Getting a Spanish tax-residence certificate for a foreign authority

Key rules

• Who it's for: Only people who are Spanish tax residents can get a Spanish residence certificate.
• Fee: There is no fee, and you ask for a new certificate for each year and each payer.
• Current year: A certificate for the current year may be marked provisional.

When you need a certificate

A Spanish tax-residence certificate proves to a foreign payer or authority that you are a tax resident of Spain. You need one when someone abroad asks for it. You don't need it for ordinary filing in Spain.

The usual reasons:

• You want reduced or zero tax withheld at source under a double tax treaty. This comes up with dividends, interest, royalties, pensions and fees paid from abroad.
• You are opening a foreign account and the bank wants proof of residence.
• You are claiming a refund of foreign tax.
• You need to apply the treaty rules that decide which country counts you as resident when two could.

Ask the payer, bank or authority first. Many countries want a new certificate every year. Some want their own residence form stamped by the Spanish tax agency instead of the standard certificate.

Who can get one

The Spanish tax agency (AEAT) issues the certificate to people who are tax residents of Spain. That means you spent more than 183 days in Spain in the year (how the days are counted), or your main work or economic interests are here, or your spouse and minor children live here.

• Past year: you must have been resident that year. You should normally have filed your Spanish income tax return (IRPF) for it.
• Current year: the agency can issue a certificate based on your situation now. It covers the year in progress and is marked provisional.
• Non-residents: you can't get a Spanish residence certificate.

Do you also need a certificate from your home country?

As a Spanish resident, you do not. The reverse case is a non-resident claiming treaty benefits on Spanish income, who gives the Spanish payer a certificate from their home tax authority (how to claim treaty rates).

How long it is valid

The certificate is issued for one specific tax year and is valid for one year, the calendar year it refers to. Request a new one for each year and each payer that asks, naming the year the foreign body asks about.

If you travel with a spouse, partner or children

Each family member applies separately, under their own NIF. They get a certificate only if they are a Spanish tax resident themselves.

• Spouse: requests their own certificate in their own name.
• Registered partner: requests their own certificate in their own name.
• Unmarried, unregistered partner: requests their own certificate in their own name.
• Children: a child needs a certificate in their own name and NIF, and only if the child is a Spanish tax resident.

Requesting a certificate of tax residence from the tax agency

• Check that you count as a Spanish tax resident for the year you need: before you start

• For a past year, make sure you filed your Spanish income tax return (IRPF) for that year: before you apply

• Gather what the request asks for: your name and tax number (NIF), the tax year, the country the certificate is for, and the reason, usually the tax treaty: before you apply

• If the certificate is for a specific payment, add the income details and the payer's details. If the foreign authority has its own form, have it ready to be stamped: before you apply, only if it applies

• Request the certificate online on the tax agency's electronic office, signing with an electronic ID, Cl@ve or an electronic certificate: once your documents are ready

• Or book an appointment (cita previa) at a tax agency office and file the request form there: if you cannot sign online

• Pay nothing: there is no fee for the certificate: when you apply

• Wait for the certificate: online it arrives within 10 working days; with an appointment you leave with it the same day

• If you did not file a return, be ready to show proof of residence if asked: if the agency asks after your request

• Request a new certificate for each tax year and each foreign payer that asks for one: each year; it covers the calendar year it refers to

• Send the certificate to the foreign payer or authority: once you have it

Documents you need

• The foreign authority's own residence form, if it has one, for the Spanish tax agency to stamp. Many countries ask for this each year.
• A certificate of tax residence from your home country's tax authority, only if you are a non-resident claiming treaty benefits on Spanish income. Spanish residents do not need one.