International art theft

A MAJOR international investigation into the illegal art trade across 14 European countries has recovered over 11,00 artefacts and has so far resulted in 60 arrests.

Operation Pandora VII was led by Spain’s Guardia Civil, along with the support of Europol and INTERPOL, in a report published on Thursday, May 4, by Europol.

The Pandora operation was conducted between September 13 ­ 24, 2022, with the aim of targeting criminals who profit from the theft and distribution of items of cultural heritage. Thousands of checks were carried out at numerous airports, ports and border crossing points, as well as in auction houses, museums and private houses.

Over 8,495 online investigations were also conducted last year in May and October, which successfully retrieved 4,017 stolen goods. Currently, around 130 investigations are still ongoing, with an international team of investigators expecting the number of arrests and seizures to rise.

Some notable results included an operation conducted by the Guardia Civil in Sevilla, where a Roman marble bust of a woman, believed to represent Salonia Matidia the niece of the emperor Traian, was recovered.

The UK tax year started on 6 April, so how will this impact your pocket? UK tax changes can affect you even if you are living in Spain, so here we outline the key announcements in the last two UK budgets.

Lifetime Allowance and other pensions tax changes

Probably the biggest surprise of the UK’s 2023 spring budget was the abolition of the pensions Lifetime Allowance and resulting tax charges.

While the Lifetime Allowance itself remains in place for now, the tax rate for breaching the limit is 0% from 6 April 2023 onwards. It will be scrapped entirely in the 2024 Finance Bill.

First introduced in 2006, your Lifetime Allowance is the amount you can hold in combined UK pension benefits (excluding state pension) before incurring additional tax charges – 55% for lump sums or 25% for income or overseas transfers. It has been cut significantly over recent years, from £1,800,000 in 2011 down to £1,073,100 before being scrapped.