Before you start

NIE
A determination of whether you are tax resident for the year
Records of worldwide income and foreign assets
A digital certificate or Cl@ve credentials for the Agencia Tributaria

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether you are tax resident, and from when
More than 183 days in a calendar year makes you resident, as does having your centre of economic interests in Spain. Spanish residency is assessed for the whole calendar year rather than pro-rated, which produces surprising results for people arriving mid-year.
OnlineWho: You
2
Understand that half of your income tax is regional
IRPF combines a state scale with an autonomous community scale, and the Región de Murcia sets its own. The same gross salary produces a different net in Murcia, Madrid and Seville — and San Sebastián or Bilbao are different again, because the Basque provinces administer their own tax entirely. Comparisons that quote a single national rate are wrong.
OnlineWho: You
3
Read the Murcian wealth tax rebate carefully rather than as a headline
The region applies its own tariff with a rebate designed to fall away at the threshold where the state's temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes begins — so below that point the regional tax is largely neutralised, and above it the liability effectively reverts to the state levy. This is not a blanket exemption and the figures move with state legislation. Check the CARM's current tax page rather than a comparison table.
OnlineWho: You
4
File the Modelo 720 if you hold foreign assets
Tax residents must report overseas accounts, securities and property above a threshold in each of three categories. It is an information return, not a tax, but it has its own deadline and it is the most common serious compliance failure among new residents.
OnlineWho: You
5
Decide on the impatriate regime inside its window
The régimen especial for displaced workers — the Beckham Law — taxes Spanish employment income on a different basis from the ordinary progressive scale for a limited number of years, and was extended to people arriving under the digital nomad route. Its conditions and thresholds have been amended more than once and are widely misreported. Confirm the current rules with the Agencia Tributaria or an adviser; the election has a strict deadline and is not easily reversed.
OnlineWho: YouWithin the statutory window
6
File the annual Renta between April and June
The declaration for the previous calendar year is filed in the spring window. The Agencia Tributaria produces a draft — the borrador — which is often accurate for simple employment cases and materially wrong for anyone with foreign income. Do not simply confirm it without checking.
OnlineWho: YouApril–June annually

Documents you’ll need

NIE
Certificado digital or Cl@ve credentials
Employment income certificates from Spanish employers
Records of all worldwide income and foreign accounts
Documentation of foreign property and securities, for the Modelo 720

Things most newcomers don’t know

A regional wealth tax rebate is not the same thing as no wealth tax.

Several Spanish regions, Murcia among them, responded to the state's temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes by structuring their own rebate to stop at the point the state levy begins — so a large estate pays roughly the same either way, and the money simply goes to a different treasury. Comparison articles that list Murcia as having 'no wealth tax' are describing the rebate and not the interaction. Read both together, and confirm the current thresholds with the regional tax authority.

Source: Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia; secondary sources, not confirmed against a primary page

Half of Spanish income tax is regional, so 'the Spanish rate' does not exist.

IRPF is a state scale plus an autonomous community scale, and each region sets its own. The same gross salary yields a different net in Murcia, Madrid, Valencia and Seville — and the Basque provinces are a separate system entirely. Any comparison of Spanish cities that quotes one national figure is wrong in a way that matters at higher incomes.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

Spanish tax residency is worldwide and is assessed for the whole year.

Once you cross the 183-day threshold, Spain taxes your global income for that entire calendar year rather than from your arrival date. Someone arriving in May with substantial income earned abroad in January to April can find that income falling into the Spanish net. Model the arrival date deliberately if you have significant pre-move income.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

The borrador is a draft, not an answer.

The Agencia Tributaria pre-fills a return from the data it already holds, and for a straightforward Spanish salary it is usually right. It knows nothing about foreign accounts, overseas rental income or assets abroad. Confirming the draft unchanged when you have foreign income is a common and expensive mistake among new residents.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

Common mistakes to avoid

Reading Murcia's wealth tax rebate as a blanket exemption without accounting for the state solidarity levy above it.
Assuming a single national income tax rate and ignoring the Murcian regional scale.
Missing the Modelo 720 foreign-asset declaration in your first year as a tax resident.
Confirming the borrador unchanged when you have foreign income.
Planning around a reported Beckham Law threshold without confirming the current rules — they have been amended and are widely misreported.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.