful with charming staff in the PP branch, through my lack of fluent Spanish,it took much longer to sort out small queries. I m still waiting for a reply regarding my debit by the council even though I sent an english email plus a translation into Spanish. As the manager is so good I can forgive the lack of speed quite easily !!!

 

[pp ace]

The Halifax in PP are great

Sonia the bank manager cannot do enough for you

They treat you as an individual , valued client and not a faceless number like they do at home

We were recommended to go to the local Halifax rather than the international division adn I am glad we did , they have been excellent

 

[pansy potter]

Hi pp ace

We also have been very impressed so far, we have received phone calls form Sonia intoducing herself and her deputy as well as giving us the direct line phone numbers. Everything has been so easy, we are also in the process of re mortgaging with Halifax as the deal is very good plus no costs to change !

 

[sandy]

We have a Halifax account in the UK and Spain, and its excellent for transferring money between the two. You can now do this on line, for no fee. The more you transfer, the better the rate. Whenever we pop into the Halifax here in the Port, we're always greeted by name - don't get that in the UK!

 

[alcanadakid]

Are you sure about this? In addition to our annual tax return which is dealt with by our solicitor, we have two payments taken out by Direct Debit by the 'Ajuntament de Pollenca':

One is called 'Recaptacio Tributs IBI' (council tax?)
The other is 'Recaptacio Tributs - Arbitris' (rubbish?)

These are both checked by our solicitor each year when they do our tax return so I'm pretty sure they're correct.

Alcanadakid, if you are in Alcanada, is yours from Alcudia? Maybe they do it differently?

What does everyone else pay?

Pollensa, Yes I am very sure of this because we had to sort it out when we were there two weeks ago. Unfortunately I can't tell you the name of the tax because the documents are in Mallorca and we are currently in the UK. I consulted our lawyer Tirso Tarrago and he mentioned the three taxes as if it were normal. However, you do not have to pay the sewerage tax if you are not connected to the sewer AND you are more than 100m away from the sewer. In our case we have a septic tank and are not connected but we still have to pay because we are near to the sewer. Yes, we do pay taxes to Alcudia, so maybe they do it different. The new charge came as a complete surprise to us and we were concerned that last years tax had been unpaid. Also when we were there two weeks ago we got a visit from someone from the council trying to serve a tax to the previous occupants who moved out almost 5 years ago. I signed the form to say that they had left and he was happy, but on his car seat there were a pile of similar demands that he was trying to serve personally to other addresses. The people in the town hall in Alcudia were very friendly and helpful, although they spoke little English. They took us downstairs to the tourist office so that the lady there could translate for us.

 

[Lorenzo]

Banco Halifax Hispania in PP

Yes, I would also like to say that the Banco Halifax in PP gives excellent service.
Every time we have gone there we have been greeted by name.
Andreea usually helps us in the PP branch and she has often given us extra assistance with bill paying etc. My sister & I can't recommend them enough!

 

[pollensa]

'Dirty Water' Tax

Pollensa, Yes I am very sure of this because we had to sort it out when we were there two weeks ago. Unfortunately I can't tell you the name of the tax because the documents are in Mallorca and we are currently in the UK. I consulted our lawyer Tirso Tarrago and he mentioned the three taxes as if it were normal. However, you do not have to pay the sewerage tax if you are not connected to the sewer AND you are more than 100m away from the sewer. In our case we have a septic tank and are not connected but we still have to pay because we are near to the sewer. Yes, we do pay taxes to Alcudia, so maybe they do it different. The new charge came as a complete surprise to us and we were concerned that last years tax had been unpaid.

Does anyone else based in Pollensa know about this? We are in an apartment block & I am sure we are connected to the sewer. I thought I asked once about the 'rubbish' tax & was told that it included sewerage but I may be wrong.

 

[lollipop]

Pollensa we only pay two taxes and we are in the port, there are different items listed but I wonder if the water tax is covered by the community as we don't pay separate water bills and if you live in a block this may be the same.

 

[pansy potter]

With reference to my first post, the money was taken out of our account for non payment of a council tax. This happens quite often as alot of us are nt sure about all the various taxes and time spans in which to pay. If you do not pay then you automatically are taken to court ( although you re not there or know anything about it ) charges amounting to 100 euros or so are put on top of the tax and it is automatically taken from your bank. One way to ensure this does nt happen is to pay the tax in cash annually at the Tributeria ( Spell ?? ) in person in Pollensa, this way saving court charges !! I know we will be going a long in August to pay our dues !!

Pansy

 

[Belladonna]

If you set up a direct debit with your bank Im pretty sure they deal with it when its due.

 

[pansy potter]

Thanks Belladonna

We thought we had all th D/D s covered when we bought 6 years ago as our solicitor helped us, maybe its been cancelled by accident, who knows ?? We were advised by a resident to go to the office and pay in person where possible to save this happening again. I suppose we ll never fully understand all the differnet systems the Spanish have unless we lived there full time and spoke fluent spanish !! We have changed our bank now so hopefully no more hiccups as the halifax are wonderful in PP and everything in perfect English !

Thanks again

Pansy

 

[lollipop]

Council taxes always come out towards the end of October each year. If you do not have enough money in your account the Halifax will contact you if they have details to let you know and give you time to transfer funds. I think they get 5days in which to pay.

 

[Major Tom]

Council Tax, had a problem myself had to go to the office in Pollensa to sort
it out. The new office is along from the Cloisters keep this building on your right
and turn right and first left (sorry don't know name of the road) the office has
a glass front and is on the left it is very modern !