Timing before you arrive

It is for anyone considering, planning or carrying out a move to Spain. After reading, you will know what to sell, move or restructure before you arrive, and what the calendar-year rule means for you.

Start with "Should you sell investments before you move? The calendar-year rule". It sets out the main timing question and shapes the other pages. From there, go to the page that matches your situation: income in your arrival year, restructuring investments and accounts, moving retirement accounts, selling a home abroad, or origin-country exit tax.

This topic does not cover how to decide whether you are resident, tax when you leave Spain, or taxes on selling property in Spain.

Key rules

• Foreign assets report: Once resident, you report foreign assets if any category (accounts, securities or property) is worth more than €50,000 at 31 December, filed between 1 January and 31 March.
• Calendar-year rule: Spain taxes the whole calendar year once you are resident, with no part-year split, and you are resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in that year or your main economic interests are there.
• Planning lead time: Start pre-arrival tax planning 6 to 12 months before the move, and take professional advice at least 6 months before.
• Sale tax date: A sale is taxed in the year the deed is signed before the notary, not the year of the offer, the deposit or the transfer of the money.
• Date of sale: Spanish tax depends on the date of the sale, not the date you arrive.
• Worldwide income: Once you are a Spanish resident, income from before you arrived in the same year is still taxed in Spain.

Timing before you arrive: the whole process, step by step

• Start pre-arrival tax planning and take professional advice (Pre-move tax timeline from twelve months out to arrival): Start 6 to 12 months before the move, and take professional advice at least 6 months before (earliest 365 days before planned arrival; latest 182 days before planned arrival)

• Decide whether to sell investments, rebuy to reset cost basis, or keep them (Should you sell investments before you move? and Restructuring investments and accounts before becoming resident): Before the day you become resident, in a year when you are not resident in Spain

• Take any lump sum from a foreign retirement account, after weighing the origin-country tax cost (Moving or consolidating retirement accounts before Spanish residence): Before your arrival, while you are still non-resident

• Sort out a home sale abroad and any exit-tax deferral request in your origin country (Selling a home abroad and Origin-country exit tax): Before you leave, or after you become resident if you decide to sell later

• If you qualify for the special expat (Beckham) regime, file the application: Within six months of starting work or registering in Social Security

• Arrive and become resident: Spain then taxes the whole calendar year (Income and gains in the year you arrive): Resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in the year or your main economic interests are there

• Report foreign assets if any category is worth more than €50,000 (Selling a home abroad: before or after becoming Spanish resident): Value at 31 December of your first resident year; file between 1 January and 31 March

• File the arrival-year income tax return (Modelo 100), claiming credit for foreign tax paid (Income and gains in the year you arrive): In the campaign after the arrival year, normally early April to 30 June

Documents you may need

• Certificates or receipts showing the foreign tax you paid on the gain — Should you sell investments before you move? The calendar-year rule
• Your Spanish income tax return — Should you sell investments before you move? The calendar-year rule

Timing before you arrive: questions that cross several articles

Can I sell before I move so the gain is not taxed in Spain?

Only if the sale falls in an earlier calendar year than the one you become resident. Spain taxes gains from the whole arrival year, including sales before the physical move. Read Should you sell investments before you move? and Income and gains in the year you arrive.

Can a tax treaty make me resident elsewhere for part of the arrival year?

A treaty can make you resident of your origin country for the whole arrival year, but Spain does not split the year. See Should you sell investments before you move? The calendar-year rule.

Does selling and rebuying before arrival reset my cost basis?

Yes, selling and rebuying before you become resident resets your cost basis, but it triggers origin-country tax and may be challenged if it has no genuine purpose. Spain gives no step-up on arrival. Read Restructuring investments and accounts before becoming resident.

Will I get credit in Spain for tax already paid abroad?

Yes, Spain gives a credit for foreign tax on income also taxed in Spain, limited to the lower of the foreign tax paid and the Spanish tax on that income. You claim it on your income tax return with proof of payment. Read Income and gains in the year you arrive and Origin-country exit tax and how it interacts with Spanish tax.

Does the Beckham regime mean I can ignore foreign gains?

Yes, under the Beckham regime foreign capital gains are generally outside Spanish tax, but you must not have been Spanish resident in the previous five years and must apply within six months of starting work. Spanish property gains stay taxable. Read Should you sell investments before you move?