Moving to Spain mid-year and when your residency starts

Terms used

• IRPF — The IRPF is Spain's personal income tax, charged at the same rates in the Canaries as on the mainland.
• NIE — The NIE is the identification number Spain gives to foreigners, used for tax, work, housing and official procedures.

Key rules

• No split year: Spain has no split year: if you are resident, you are resident for the whole calendar year, including the time before you arrived.
• Registrations: Your NIE, residence card or padrón date does not set when tax residency starts.

Your arrival date decides the whole year

If you count as resident, the whole calendar year is a resident year, including the months before you arrived.

How the 183-day test works

Short trips abroad usually still count as days in Spain, unless you can prove you were tax resident in another country.

You can also be treated as resident with fewer days if your main business or economic interests are based in Spain, or if your spouse (not legally separated) and minor children live in Spain, which is a presumption you can rebut (spouse and children).

In practice:

• Arriving early in the year: you will probably pass 183 days, so the whole year is resident.
• Arriving late in the year, such as December: you will not normally pass 183 days, so you are normally not resident that year. The exception is if your centre of economic interests is in Spain.
• Arriving around mid-year: count your days carefully. Include any days you spent in Spain before the move.

Your NIE, residence card and padrón do not start your residency

No registration sets a start date for tax residency. Your NIE, your residence card and your padrón registration do not decide it. Your arrival date matters only because it feeds the day count.

What is taxed in the year you become resident

If you are resident for the year, you pay IRPF on your worldwide income for the entire calendar year. That includes income you earned before you arrived. You file your Spanish income tax return (Modelo 100) for that year in the annual campaign that runs from early April to 30 June of the following year.

Two things can reduce double taxation:

• A foreign tax credit for tax you already paid abroad on the same income.
• Tax treaties between Spain and your previous country. They can also decide which country has the right to tax you.

How much relief you get depends on the type of income and the country. Ask a tax adviser to check this before you file.

If you qualify for the special expat regime (the Beckham regime) and choose it, you are taxed only on Spanish-source income plus a flat rate. Its special treatment starts in the year of the move.

If you retire to Spain with a foreign pension

Once you are resident, your foreign pension is part of your worldwide income and you declare it in your Spanish return. Most tax treaties give the taxing right on private and occupational pensions to your country of residence, so these are normally taxed in Spain, with a credit for tax already withheld abroad. A pension paid for government service is usually taxed only by the paying country. The treaty between Spain and the country that pays your pension decides (what decides it when two countries claim you).

If you are not resident that year

Non-residents pay IRNR only on income from Spanish sources. Personal allowances generally do not apply, although residents of EU/EEA countries can use them in some cases. Most non-EU income is taxed at a flat 24%, and 19% for EU/EEA residents. Gains are taxed at 19%. How non-resident income tax works in Spain has the rest.

If your employer posts you to Spain

The special regime for posted workers and its six-month deadline are in Posted to Spain by your employer.