How not to become a tax resident in Spain when obtaining a residence permit

Almost always, the question of obtaining a residence permit coincides with a completely fair question, but does it entail tax liabilities?

Obtaining a residence permit in Spain does not mean that you automatically become a tax resident, since in order to become one, you must comply with a number of details.

• Permanent stay or residence in Spain for more than 183 days during a calendar year

• Physical location of the source of income in Spain

• Center for Family Relations in Spain

In reality, the tax office can often make you a tax resident, and even if none of these details are met …

First, in order to find out what the tax authorities know about you, you need to request a certificate of the presence / absence of tax residence in Spain.

So, for example, in Catalonia, everyone who rents real estate is included in the tax office, since the registration of a lease agreement is subject to mandatory registration with the tax landlord. And it may turn out that you do not yet have a residence in Spain, but you are already listed in the tax office.

Information in the tax office appears when buying real estate or renting it, as well as during any commercial transactions in Spain, and not just directly with obtaining a residence permit.

Secondly, if you want to keep the tax residency of another country, not Spain, you always need to have documents certifying this with you.

The Spanish tax office operates within the framework of the instructions, and if your situation does not fit into it, even if you wish, there is nothing to take from you.

So, for example, one of our clients from Mallorca really wanted to become a tax resident in Spain, declared all his considerable assets and voluntarily applied for recognition as a tax resident. The paradox is that the tax authorities refused him, since he could not confirm his residence in Spain for more than 183 days a year and did not fit the rest of the requisites.

There are also several types of residences that do not endow their bearer with a tax obligation – student residence permit (but only as long as there is no right to work), intra-corporate transfer, investor and highly qualified specialists who applied on the basis of Beckham’s Law.