Tax resident in Spain: When are you resident and what do you have to do?

If you are living in Spain, sometimes it is not clear if you are resident or not.

The first question is:

Where do I have to complete my tax return, in Spain or England or France or…?

When can you be considered resident in Spain?

1) When Spain is your “habitual residence” and you live here more 183 days a year
2) Your family is also living in Spain
3) You have personal and economic interests

If you live in Spain for more than 183  days a year

It is not always easy to determine, especially if you travelling often. The tax office, however, can find out searching in different ways; with airline tickets, credit cards expenses, children in school, tax informative forms (347) …

If you work abroad and you must get a “residency certificate” from that country and it is the only way to prove you are not resident in Spain. If you cannot get this certificate and they prove that you are living in Spain, it is impossible to prove to the tax office that you are not tax resident.

If your family is also living in Spain

If your family is living in Spain it is very difficult to prove that you are not resident, especially if your children are registered at a local school.

You have an economical interest

If the total income of the person arises in Spain, it is assumed that Spain is your habitual residence.

When are you considered non-resident in Spain?

When you do not comply with the requirement point before you are not tax resident in Spain.

What do you have to do it if you are tax resident in Spain?

If you are a tax resident in Spain, you have to consider the following:

• You have to submit your personal tax return including all the income from all over the world (although you can deduct part of the taxes already paid abroad, according to the double taxation agreement between Spain and the other country)
• You have to submit the Modelo 720, (it is information about the assets you have outside Spain over 50,000 EUR.

If you are non-resident, what do you have to do

If you have a house:

1. If you rent it: You have to submit tax returns quarterly, during the period it is rented
2. If you do not rent it: You just have to submit a Non-Resident Tax Return (NRTR)