Do I have to pay taxes in Spain if I don't have residency in the country?

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Posted by

on 31 Oct 2014

I have now obtained a residency status in Spain, just to avoid the hassle of obtaining a tourist visa, however, the maximum time I would spend in Spain, would never exceed 4 months in a year (including interrupted visits). My question, what triggers the need to pay income tax as a resident? Is it the residency status or the duration of my stay? For example, some say that you need to pay income tax on all your world wide income, if you stay in Spain more than 181 days (6 months) regardless of having a residency status or not, others would say, as long as you have a residency status then you are under the spanish tax laws, regardless how long you stay in Spain. If the second is true, then I better avoid all that, and just get a normal tourist visa and forget about the residency all together. Having a residency status, does it mean I am obliedged to file an income tax for all my earnings world wide, regardless how long I stay in Spain?

Anonymous (not verified) on 31 Oct 2014 - 12:59

Hi Faisal,

How long are planning on staying in Spain? You are usually considered resident if you stay in a country for over 181 days.

Where are you from? Depending on where you are from you can get a tourist visa for 60 or 90 days. However, this is not really a long term solution to the issue of paying taxes in Spain. If you keep going in and out of the country on tourist visas the authoratires are likely to get suspicious.

Check out our Banking, Money and Taxes in Spain page for more information as your country may have agreements with Spain to avoid double tazation.

Good luck

Shantalie

Anonymous (not verified) on 31 Oct 2014 - 14:31

Thanks, however I intend to stay for 4 months, so a tourists visa would not be ideal. My question, is that given I have a residency card but only stay for four months would I be paying tax as non-residents?

Anonymous (not verified) on 31 Oct 2014 - 14:36

By the way my country does have Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Spain.

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