Frozen Bank Account

[bobw1956]

Hi All.
We have owned a property in Spain for the last 15 years ,we sold the house in April last year,
Spanish law dictates the buyer with holds 3% of the purchase, which is then reimbursed after any taxes that are due are taken out.
The problem is that unless you produce passports n.i.e numbers etc;every 12 months, the banks will freeze the account ,although money can be taken out ,money cannot be deposited,

So when our 3% is due it cannot be deposited into the account  as it is now frozen,Can anyone advise the way to get around this problem.
Thanks

[Spurs]

Can you not email a copy of the passports and nine numbers to bank ?

[bobw1956]

No I have spoken to my bank,I suggested that but they weren’t very helpful

[BeachLife]

Hi Bob

Its not easy - same thing happened to us with BBVA. Although its not a annual thing with them we had to go to the Torre branch and present passports and NIE's to get it unlocked last year. I dont know any way around it apart from presenting yourself in person (and it MUST be both of you if its a joint account) to do the paperwork.

[John H]

Hi Bob, our solicitor arranged for ours to be paid  directly from theSpanish tax authorities into our UK bank account, it was paid in 9 months after we completed the sale

Regards all

John

[bobw1956]

Thanks all,it’s a nightmare 

[Tony Gillam]

My lawyer dealt with the refund for me and it was sent to my UK based Euro a/c and, contrary to expectations, came through quite quickly.