Finding and reading Spain's tax treaty with your home country

Key rules

• Treaty text: Read your own treaty as published in the official gazette, because details differ between countries.
• In force: Confirm the treaty and any protocols are currently in force before relying on them.
• Refunds: You can reclaim excess Spanish tax withheld from the AEAT within four years.

Start by finding your country's treaty

Spain has tax treaties with over 90 countries. They include the US, UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Canada and Switzerland. Look for your home country on the list of treaties published by the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) and the Ministry of Finance. The official list and treaty texts are on the AEAT and Ministry of Finance websites, and the originals are published in the official gazette. The list is updated when new treaties and protocols come into force.

If you are a UK citizen with Withdrawal Agreement rights, the treaty rules on this page apply by your tax residence, not by your immigration status.

Open the full official text

Read the full treaty as originally published in the Spanish official gazette. Do not rely on summaries or generic rules. Treaties differ from one country to another, and the details decide how much tax you pay.

Read it by income type

Most treaties follow the OECD model layout. Each type of income has its own section, so find the one for each income you have:

• Employment income (article 15 in OECD-style treaties): taxed where the work is done. Work you do while living in Spain is taxed in Spain, and any tax the employer's country withholds is relieved by credit.
• Pensions (article 18): taxed in the country where you are resident. Pensions paid for government service (article 19) are taxed in the paying state.
• Rental income and property (article 6): taxed in the country where the property is. If you are a Spanish resident, Spain taxes it too and gives a credit for the foreign tax.
• Dividends (article 10) and interest (article 11): taxed in the country where you are resident, and the source country may also withhold tax at a capped treaty rate.
• Royalties (article 12): taxed in the country where you are resident, with a capped withholding at source in many treaties.
• Capital gains (article 13): gains on property are taxed where the property is; gains on shares are taxed in the country where you are resident.

Section numbering varies in some treaties, so go by the section titles, not by number.

For each income type, note two things: which country may tax it, and at what maximum rate if both can.

If Spain has no treaty with your home country, none of this applies: there is no tie-breaker and no reduced treaty rate, and Spain relieves double tax by its credit for foreign tax.

Check how double tax is removed

Look for the relief section, usually near the end (article 23 in OECD-style treaties). It says whether double tax is removed by the credit method or the exemption method. The credit method means you pay tax in one country and get credit for it in the other. The exemption method means one country does not tax that income at all.

Spain uses the credit method for dividends, interest and royalties. For other income it uses credit or exemption, whichever the treaty says.

Getting treaty rates in practice

Treaty benefits are not fully automatic. If you are a non-resident receiving Spanish income, ask the person paying you to apply the reduced treaty rate. Give them a tax residence certificate issued by your home country's tax authority before the payment is made.

If they withhold Spanish tax at the full domestic rate, you can reclaim the excess. File a refund request with the AEAT within four years, with the certificate attached. Non-residents use Modelo 210 for returns and refund claims on income such as dividends, with no fee charged. Some treaties have their own claim forms, which the treaty text names. Treaty rates follow each person's own tax residence, and each family member needs their own residence certificate from their own tax authority; a family tie never gives a treaty rate (the spouse case).