This guide is what worked for us and the people we've helped — it is not tax advice, and we are not tax professionals. Rules change, every situation is different, and the cost of getting it wrong (denied visas, double taxation, fines, missed deadlines) is real.
Before you act on anything here, speak with a qualified tax professional — an immigration lawyer (abogado de extranjería), a cross-border tax accountant, or a licensed gestor — who can review your specific facts. Use this guide to know what questions to ask, not as a substitute for paid advice.
Tax residency is not the same as your visa. You can hold a residence card and not be a tax resident, or be a tax resident without the right paperwork. The tax agency (Agencia Tributaria, or AEAT) looks at facts, not permits.
Spanish tax residents pay Spanish income tax on their worldwide income — US salary, pensions, rent, dividends and capital gains — and may have to report foreign assets on Modelo 720.
Non-residents pay tax only on Spanish-source income, such as rent from a Spanish flat, using Modelo 210.
Americans always file in the US too. The US taxes its citizens wherever they live. The question is how the two countries share the tax, not whether you file in both.
You are a Spanish tax resident for a calendar year (January–December) if any one of these is true (Personal Income Tax Law, article 9):
1. The 183-day rule: you spend more than 183 days in Spain during the year. Short trips abroad (vacations, visits home) still count as days in Spain unless you can prove tax residence in another country with a certificate.
2. Centre of economic interests: your main business activities or income base is in Spain, even if you spend fewer days here.
3. Family presumption: your spouse (if not legally separated) and dependent children under 18 live in Spain. You can rebut this by proving you are tax resident elsewhere.
There is no split year. If you are resident, you are resident for the whole calendar year — including income from before you arrived. (The Beckham Law is a separate regime with its own rules.)