Salary and take-home pay

This topic helps you judge an offer and predict what lands in your bank account each month. It covers what Spanish jobs pay, how a gross salary becomes net pay, how to read a payslip, and how the minimum wage, extra payments and benefits fit in. It is for anyone considering, planning or carrying out a move to Spain.

Start with "Is this Spanish job offer fair? Benchmarking pay by profession". It shows you how to compare an offer with local pay norms. From there, "Turning a gross Spanish salary into monthly take-home pay" explains the deductions between the gross offer and your deposit.

Annual income tax filing, budgeting and cost of living, and pension planning are not covered here.

Key rules

• Meal vouchers: Employer meal vouchers or restaurant cards are tax-exempt up to €11 a day.
• Claiming unpaid wages: Claims for unpaid wages expire one year after the day the pay was due.
• Gross annual pay: Compare every offer as gross annual pay, not net monthly pay.
• 12 or 14 payments: The contract states whether the annual sum is paid in 12 or 14 instalments, which changes the monthly amount.
• Net pay: Net pay is gross salary minus your Social Security and income tax withholding, then split over 12 or 14 payments.
• Modelo 145: If you do not give your employer the Modelo 145, they withhold as if you were single with no dependants.

Salary and take-home pay: the whole process, step by step

• Check the offer: is it gross or net, and paid in 12 or 14 payments? (Is this Spanish job offer fair? Benchmarking pay by profession): before you accept the offer

• If you are moving to Spain for work and qualify, file the option for the special impatriate tax regime (Beckham law) with the AEAT, Spain's tax agency, so your employer withholds at flat rates (Turning a gross Spanish salary into monthly take-home pay): within six months of starting work or registering with Social Security

• Check your first payslips: pay, deductions, professional category and contribution bases (Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line): as soon as you get each payslip

• Compare your pay with the minimum wage (SMI) and your collective agreement's pay table (The minimum wage (SMI) and pay floors in collective agreements): when you sign and whenever your category or pay changes

• Ask your employer in writing to correct a wrong or missing payment: as soon as you spot the error

• If that fails, file a mediation request (papeleta de conciliación) at your regional mediation service; a complaint to the Labour Inspectorate can run in parallel: before going to court

• If mediation fails, bring a claim in the labour court; if the employer is insolvent, ask FOGASA, the wage guarantee fund, to cover unpaid wages: after mediation ends

• Make sure the claim for unpaid wages is made in time: within one year of the day the pay was due

• If the dispute is about dismissal, act much faster: within 20 working days

Documents you may need

Income and work

• Your payslip — Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line, The minimum wage (SMI) and pay floors in collective agreements
• Your employment contract — The minimum wage (SMI) and pay floors in collective agreements
• Your individual grant or award terms from your employer — Equity and phantom shares at a Spanish startup
• Proof that your employer is certified as an emerging company — Equity and phantom shares at a Spanish startup

Other documents

• The equity plan document — Equity and phantom shares at a Spanish startup
• A labour mediation request — Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line

Salary and take-home pay: questions that cross several articles

Is my Spanish salary offer gross or net?

A Spanish salary offer is normally quoted as gross annual pay, written as brutos/año, so your take-home pay will be lower. The contract also says whether it is paid in 12 or 14 instalments, which changes the monthly amount. Read Is this Spanish job offer fair? Benchmarking pay by profession and Turning a gross Spanish salary into monthly take-home pay next.

Does prorating extra payments change how much I earn in a year?

No, prorating extra payments changes only your monthly cash flow, not your yearly pay. Withholding is calculated on the annual total, so it is higher in extra-payment months and lower in the others under 14 payments. Read Twelve or fourteen payments, extra pay (pagas extra) and prorating and Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line.

Can the minimum wage be paid in 12 payments instead of 14?

Yes, the minimum wage (SMI) can be paid in 12 payments if the extra payments are prorated, as long as the annual total stays the same. The annual amount is the legal test, and the monthly figure over 12 is the annual SMI divided by 12. See The minimum wage (SMI) and pay floors in collective agreements and Twelve or fourteen payments, extra pay (pagas extra) and prorating.

Why does my professional category on the contract matter for pay?

Your professional category fixes your pay under the collective agreement and your Social Security contribution group. See Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line.