FAQ
Spain - Tax Return

Tax return in Spain for the year 2023 needs to be filed by every employee, who has in the given year:

• worked for one employer and had total income of more than €22 000,
• worked for more than one employer and earned a total income of more than €15 000¹⁾.

¹⁾ If the employee worked for more than one employer, with the majority of income coming from one employer and other occasional income of less than €1 500, the income threshold of €22 000 applies.

If you are a freelancer and registered under the special regime for the freelancers (RETA) or the special social security regime for seafarers, you are obliged to file a tax return regardless of the amount of income.

Yes, you have to file a tax return whether you are resident or non‑resident in Spain. However, the type of form and the deadline for filing differ.

Residents: they file a tax return (IRPF - Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas) that includes all the resident's income, including rental income.

Non‑residents: They file a tax return using Form 210 (Modelo 210, or IRNR - Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes). The tax return is filed quarterly. From the year 2024, non‑residents can only file annually if the income is from long‑term rental property.

The filing deadline is the 20th day of the following year. This means that for rentals in the year 2024, the tax return must be filed by 20th of January, 2025.

Yes, if you own an apartment in Spain and use it for private purposes only, you must file a tax return. As a non‑resident, you are liable to pay tax on imputed property income, which is a tax calculated on the value of your property even if you have no actual income from it. It is usually set at 1.1% or 2% of the property's cadastral value, depending on whether the value has been updated in recent years.

Form 210 must be filed within the following year. This means that for the year 2024, the declaration of non‑rental property must be filed between 1st of January and 31st of December, 2025.

The deadlines for filing tax returns are as follows:

• residents: file by 30th of June for the previous calendar year,
• non‑residents: to be filed by 31st of December for the previous calendar year.

For the year 2023, the resident tax return must be filed by 30th of June, 2024, in the case of a non‑resident, the deadline is extended to 31st of December, 2024.

If you are not tax resident in Spain and you have employment income or other income (dividends, interest...) in the country, you must file Form 210 quarterly:

• from 1st to 20th of April,
• from 1st to 20th of July
• from 1st to 20th of October,
• from 1st to 20th of January.

If you are renting property, the deadline is different.

You can file the tax return in Spain up to 4 years back.

In 2024 it is possible to claim the refund for the year 2020 at the latest.

Deadlines for the tax refund from the Spain in the tax return for the previous years:

• 2020 - till the 30th of June, 2024 (residents) - till the 31st of December, 2024 (non‑residents)
• 2021 - till the 30th of June, 2025 (residents) - till the 31st of December, 2025 (non‑residents)
• 2022 - till the 30th of June, 2026 (residents) - till the 31st of December, 2026 (non‑residents)
• 2023 - till the 30th of June, 2027 (residents) - till the 31st of December, 2027 (non‑residents)

The tax office will process the filed tax return and then pay the tax overpayment. The whole process takes on average 6 months from the last day for filing the tax return.

If the tax office fails to pay the overpayment within the given deadline, the taxpayer will receive the overpayment plus interest on the overdue amount.

Income tax must be paid no later than the deadline for filing tax returns, which is by the 1st of July, 2024.

If the taxpayer requests the tax office to extend the deadline for payment of the tax, the payment may be made in two instalments:

• by 1st of July: 60% of the tax,
• by 5th of November: 40% of the tax.

Late filing of your tax return may result in a penalty in the form of a tax increase by:

• 5% - return filed 3 months after the deadline,
• 10% - return filed 3‑6 months after the deadline,
• 15% - return filed 6‑12 months after the deadline,
• 20% - return filed 12 months after the deadline.

The Certificado de retenciones e ingresos a cuenta del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas is a form that every employer must give to their employees at the end of the year. It is a certificate of the employee's annual income and the taxes withheld from each month's wages for the previous calendar year.

To obtain a Certificado de retenciones e ingresos a cuenta del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas form, contact your employer and ask them to issue the form. If you had more than one employer, you will need a Certificado de retenciones e ingresos a cuenta del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas form from each of them.