Taxes

Tax residence, rates, schemes for newcomers.

Checked on 28 October 2026

When do you become tax resident in Spain, and how does income tax (IRPF) work?

You become tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days there in the calendar year, or if the centre of your activities or of your economic interests is there; and if your spouse (not legally separated) and your dependent minor children live there, the administration presumes that you are resident, unless you prove otherwise. As a resident, you pay IRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas, income tax) on your worldwide income, with a scale that adds a State share and a share from your autonomous community. You declare the past year between April and the end of June, online with Renta WEB, often from a draft (borrador) prepared by the Agencia Tributaria (the tax authority).

Costs: Free online return (Renta WEB); tax according to a progressive scale, State + autonomous community
Timeframes: Return for year N between April and the end of June N+1 (Renta 2025: from 8 April to 30 June 2026)

Steps

Check your status for the year. Count your days in Spain ("sporadic" absences count as presence, unless you prove your tax residence in another country) and look at where your income and assets are. The law reasons by the whole calendar year (see "Common pitfalls").
If you also have a strong link with your former country, apply the tax treaty between Spain and that country: its tie-breaker rules (permanent home, centre of vital interests…) decide when both countries consider you a resident. Keep a tax residence certificate from each country concerned.
Make yourself known to the Agencia Tributaria: your NIE serves as your tax number (sheet ES-NIF-TOUS-001). Update your tax address.
Check whether you have to file. You must in principle file, except for exceptions in the law (for example employment income only, under €22,000 per year from a single payer). You must always file if you have been an autónomo (self-employed) during the year or if you claim the deduction for international double taxation.
During the Renta campaign (April to June), log in to Renta WEB with Cl@ve, an electronic certificate or a reference number, check your borrador, correct it (foreign income, deductions of your autonomous community) and validate.
Pay or receive your refund. If you have to pay, you can split it into two instalments without interest or surcharge: 60% when you file your return, 40% later (for Renta 2025, second due date 5 November 2026, Agencia Tributaria 2026 calendar; the date changes every year).

Documents

Your NIE and a means of online identification (Cl@ve, FNMT certificate): see ES-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001.
Certificates of Spanish income (employer, bank) and foreign income (pensions, rents, dividends).
Proof of tax paid abroad, for the double taxation deduction.
A tax residence certificate from the other country, if you claim that you are not (or no longer) a Spanish resident.

Costs and timelines

2026 State scale (State share, general base): 9.5% up to €12,450; 12% up to €20,200; 15% up to €35,200; 18.5% up to €60,000; 22.5% up to €300,000; 24.5% beyond (art. 63 of the IRPF law, unchanged since 2021 in the consolidated text of 07/10/2026).
Autonomous community share: each community sets its own scale, which is added to the State one. The total rate therefore depends on where you live: look at your community's scale in the Agencia Tributaria's Renta manual. Example, Balearic Islands for 2025: from 9% up to €10,000 to 24.75% above €175,000.
2026 savings income (interest, dividends, capital gains): the State share ranges from 9.5% to 15%; with the equivalent autonomous share, the total ranges from 19% (up to €6,000) to 30% (above €300,000). Here the autonomous share is not free: the State law sets the same scale for both shares (art. 66 and 76 of the IRPF law, since 1 January 2025), hence a total of 19%, 21%, 23%, 27% and 30% depending on the brackets.
Renta 2025 campaign (2025 income): from 8 April to 30 June 2026 online; telephone assistance from 6 May and in office from 1 June 2026. The campaign for 2026 income will take place in spring 2027: the Agencia Tributaria publishes the exact dates in its taxpayer calendar, generally at the end of the year.
Return: free of charge on the Agencia Tributaria website.

Common pitfalls

Believing you are resident "from the date of arrival". Spanish law looks at the whole calendar year: depending on your days and your interests, you are resident or not for the entire year. A year of departure or arrival is often settled with the tax treaty. A delicate case: have it validated by a professional.
The 183 days are not the only criterion. If the main centre of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, you are resident even with fewer than 183 days. And if your spouse (not legally separated) and your dependent minor children live in Spain, the administration presumes that you are resident, unless you prove otherwise (art. 9 of the IRPF law).
Denmark no longer has a treaty with Spain (terminated by Denmark with effect from 1 January 2009, according to the Ministry of Finance). Double taxation is then settled by domestic law.
Moving between communities to pay less. A change of residence whose main purpose is to reduce tax has no effect (art. 72 of the IRPF law). The administration presumes there was no change when three conditions combine: your taxable base increases by at least 50% in the year of the change or the next one compared with the year before, your effective tax is then lower than in the former community, and you return to the former community the following year or the one after. It does not presume this if your new residence lasts at least three years in a row.
Forgetting accounts and assets abroad. Above certain thresholds, a separate declaration is required (modelo 720): see ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-003.
Basque Country and Navarre. These territories have their own tax regime (régimen foral): if you live there, your IRPF is run by the Diputación Foral of your province (Álava, Biscay, Gipuzkoa) or by the Hacienda de Navarre, with their own rules and scales, not by the Agencia Tributaria.
Ceuta and Melilla. Residents of these two cities deduct 60% of the part of the tax that corresponds to income earned locally (art. 68.4 of the IRPF law).
Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. Like the other common-regime communities, they have their own autonomous scale and their own deductions (Renta 2025 manual). In the Canary Islands, 2025 scale from 9% (up to €13,748) to 26% (above €123,745), amended for 2025 by Canary Islands budget law 9/2025; in the Balearic Islands, from 9% to 24.75%.

What changes by country of origin

EU, EEA and Swiss countries: Spain has a tax treaty with all EU states except Denmark, as well as with Switzerland, Norway and Iceland (Ministry of Finance list). No treaty with Liechtenstein: it does not appear on the Ministry's list (consulted on 20/10/2026). Double taxation is then settled by Spanish domestic law (deduction for tax paid abroad).
United Kingdom (Scotland included): the Ministry's list indicates a "renegotiated" treaty. The treaty in force was signed in London on 14/03/2013, published in the BOE on 15/05/2014 and entered into force on 12/06/2014; it replaced the 1975 one. The Scottish brackets only apply to UK tax.
Pensioners: each treaty has its own rule for pensions. Example, the treaty with the United Kingdom (art. 17 and 18): a pension is taxed in the country where you reside (Spain), except a civil service pension, taxed in the paying country, unless you are both resident and a national of Spain. Other treaties have their variants (social security pensions, annuities): read the one for your country, or get help for a mixed case.
New arrivals who are employees or remote workers: look at the impatriate regime (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-002), to be requested within 6 months.

Official sources (11) ›

Checked on 28 October 2026

The impatriate regime (known as the "Beckham law"): can you pay 24% tax when you settle in Spain?

If you become tax resident in Spain because you come to work there, you can choose to be taxed as a non-resident: 24% on your income up to €600,000 per year and 47% beyond, and in principle only on your Spanish-source income (your salary or eligible activity being deemed Spanish). You must not have been a Spanish tax resident during the previous 5 years and you must arrive for an employment contract (including remote work), a post as a company director, a recognised entrepreneurial activity or a highly qualified position in a startup or in research. You apply with modelo 149 within 6 months of the start of your activity, and the regime lasts for the year you become tax resident plus the following 5 years.

Costs: Free procedure (modelo 149); 24% on income up to €600,000, 47% beyond (rates in force in 2026)
Timeframes: Application within 6 months of the start of the activity; regime for the year you become resident and the following 5 years

Steps

Check the non-residence condition: you must not have been a tax resident in Spain during the 5 tax periods before your arrival (10 years before 2023). The count starts from the year you become resident.
Check the reason for your arrival, which must occur in the year the regime starts or the year before:
- employment contract with an employer in Spain, or a transfer ordered by your employer with a secondment letter, or remote work for an employer (even a foreign one) using exclusively computer and telematic means (the international remote work visa counts);
- director of a company (if the company is an asset-holding company, your stake must stay below the "related person" threshold);
- entrepreneurial activity that is innovative or of economic interest to Spain, with a favourable report from ENISA (public body) requested before your arrival;
- highly qualified professional serving a recognised startup (empresa emergente, law 28/2022) or in training, research, development and innovation (more than 40% of your activity income).
Check the exclusion: you must not have income through a permanent establishment in Spain (in practice, an ordinary self-employed activity), except for the entrepreneurial or qualified professional activity that gives entitlement to the regime.
Obtain your NIE and register with the Seguridad Social (or keep the certificate of your home social security scheme if you are posted).
Submit your supporting documents through the Agencia Tributaria online service "Aportar documentación necesaria para optar por el régimen especial": you obtain a registration number.
Send modelo 149 online, with this number, within 6 months of the start date of the activity registered with the Spanish Seguridad Social (or in the document that keeps you in the scheme of your country of origin).
Each year, declare your income on modelo 151 (and not on the ordinary Renta return). Your employer withholds 24% at source.
Family: your spouse and your children under 25 (no age limit in case of disability), or the other parent of your children if you are not married, can also benefit if they arrive with you (or before the end of your first year of the regime), become residents, meet the same conditions and have together a taxable base lower than yours. Each person submits their own modelo 149.

Documents

NIE and registration in the tax census.
Employment contract, employer's secondment letter, remote work certificate, or deed of appointment as a director, depending on your case.
Favourable ENISA report (entrepreneurs) or proof of qualification and of the recognised startup (qualified professionals).
Certificate of registration with the Spanish Seguridad Social, or document keeping you in the scheme of your country of origin.
Registration number of the supporting documents submitted to the Agencia Tributaria.

Costs and timelines

2026 rates on employment income and eligible activity income: 24% up to €600,000; 47% beyond.
2026 rates on dividends, interest and capital gains: 19% up to €6,000; 21% up to €50,000; 23% up to €200,000; 27% up to €300,000; 30% beyond (scale in force since 1 January 2025, law 7/2024; confirmed by art. 93.2 of the IRPF law and by the Agencia Tributaria's Renta 2025 manual, chapter 15, updated 17/03/2026).
Withholding at source on salary: 24% (47% on the part above €600,000 from the same payer).
Application deadline: 6 months from the start of the activity. After the deadline, the regime is lost.
Duration: the year you become resident (the first calendar year with more than 183 days in Spain after your arrival, art. 115 of the IRPF regulation) and the following 5 years.
Procedure: free of charge, online only.

Common pitfalls

Missing the 6 months. This is pitfall number one. The date that counts is the start of activity at the Seguridad Social, not your physical arrival.
Being an "ordinary" self-employed person. An ordinary freelancer or autónomo does not qualify for the regime: only the entrepreneur with an ENISA report and the highly qualified professional for a startup or R&D are entitled to it outside employment.
Believing everything is at 24%. Foreign income other than salary (rents, dividends from abroad) is in principle not taxed in Spain during the regime, but your Spanish capital income is, according to the savings scale. And a deduction for international double taxation exists for employment and entrepreneurial income earned abroad, limited to 30% of the part of the tax that corresponds to that income (art. 114 of the IRPF regulation).
The advantages lost. You are treated as a non-resident for the calculation: no joint return, no family or regional deductions of ordinary IRPF. For an average income, the regime can cost more than normal IRPF: have the comparison done.
Wealth tax. With this regime, you are only liable to the Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio on your assets located in Spain (art. 93 of the IRPF law).
Waiving is final. The waiver is made in November or December for the following year, and you can never opt in again. If you no longer meet a condition, you must report it within the month (modelo 149).
Basque Country and Navarre. Article 93 applies to the territory run by the Agencia Tributaria. If you live in the Basque Country or Navarre, it is the tax rule of the Diputación Foral or of the Hacienda de Navarre that applies, with its own schemes for impatriates. In Biscay, for example, the regime is that of art. 56 bis of Norma Foral 13/2013: according to the Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia (2022 news page, to be reconfirmed for the current year), since 2022, exemption of 30% of gross remuneration (instead of 15%), for the year of arrival and the following 10 years, also open to management, administration or sales posts and to the self-employed. This is a completely different mechanism from the 24% rate: ask the Hacienda of your province (Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Álava) or of Navarre.

What changes by country of origin

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: no residence authorisation needed. The IRPF regulation (art. 113) is clear: the prior residence authorisation applies to third-country nationals; an EU citizen entrepreneur only needs the favourable ENISA report, requested before arrival (reply within 10 working days). For the highly qualified professional, it is the qualification referred to in art. 71 of law 14/2013 that counts; the residence authorisation is only a means of proving it.
British citizens (Scotland included): third-country nationals since Brexit. The international remote work visa (law 14/2013) expressly opens the regime to remote-working employees. For the entrepreneur, the residence authorisation for entrepreneurial activity (art. 69 of law 14/2013) is needed before you settle (art. 113 of the IRPF regulation); for the highly qualified professional, the authorisation of art. 71 is enough to prove the qualification. Plan these procedures before you leave.
If you remain affiliated to your country's social security (posting, form A1): the 6-month period runs from the start date of activity shown on that document.

Official sources (9) ›

Checked on 28 October 2026

Assets abroad (modelo 720), local taxes and wealth tax: which other taxes concern you in Spain?

As a tax resident in Spain, you must declare each year before 31 March your accounts, investments and real estate abroad (modelo 720) as soon as one of these three categories exceeds €50,000. If you own property, your town hall claims the IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles, the equivalent of property tax) from you every year, and when you resell urban land or a home, the plusvalía municipal (tax on the increase in value of the land). Large estates also pay the Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (wealth tax), whose rules vary a great deal from one autonomous community to another.

Costs: IBI: 0.4% to 1.10% of the cadastral value for a home (rate set by the town hall, before possible surcharges); modelo 720: free declaration
Timeframes: Modelo 720: from 1 January to 31 March of the following year; IBI: due on 1 January each year; plusvalía: 30 working days after the sale

Steps

Take an inventory of your assets outside Spain on 31 December, in three blocks: bank accounts; securities, life insurance and annuities; real estate.
Test the €50,000 threshold for each block. For accounts, the Agencia Tributaria looks at the balance on 31 December and the average balance of the last quarter (whichever is higher), offsetting negative balances. A peak during the year does not count.
File modelo 720 online between 1 January and 31 March of the following year. Cryptocurrencies held abroad do not go in the 720 but in modelo 721.
In the following years, only file again if the value of a block has increased by more than €20,000 since the last declaration, or if you have sold or closed an asset already declared.
Owner in Spain: watch for the IBI notice from your town hall (or from the provincial body that collects it) and set up a direct debit if possible.
You sell a property: declare the plusvalía municipal to the town hall within 30 working days (6 months in case of inheritance). If you resell at a loss, bring the purchase and sale deeds to prove there is no capital gain: the tax is then not due.
Large estate: check each year whether you must file the wealth tax return (modelo 714) and the large fortunes solidarity tax return (modelo 718).

Documents

Foreign bank statements on 31 December and for the last quarter.
Securities statements, life insurance contracts, title deeds abroad (date and purchase value).
For the plusvalía: notarial purchase and sale deeds.
For the IBI: the referencia catastral (cadastral reference) of the home.

Costs and timelines

Modelo 720: free; from 1 January to 31 March (31 March 2026 for the year 2025). If online filing is impossible for a technical reason, there is a four-day tolerance.
Penalties for the 720: since the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 27 January 2022 and law 5/2022, these are the general penalties of the tax law (art. 198 and 199 of the Ley General Tributaria), applied separately to each block. Late declaration: €20 per data item or group of data items relating to the same person or entity (the definition of the "data item" for each block is in art. 42 bis, 42 ter and 54 bis of RD 1065/2007), at least €300 and at most €20,000 (half if you file late before any request from the administration); incomplete or inaccurate declaration: fines under art. 199 (fixed per data item or proportional depending on the case). Amounts from the law in force in 2026.
IBI: rate set by each town hall, between 0.4% and 1.10% of the cadastral value for an urban property (0.3% to 0.90% for a rustic property), with possible surcharges depending on the municipality. It is due by the owner on 1 January of the year.
Plusvalía municipal: rate set by the town hall, at most 30%, applied to a base calculated from the cadastral value of the land. It is due by the seller. If the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer pays it in their place.
Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (year 2025): general allowance of €700,000 and exemption of the main residence up to €300,000. Some communities set a different allowance: €500,000 in Catalonia and Extremadura, €1,000,000 in the Valencian Community, €3,000,000 in the Balearic Islands. Declaration compulsory if the tax is positive or if your assets exceed €2,000,000. Other communities reduce the tax through a relief (Patrimonio 2025 manual): 100% in Extremadura; 100% in Cantabria for net wealth up to €3,000,000 after the allowance; 50% in Galicia. Madrid, Andalusia, La Rioja and Murcia have a 100% relief that is suspended as long as the large fortunes solidarity tax exists: the relief covers only the difference with the latter: in practice, you only pay the equivalent of the solidarity tax, due above €3,000,000.
Temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes: on net wealth of more than €3,000,000, declared in July of the following year (modelo 718). Created for 2022 and 2023 (law 38/2022), it was extended by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 "for as long as wealth taxation is not reviewed" in the reform of community financing: it still applies to the year 2025 (Patrimonio 2025 manual), and remains in force as long as no law abolishes it.

Common pitfalls

Forgetting the 720 in the year of arrival. As soon as you are a tax resident for a year, the declaration is due for the assets held on 31 December of that year.
Thinking "declaring" means "paying". The 720 is an information return. The income from these assets is declared in your IRPF return.
Beneficiaries of the impatriate regime (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-002): taxed as non-residents, they are not required to file the 720 (Agencia Tributaria FAQ, updated 08/09/2026). The exemption does not extend to the other household members who are tax residents in Spain.
Buying without checking for unpaid IBI. The IBI is attached to the property: ask the seller for the last notice paid.
Confusing the taxes on purchase. On purchase, you pay either VAT (IVA, 10% for a new home sold by a developer, according to administracion.gob.es), or the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (second-hand home), whose rate is set by each autonomous community.
Canary Islands: when buying a new home, it is the IGIC (Canary Islands indirect tax) and not VAT: 7% in general, 5% for your main residence if the price does not exceed €150,000 and you have no other home, 3% in some cases (aged 35 or under, large family, modest income…), 0% for protected housing (art. 51 and 58 of Canary Islands law 4/2012).
Ceuta and Melilla: transfer tax there is run by the State (modelo 600), not by an autonomous community.
Basque Country and Navarre: wealth tax and IRPF come under the Haciendas forales, with their own thresholds.

What changes by country of origin

All countries: the 720 covers your assets located outside Spain, whatever the country. The income from these assets may also remain taxable in the country where they are located: the tax treaty allocates the right to tax (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
Owners who keep a home in their country of origin: the home goes into the "real estate" block of the 720 and, if your wealth is high, into Spanish wealth tax.
British citizens (Scotland included): same rules; Spain has a treaty with the United Kingdom.

Official sources (14) ›

These guides give the general rules. Your situation can change the answer: Moovy looks at it with you and tells you when you need a professional.

When do you become tax resident in Spain, and how does income tax (IRPF) work?

Costs: Free online return (Renta WEB); tax according to a progressive scale, State + autonomous community
Timeframes: Return for year N between April and the end of June N+1 (Renta 2025: from 8 April to 30 June 2026)

Steps

Check your status for the year. Count your days in Spain ("sporadic" absences count as presence, unless you prove your tax residence in another country) and look at where your income and assets are. The law reasons by the whole calendar year (see "Common pitfalls").
If you also have a strong link with your former country, apply the tax treaty between Spain and that country: its tie-breaker rules (permanent home, centre of vital interests…) decide when both countries consider you a resident. Keep a tax residence certificate from each country concerned.
Make yourself known to the Agencia Tributaria: your NIE serves as your tax number (sheet ES-NIF-TOUS-001). Update your tax address.
Check whether you have to file. You must in principle file, except for exceptions in the law (for example employment income only, under €22,000 per year from a single payer). You must always file if you have been an autónomo (self-employed) during the year or if you claim the deduction for international double taxation.
During the Renta campaign (April to June), log in to Renta WEB with Cl@ve, an electronic certificate or a reference number, check your borrador, correct it (foreign income, deductions of your autonomous community) and validate.
Pay or receive your refund. If you have to pay, you can split it into two instalments without interest or surcharge: 60% when you file your return, 40% later (for Renta 2025, second due date 5 November 2026, Agencia Tributaria 2026 calendar; the date changes every year).

Documents

Your NIE and a means of online identification (Cl@ve, FNMT certificate): see ES-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001.
Certificates of Spanish income (employer, bank) and foreign income (pensions, rents, dividends).
Proof of tax paid abroad, for the double taxation deduction.
A tax residence certificate from the other country, if you claim that you are not (or no longer) a Spanish resident.

Costs and timelines

2026 State scale (State share, general base): 9.5% up to €12,450; 12% up to €20,200; 15% up to €35,200; 18.5% up to €60,000; 22.5% up to €300,000; 24.5% beyond (art. 63 of the IRPF law, unchanged since 2021 in the consolidated text of 07/10/2026).
Autonomous community share: each community sets its own scale, which is added to the State one. The total rate therefore depends on where you live: look at your community's scale in the Agencia Tributaria's Renta manual. Example, Balearic Islands for 2025: from 9% up to €10,000 to 24.75% above €175,000.
2026 savings income (interest, dividends, capital gains): the State share ranges from 9.5% to 15%; with the equivalent autonomous share, the total ranges from 19% (up to €6,000) to 30% (above €300,000). Here the autonomous share is not free: the State law sets the same scale for both shares (art. 66 and 76 of the IRPF law, since 1 January 2025), hence a total of 19%, 21%, 23%, 27% and 30% depending on the brackets.
Renta 2025 campaign (2025 income): from 8 April to 30 June 2026 online; telephone assistance from 6 May and in office from 1 June 2026. The campaign for 2026 income will take place in spring 2027: the Agencia Tributaria publishes the exact dates in its taxpayer calendar, generally at the end of the year.
Return: free of charge on the Agencia Tributaria website.

Common pitfalls

Believing you are resident "from the date of arrival". Spanish law looks at the whole calendar year: depending on your days and your interests, you are resident or not for the entire year. A year of departure or arrival is often settled with the tax treaty. A delicate case: have it validated by a professional.
The 183 days are not the only criterion. If the main centre of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, you are resident even with fewer than 183 days. And if your spouse (not legally separated) and your dependent minor children live in Spain, the administration presumes that you are resident, unless you prove otherwise (art. 9 of the IRPF law).
Denmark no longer has a treaty with Spain (terminated by Denmark with effect from 1 January 2009, according to the Ministry of Finance). Double taxation is then settled by domestic law.
Moving between communities to pay less. A change of residence whose main purpose is to reduce tax has no effect (art. 72 of the IRPF law). The administration presumes there was no change when three conditions combine: your taxable base increases by at least 50% in the year of the change or the next one compared with the year before, your effective tax is then lower than in the former community, and you return to the former community the following year or the one after. It does not presume this if your new residence lasts at least three years in a row.
Forgetting accounts and assets abroad. Above certain thresholds, a separate declaration is required (modelo 720): see ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-003.
Basque Country and Navarre. These territories have their own tax regime (régimen foral): if you live there, your IRPF is run by the Diputación Foral of your province (Álava, Biscay, Gipuzkoa) or by the Hacienda de Navarre, with their own rules and scales, not by the Agencia Tributaria.
Ceuta and Melilla. Residents of these two cities deduct 60% of the part of the tax that corresponds to income earned locally (art. 68.4 of the IRPF law).
Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. Like the other common-regime communities, they have their own autonomous scale and their own deductions (Renta 2025 manual). In the Canary Islands, 2025 scale from 9% (up to €13,748) to 26% (above €123,745), amended for 2025 by Canary Islands budget law 9/2025; in the Balearic Islands, from 9% to 24.75%.

What changes by country of origin

EU, EEA and Swiss countries: Spain has a tax treaty with all EU states except Denmark, as well as with Switzerland, Norway and Iceland (Ministry of Finance list). No treaty with Liechtenstein: it does not appear on the Ministry's list (consulted on 20/10/2026). Double taxation is then settled by Spanish domestic law (deduction for tax paid abroad).
United Kingdom (Scotland included): the Ministry's list indicates a "renegotiated" treaty. The treaty in force was signed in London on 14/03/2013, published in the BOE on 15/05/2014 and entered into force on 12/06/2014; it replaced the 1975 one. The Scottish brackets only apply to UK tax.
Pensioners: each treaty has its own rule for pensions. Example, the treaty with the United Kingdom (art. 17 and 18): a pension is taxed in the country where you reside (Spain), except a civil service pension, taxed in the paying country, unless you are both resident and a national of Spain. Other treaties have their variants (social security pensions, annuities): read the one for your country, or get help for a mixed case.
New arrivals who are employees or remote workers: look at the impatriate regime (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-002), to be requested within 6 months.

Official sources (11) ›

Checked on 28 October 2026

The impatriate regime (known as the "Beckham law"): can you pay 24% tax when you settle in Spain?

Costs: Free procedure (modelo 149); 24% on income up to €600,000, 47% beyond (rates in force in 2026)
Timeframes: Application within 6 months of the start of the activity; regime for the year you become resident and the following 5 years

Steps

Check the non-residence condition: you must not have been a tax resident in Spain during the 5 tax periods before your arrival (10 years before 2023). The count starts from the year you become resident.
Check the reason for your arrival, which must occur in the year the regime starts or the year before:
- employment contract with an employer in Spain, or a transfer ordered by your employer with a secondment letter, or remote work for an employer (even a foreign one) using exclusively computer and telematic means (the international remote work visa counts);
- director of a company (if the company is an asset-holding company, your stake must stay below the "related person" threshold);
- entrepreneurial activity that is innovative or of economic interest to Spain, with a favourable report from ENISA (public body) requested before your arrival;
- highly qualified professional serving a recognised startup (empresa emergente, law 28/2022) or in training, research, development and innovation (more than 40% of your activity income).
Check the exclusion: you must not have income through a permanent establishment in Spain (in practice, an ordinary self-employed activity), except for the entrepreneurial or qualified professional activity that gives entitlement to the regime.
Obtain your NIE and register with the Seguridad Social (or keep the certificate of your home social security scheme if you are posted).
Submit your supporting documents through the Agencia Tributaria online service "Aportar documentación necesaria para optar por el régimen especial": you obtain a registration number.
Send modelo 149 online, with this number, within 6 months of the start date of the activity registered with the Spanish Seguridad Social (or in the document that keeps you in the scheme of your country of origin).
Each year, declare your income on modelo 151 (and not on the ordinary Renta return). Your employer withholds 24% at source.
Family: your spouse and your children under 25 (no age limit in case of disability), or the other parent of your children if you are not married, can also benefit if they arrive with you (or before the end of your first year of the regime), become residents, meet the same conditions and have together a taxable base lower than yours. Each person submits their own modelo 149.

Documents

NIE and registration in the tax census.
Employment contract, employer's secondment letter, remote work certificate, or deed of appointment as a director, depending on your case.
Favourable ENISA report (entrepreneurs) or proof of qualification and of the recognised startup (qualified professionals).
Certificate of registration with the Spanish Seguridad Social, or document keeping you in the scheme of your country of origin.
Registration number of the supporting documents submitted to the Agencia Tributaria.

Costs and timelines

2026 rates on employment income and eligible activity income: 24% up to €600,000; 47% beyond.
2026 rates on dividends, interest and capital gains: 19% up to €6,000; 21% up to €50,000; 23% up to €200,000; 27% up to €300,000; 30% beyond (scale in force since 1 January 2025, law 7/2024; confirmed by art. 93.2 of the IRPF law and by the Agencia Tributaria's Renta 2025 manual, chapter 15, updated 17/03/2026).
Withholding at source on salary: 24% (47% on the part above €600,000 from the same payer).
Application deadline: 6 months from the start of the activity. After the deadline, the regime is lost.
Duration: the year you become resident (the first calendar year with more than 183 days in Spain after your arrival, art. 115 of the IRPF regulation) and the following 5 years.
Procedure: free of charge, online only.

Common pitfalls

Missing the 6 months. This is pitfall number one. The date that counts is the start of activity at the Seguridad Social, not your physical arrival.
Being an "ordinary" self-employed person. An ordinary freelancer or autónomo does not qualify for the regime: only the entrepreneur with an ENISA report and the highly qualified professional for a startup or R&D are entitled to it outside employment.
Believing everything is at 24%. Foreign income other than salary (rents, dividends from abroad) is in principle not taxed in Spain during the regime, but your Spanish capital income is, according to the savings scale. And a deduction for international double taxation exists for employment and entrepreneurial income earned abroad, limited to 30% of the part of the tax that corresponds to that income (art. 114 of the IRPF regulation).
The advantages lost. You are treated as a non-resident for the calculation: no joint return, no family or regional deductions of ordinary IRPF. For an average income, the regime can cost more than normal IRPF: have the comparison done.
Wealth tax. With this regime, you are only liable to the Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio on your assets located in Spain (art. 93 of the IRPF law).
Waiving is final. The waiver is made in November or December for the following year, and you can never opt in again. If you no longer meet a condition, you must report it within the month (modelo 149).
Basque Country and Navarre. Article 93 applies to the territory run by the Agencia Tributaria. If you live in the Basque Country or Navarre, it is the tax rule of the Diputación Foral or of the Hacienda de Navarre that applies, with its own schemes for impatriates. In Biscay, for example, the regime is that of art. 56 bis of Norma Foral 13/2013: according to the Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia (2022 news page, to be reconfirmed for the current year), since 2022, exemption of 30% of gross remuneration (instead of 15%), for the year of arrival and the following 10 years, also open to management, administration or sales posts and to the self-employed. This is a completely different mechanism from the 24% rate: ask the Hacienda of your province (Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Álava) or of Navarre.

What changes by country of origin

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: no residence authorisation needed. The IRPF regulation (art. 113) is clear: the prior residence authorisation applies to third-country nationals; an EU citizen entrepreneur only needs the favourable ENISA report, requested before arrival (reply within 10 working days). For the highly qualified professional, it is the qualification referred to in art. 71 of law 14/2013 that counts; the residence authorisation is only a means of proving it.
British citizens (Scotland included): third-country nationals since Brexit. The international remote work visa (law 14/2013) expressly opens the regime to remote-working employees. For the entrepreneur, the residence authorisation for entrepreneurial activity (art. 69 of law 14/2013) is needed before you settle (art. 113 of the IRPF regulation); for the highly qualified professional, the authorisation of art. 71 is enough to prove the qualification. Plan these procedures before you leave.
If you remain affiliated to your country's social security (posting, form A1): the 6-month period runs from the start date of activity shown on that document.

Official sources (9) ›

Checked on 28 October 2026

Assets abroad (modelo 720), local taxes and wealth tax: which other taxes concern you in Spain?

Costs: IBI: 0.4% to 1.10% of the cadastral value for a home (rate set by the town hall, before possible surcharges); modelo 720: free declaration
Timeframes: Modelo 720: from 1 January to 31 March of the following year; IBI: due on 1 January each year; plusvalía: 30 working days after the sale

Steps

Take an inventory of your assets outside Spain on 31 December, in three blocks: bank accounts; securities, life insurance and annuities; real estate.
Test the €50,000 threshold for each block. For accounts, the Agencia Tributaria looks at the balance on 31 December and the average balance of the last quarter (whichever is higher), offsetting negative balances. A peak during the year does not count.
File modelo 720 online between 1 January and 31 March of the following year. Cryptocurrencies held abroad do not go in the 720 but in modelo 721.
In the following years, only file again if the value of a block has increased by more than €20,000 since the last declaration, or if you have sold or closed an asset already declared.
Owner in Spain: watch for the IBI notice from your town hall (or from the provincial body that collects it) and set up a direct debit if possible.
You sell a property: declare the plusvalía municipal to the town hall within 30 working days (6 months in case of inheritance). If you resell at a loss, bring the purchase and sale deeds to prove there is no capital gain: the tax is then not due.
Large estate: check each year whether you must file the wealth tax return (modelo 714) and the large fortunes solidarity tax return (modelo 718).

Documents

Foreign bank statements on 31 December and for the last quarter.
Securities statements, life insurance contracts, title deeds abroad (date and purchase value).
For the plusvalía: notarial purchase and sale deeds.
For the IBI: the referencia catastral (cadastral reference) of the home.

Costs and timelines

Modelo 720: free; from 1 January to 31 March (31 March 2026 for the year 2025). If online filing is impossible for a technical reason, there is a four-day tolerance.
Penalties for the 720: since the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU of 27 January 2022 and law 5/2022, these are the general penalties of the tax law (art. 198 and 199 of the Ley General Tributaria), applied separately to each block. Late declaration: €20 per data item or group of data items relating to the same person or entity (the definition of the "data item" for each block is in art. 42 bis, 42 ter and 54 bis of RD 1065/2007), at least €300 and at most €20,000 (half if you file late before any request from the administration); incomplete or inaccurate declaration: fines under art. 199 (fixed per data item or proportional depending on the case). Amounts from the law in force in 2026.
IBI: rate set by each town hall, between 0.4% and 1.10% of the cadastral value for an urban property (0.3% to 0.90% for a rustic property), with possible surcharges depending on the municipality. It is due by the owner on 1 January of the year.
Plusvalía municipal: rate set by the town hall, at most 30%, applied to a base calculated from the cadastral value of the land. It is due by the seller. If the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer pays it in their place.
Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (year 2025): general allowance of €700,000 and exemption of the main residence up to €300,000. Some communities set a different allowance: €500,000 in Catalonia and Extremadura, €1,000,000 in the Valencian Community, €3,000,000 in the Balearic Islands. Declaration compulsory if the tax is positive or if your assets exceed €2,000,000. Other communities reduce the tax through a relief (Patrimonio 2025 manual): 100% in Extremadura; 100% in Cantabria for net wealth up to €3,000,000 after the allowance; 50% in Galicia. Madrid, Andalusia, La Rioja and Murcia have a 100% relief that is suspended as long as the large fortunes solidarity tax exists: the relief covers only the difference with the latter: in practice, you only pay the equivalent of the solidarity tax, due above €3,000,000.
Temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes: on net wealth of more than €3,000,000, declared in July of the following year (modelo 718). Created for 2022 and 2023 (law 38/2022), it was extended by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 "for as long as wealth taxation is not reviewed" in the reform of community financing: it still applies to the year 2025 (Patrimonio 2025 manual), and remains in force as long as no law abolishes it.

Common pitfalls

Forgetting the 720 in the year of arrival. As soon as you are a tax resident for a year, the declaration is due for the assets held on 31 December of that year.
Thinking "declaring" means "paying". The 720 is an information return. The income from these assets is declared in your IRPF return.
Beneficiaries of the impatriate regime (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-002): taxed as non-residents, they are not required to file the 720 (Agencia Tributaria FAQ, updated 08/09/2026). The exemption does not extend to the other household members who are tax residents in Spain.
Buying without checking for unpaid IBI. The IBI is attached to the property: ask the seller for the last notice paid.
Confusing the taxes on purchase. On purchase, you pay either VAT (IVA, 10% for a new home sold by a developer, according to administracion.gob.es), or the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (second-hand home), whose rate is set by each autonomous community.
Canary Islands: when buying a new home, it is the IGIC (Canary Islands indirect tax) and not VAT: 7% in general, 5% for your main residence if the price does not exceed €150,000 and you have no other home, 3% in some cases (aged 35 or under, large family, modest income…), 0% for protected housing (art. 51 and 58 of Canary Islands law 4/2012).
Ceuta and Melilla: transfer tax there is run by the State (modelo 600), not by an autonomous community.
Basque Country and Navarre: wealth tax and IRPF come under the Haciendas forales, with their own thresholds.

What changes by country of origin

All countries: the 720 covers your assets located outside Spain, whatever the country. The income from these assets may also remain taxable in the country where they are located: the tax treaty allocates the right to tax (sheet ES-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
Owners who keep a home in their country of origin: the home goes into the "real estate" block of the 720 and, if your wealth is high, into Spanish wealth tax.
British citizens (Scotland included): same rules; Spain has a treaty with the United Kingdom.

Official sources (14) ›

These guides give the general rules. Your situation can change the answer: Moovy looks at it with you and tells you when you need a professional.

Taxes

When do you become tax resident in Spain, and how does income tax (IRPF) work?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

The impatriate regime (known as the "Beckham law"): can you pay 24% tax when you settle in Spain?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Assets abroad (modelo 720), local taxes and wealth tax: which other taxes concern you in Spain?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Other topics

Taxes

When do you become tax resident in Spain, and how does income tax (IRPF) work?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

The impatriate regime (known as the "Beckham law"): can you pay 24% tax when you settle in Spain?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Assets abroad (modelo 720), local taxes and wealth tax: which other taxes concern you in Spain?

Steps

Documents

Costs and timelines

Common pitfalls

What changes by country of origin

Other topics