Spanish income tax returns for resident expats
Foreign pensions, income in two countries, accounts held abroad and double taxation treaties. We prepare your Spanish return with all of that properly on the table.
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First question: are you tax resident in Spain?
Everything depends on this answer, and you do not get to choose it. The law does.
You are tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days in Spanish territory in a calendar year, or if the main centre of your economic interests is here. Residence is also presumed if your non-separated spouse and minor children live in Spain.
Being tax resident means declaring your worldwide income in Spain: your pension from home, rent from property abroad, dividends from your foreign bank and gains on your investments. Not only what you earn here.
What we review in your return
- The double taxation treaty that applies to your country
- How each of your pensions is treated: state, occupational and private
- Property income inside and outside Spain
- Interest, funds and foreign dividends
- Relief for international double taxation
- Form 720 and 721 for assets and crypto held abroad
- Wealth tax where it applies
- Andalusian regional deductions you may be entitled to
Foreign pensions: the most expensive mistake
Many retirees arrive convinced that their pension was already taxed at home and nothing is due here. It depends on the treaty and on the type of pension.
As a general rule, government service pensions tend to be taxed only in the paying country, while private and social security pensions tend to be taxed where you live, meaning Spain. But every treaty has its own wording and some countries have specific rules.
Checking this before your first return avoids a tax assessment three years later, once automatic exchange of information between countries has done its work.
Form 720 and 721: informative, but compulsory
If you are tax resident in Spain and hold accounts, securities or property abroad worth more than €50,000 in any of those three categories, you must file Form 720. For cryptocurrency held abroad there is Form 721.
Nothing is paid on filing them: they are purely informative. But failing to file, or filing late, has consequences worth avoiding. The window runs from 1 January to 31 March, and once the first one is filed you only repeat it if a category rises by more than €20,000 or if you dispose of a declared asset.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Spanish tax return filed?
The campaign usually opens in early April and closes at the end of June, covering the previous calendar year. Exact dates are published each year by the Spanish tax agency.
I receive a UK pension. Is it taxed in Spain?
If you are tax resident here, generally yes, unless it is a government service pension, which is usually taxable only in the UK but may still be taken into account to set your Spanish tax rate. Your specific case and the treaty need checking.
I already paid tax at home on that income. Do I pay twice?
You should not. Relief for international double taxation lets you offset foreign tax paid against your Spanish liability, within limits. Applying it correctly is part of the job.
Does Form 720 make me pay anything?
No. It is purely informative. What it reports generates no tax, although the income produced by those assets does belong in your Spanish return.
You may also need
If you are not resident yet.
The special impatriate regime.
The 99% Andalusian relief.
More questions answered.
We will prepare your Spanish return
Tell us where your income comes from and where you hold assets. We build the rest.