Tax residence and your residence permit are two separate tests
The law calls taxpayers of IRPF (contribuyentes) the individuals whose habitual residence is in Spanish territory (art. 8.1.a LIRPF). The criteria for that habitual residence are in art. 9. The type of residence permit is not among them: what counts is days, the centre of interests and family.
Two tests in art. 9.1: either one is enough
The law says «any of the following circumstances» (cualquiera de las siguientes circunstancias). The tests are alternatives: you do not need to meet both.
| Test | What the law says |
|---|---|
| 183 days (art. 9.1.a) | Staying more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year. Sporadic absences count as time spent in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country. |
| Centre of interests (art. 9.1.b) | The core or base of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, directly or indirectly. |
| Family (art. 9.1, last paragraph) | A rebuttable presumption: you are presumed resident if your spouse (not legally separated) and dependent minor children habitually live in Spain. |
Tax year and when the tax accrues
The IRPF tax period is the calendar year and the tax accrues on 31 December (art. 12 LIRPF). Residence status is determined for the whole year; the law provides for a period shorter than the calendar year only on death (art. 13).
IRPF versus non-resident income tax (TRLIRNR)
Non-resident income tax (IRNR) taxes income obtained in Spanish territory by people who are not residents (art. 1 TRLIRNR). A non-resident pays IRNR unless they are an IRPF taxpayer (art. 5.a TRLIRNR).
| IRPF (resident) | IRNR (non-resident) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is taxed | The taxpayer's income: earnings, capital gains and losses, wherever they arose (art. 2 LIRPF) | Income obtained in Spanish territory (art. 1 TRLIRNR) |
| Rate | Progressive scale, see below | General rate 24%; 19% if you are resident in another EU or EEA state with effective exchange of tax information (art. 25.1.a TRLIRNR) |
The return: deadline and who must file
The deadline is set each year by an order of the Ministry of Finance. For the 2025 return (Orden HAC/277/2026, art. 7) the period for filing the draft and the return ran from 8 April to 30 June 2026 inclusive. That campaign is closed. The dates for the 2026 campaign will be set by a separate order: check them at sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es.
The law leaves the duty to file to the regulations and limits it in art. 96. You do not have to file if your income comes exclusively from these sources:
- Employment income only, up to €22,000 a year (art. 96.2.a). With more than one payer the limit is €15,876, and it goes back to €22,000 if what you receive from the second and later payers does not exceed €1,500 (art. 96.3.a).
- Investment income and gains subject to withholding: up to €1,600 a year combined (art. 96.2.b).
- Always required to file: anyone who was registered as self-employed (autónomo) at any time in the year (art. 96.2, last paragraph), and those entitled to a deduction for international double taxation, among other cases (art. 96.4).
General-base rates: what the law says
The general taxable base is taxed using the scale in art. 63 LIRPF. This is the state part of the scale. The regional scale in art. 74 is added on top, approved by each autonomous community, so the final rate depends on where you live and is not given here.
| Slice of general taxable base | State scale rate |
|---|---|
| up to 12,450 € | 9.5 % |
| from 12,450 € to 20,200 € | 12 % |
| from 20,200 € to 35,200 € | 15 % |
| from 35,200 € to 60,000 € | 18.5 % |
| from 60,000 € to 300,000 € | 22.5 % |
| over 300,000 € | 24.5 % |
The scale applies to the part exceeding the personal and family minimum (mínimo personal y familiar), with the adjustment in art. 63.1.2.º. Savings income (capital income and gains on disposals, art. 46) has a different scale that is not covered here.
The personal and family minimum itself is not taxed. Under art. 57 LIRPF the taxpayer minimum is €5,550 a year, plus €1,150 above age 65 and a further €1,400 above 75. Under art. 58 the minimum for descendants applies to each descendant under 25, or with a disability, who lives with you and has annual income of no more than €8,000: €2,400 for the first, €2,700 for the second, €4,000 for the third and €4,500 for the fourth and each after, plus €2,800 for each child under three. The minimums for ascendants and for disability (arts. 59 and 60) are not covered here.
The impatriate regime (art. 93 LIRPF)
If you have moved to Spain and the conditions are met, the law lets you opt to be taxed under the IRNR rules while remaining an IRPF taxpayer. The conditions as written in art. 93.1:
- Five years as a non-resident: you were not resident in Spain in the five tax periods before the year of the move (letter a).
- Reason for the move (letter b): an employment contract, including remote work as an employee, expressly for holders of the teleworking visa under Ley 14/2013; becoming a company director (administrador); an entrepreneurial activity under art. 70 of Ley 14/2013; a highly qualified professional (start-ups, training, R&D&I) whose pay from that activity exceeds 40% of total earnings.
- No permanent establishment (letter c), except for entrepreneurs and highly qualified professionals.
- Duration: the year you change residence and the five following tax periods.
- Rates: 24% up to €600,000 of base and 47% from €600,000.01 (art. 93.2.e.1.º); withholding on employment income of 24%, and 47% on the part above €600,000 from the same payer (art. 93.2.f).
- Wealth tax: whoever opts is subject to the Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio by obligación real.
- Family: a spouse and children under 25 (any age if disabled) can opt in on the conditions of art. 93.3.
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