Living in Spain: your tax residence, taxation of savings and wealth tax

You are considered a tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days there in the calendar year, or if the main center or base of your activities or economic interests is located there. Only one of these criteria is required. Dividends, interest, and capital gains earned by residents are taxed at a rate ranging from 19 to 30 percent for the 2025 tax year, based on the sum of the two tax brackets published by the tax authorities. This page does not cover income tax, inheritance tax, or declarations of assets held abroad.

Your Spanish tax residence

The Agencia Tributaria (Spanish tax administration) uses two criteria for the habitual residence of a natural person.

How are the 183 days counted?. Sporadic absences are counted as days of attendance, unless you can prove your tax residence in another country.

The family presumption. The spouse who is not separated and dependent minor children who habitually reside in Spain establish a presumption of residence, unless proven otherwise.

These rules are found in the Income Tax Handbook for the 2024 fiscal year, page updated on April 10, 2025. Check the equivalent page in the handbook for the current fiscal year.

And what about France? Becoming a resident of Spain does not mean you cease to be a tax resident of France. French tax residency is based on three alternative criteria, only one of which is sufficient. If both countries consider you a resident, the tax treaty takes precedence, and its definition of residency prevails over domestic tax residency. These points are addressed in our pages on leaving France and on the tax treaty.

Taxation of savings in 2025

Dividends, interest, and capital gains are taxed on "savings" according to a tiered tax scale. The Agencia Tributaria's page dedicated to the 2025 tax year publishes two identical scales, one at the national level and the other at the regional level (that of the autonomous community):

The page does not display a total. The last column is our sum. It corresponds to the scale of 19 % to 30 % that the same page indicates for taxpayers subject to Article 66 of the law. Page updated on March 16, 2026.

The scale of income tax on labor (general basis) is not presented here.

Wealth tax

Wealth tax affects two categories of people:

• Due to personal obligation, natural persons who have their habitual residence in Spanish territory.
• By real obligation, non-residents, only for assets and rights located, exercisable or enforceable in Spain.

The taxpayer's usual residence is exempt up to €300,000. Housing is considered habitual if one lives there continuously for three years, except in cases of death, separation, job transfer, first job, or justified change of residence.

The 2025 manual from the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) indicates a general minimum tax-exempt amount of €700,000. Some autonomous communities set a different minimum tax-exempt amount: Valencia, for example, sets it at €1,000,000. Taxpayers are required to declare any tax liability, or if their gross assets exceed €2,000,000 even without tax liability. The specific tax brackets and rules for each community are not detailed here and should be verified before any move.

Settling in: the first steps

French citizens can freely enter Spain with a valid passport or national identity card, as Spain is a member of the European Union. Identity cards issued to adults between 2004 and 2013 remain valid for five years after the expiry date printed on the back. A valid passport is still preferable. This information comes from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, last updated on October 13, 2026.

Registration in the EU citizens' register and obtaining a foreigner's number (NIE) are not covered here. These procedures must be verified with the French Embassy in Spain or consulates.

What this page does not cover

Inheritance and gift tax, the declaration of assets and rights located abroad, the income tax scale, wealth tax beyond the above, the wealth tax (which coexists with it), the tax regimes of the Basque Country and Navarre (the published savings scale applies to the general tax territory), and the expatriate tax regime are not detailed here. Our page on the expatriate tax regime explains the latter.

Numerical example (fictitious profile)

Situation. A Frenchman, a fictitious profile, is a Spanish tax resident. For the 2025 tax year, he earns €120,000 in savings income: dividends, interest and capital gains.

Issue. He is familiar with both published scales, but not with the total they give.

Strategy. It applies the two scales, one state-run and the other autonomous, tranche by tranche, to its entire savings base.

Result. Based on the cumulative tax brackets, the tax is €26,480: 6,000 × 19 % = €1,140, 44,000 × 21 % = €9,240, 70,000 × 23 % = €16,100. The average rate is 22.07 %. This calculation does not take into account other income or the specific rules of its autonomous community.

What changes depending on your situation

• The number of days spent in Spain, and the presence of your family.
• The location of your activities and economic interests.
• Your autonomous community: the wealth tax varies according to it.
• The nature of your income: savings, income from work.
• The expatriate tax regime, if it is available to you.

These elements are examined on a case-by-case basis. No tax result can be announced without this examination.