Sporadic absences count as days in Spain unless you can prove tax residency in another country, and the status applies to the whole year: Spain has no split-year residency. If two countries consider you resident at the same time, the tie is broken by the applicable double taxation treaty. The three tests in the law, with their articles, are set out in the guide are you a Spanish tax resident?.
In practice, the question comes up in the year you arrive or leave. If you arrive mid-year and exceed the days set by the law, you are resident for the whole year and your Spanish return also includes what you earned before coming. If you leave, it is wise to get a residency certificate from your new country to prove it.
The typical mistake is counting only days and forgetting the center of economic interests: an autónomo whose business and clients are here can be resident even while travelling a lot. Another error is believing that being registered somewhere else is enough.
Residency decides whether you pay resident income tax or IRNR, and whether you must file the informative return on assets held abroad. It is proven with the tax residency certificate issued by the AEAT.
Guides that use this term
- Are you a Spanish tax resident? The 183-day rule, and the other two almost nobody looks at
- Renting out a property in Spain as a non-resident: what you pay and when you declare it
- Non-resident tax in Spain: which taxes you pay and when
- Modelo 210: the Spanish non-resident tax, explained in full
- How to file and pay modelo 210 from outside Spain
Related terms
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