Income tax in Spain for newcomers: residence, IRPF, the annual return and the Beckham regime

According to the Tax Agency, you are resident in Spain for a calendar year if either:

• you spend more than 183 days in Spain during that year (sporadic absences count as days in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country); or
• the main centre or base of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, directly or indirectly.

There is also a rebuttable presumption that you are resident if your spouse (not legally separated) and dependent minor children live in Spain. If two countries consider you resident, the double taxation treaty between them (where one exists) may decide; check it with an adviser.

Your autonomous community of residence for tax purposes is usually the one where you spent the most days in the year.

• Employees have tax withheld from each salary payment (retención) by the employer, based on the information you give them. Tell your employer about your family situation so the withholding is accurate.
• Self-employed people must register with the Tax Agency before starting and have their own periodic filing obligations; a Business Start-up Point (PAE) can file the tax and Social Security registrations for you.

Each spring you file a return for the previous year. For the 2025 tax year, online filing ran from 8 April to 30 June 2026 (25 June if paying by direct debit). The Tax Agency prepares a draft (borrador) in Renta WEB that you can review, correct and submit.

For 2025, people whose only income was from employment generally did not have to file if it was €22,000 or less from one payer, or from several payers when the second and later payers together paid €1,500 or less. If the second and later payers paid more than €1,500, the threshold drops to €15,876. Filing may still be worthwhile if you are due a refund. Thresholds change; use the Tax Agency's virtual assistant to check.

Tax residents with assets outside Spain must file an information return (Modelo 720) when the value in any of three categories — bank accounts, securities, insurance and income, or real estate — exceeds €50,000. The 2026 filing window was 1 January to 31 March 2026 (for the situation at 31 December 2025). After the first filing, you only file again when the total of a category increases by more than €20,000 compared with your last return.

Workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and some others who move to Spain can choose to be taxed under the special regime of article 93 of the IRPF Act. In brief, according to the Tax Agency:

• you must not have been tax resident in Spain in the five years before the move;
• the move must be due to an employment contract (including employees with the international telework visa), an assignment by your employer, or certain entrepreneurial, highly qualified start-up, training or research activities;
• employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above that;
• you opt in with Modelo 149 within six months of the start of your activity shown in your Social Security registration;
• the regime applies for the year you become resident and the following five years, and you file Modelo 151 instead of the normal return.

Whether it is advantageous depends on your income, assets and family; get personalised advice before opting in.