# Do I have to file a tax return in Spain? The 2026 thresholds

URL: https://melso.ai/en/blog/do-i-have-to-file-a-tax-return-spain
Published: 2026-10-13 · Updated: 2026-10-13

When you must file the Renta, Spain's income tax return: €22,000 with one payer, €15,876 with several, €1,000 if you invoice without being autónomo, and always if you were autónomo. With tables, 2026 examples and common mistakes.

## How much you can earn before filing a tax return in Spain in 2026

Do I have to file a tax return in Spain? Yes, once you earn €22,000 gross a year from one payer, or €15,876 with several if the second and later ones paid you over €1,500. With other income, such as invoices or rent, the threshold drops to €1,000 in total. If you were autónomo (self-employed) on any day of the year, you always file the Renta.

> [!RESUMEN]
> - With a salary from a single payer, you do not have to file until you earn €22,000 gross a year.
> - With two or more payers, if the second and later ones add up to more than €1,500, the threshold drops to €15,876. Unemployment benefit from the SEPE counts as a payer.
> - If you have business income (invoices without being registered), rent or losses on selling investments, you are only let off if everything together comes to no more than €1,000 and your losses are under €500.
> - If you were registered as autónomo for a single day in the year, or received the ingreso mínimo vital, you always file, whatever you earned.
> - Not having to file does not stop you filing: if you are due a refund, filing the Renta is the only way to get back the extra tax withheld.

These thresholds are set in [article 96 of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a96) (IRPF is Spanish personal income tax), and the order for each year's campaign repeats them. For the 2025 Renta, filed between 8 April and 30 June 2026, that was article 1 of [Order HAC/277/2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-7041). The reduced €15,876 threshold has applied since the 2024 tax year. Unless a law changes them first, these are the same thresholds you will apply to what you earn in 2026, whose Renta is filed in 2027.

If you already know you have to file and want to know how to do it, see the step-by-step guide on [how to file the Renta](/blog/como-hacer-la-declaracion-de-la-renta). If you are autónomo, here is what [the tax return for the self-employed](/en/tramites/renta) involves.

## The income thresholds for filing with Hacienda

The law starts from a general rule: every taxpayer files. It then exempts people who only have certain kinds of income below certain amounts. The key word is "exclusively": the exemption only works if **all** your income comes from the sources in this table.

| If this was your only income in the year | You don't file up to |
| --- | --- |
| Salary or pension from a single payer | €22,000 |
| Salary from several payers, if the second and later ones add up to €1,500 or less | €22,000 |
| Salary from several payers, if the second and later ones add up to more than €1,500 | €15,876 |
| Salary from a payer not required to withhold, or withheld at a fixed rate | €15,876 |
| Maintenance from a former spouse, or child support that is not exempt | €15,876 |
| Interest, dividends and gains with withholding (for example, from an interest-bearing account), except certain investment fund redemptions | €1,600 in total |
| Imputed income from property (an empty second home), Treasury bills, grants to buy subsidised housing and other gains from public grants | €1,000 in total |
| Employment, capital (rent included), business activities and gains, with capital losses under €500 | €1,000 in total |

Each row only lets you off if you have no income outside the table. If you earn €20,000 from one payer and also rent out a room, the €22,000 row no longer applies to you.

Pensioners with more than one payer keep the €22,000 threshold if their withholding was worked out with the special procedure the regulations provide for them, under the same article 96. The €1,600 row does not cover gains from selling or redeeming units in investment funds where withholding is not calculated on the gain included in the tax base (article 96.2.b).

The thresholds in the three salary rows are **gross employment income**: the gross figure on your payslip or on your withholding certificate, before Seguridad Social contributions and IRPF withholding are taken off. A common mistake is looking at the net amount that reaches your bank.

When checking whether you reach them, the [campaign order](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-7041) makes clear that exempt income and lottery prizes subject to the special levy do not count. The [AEAT's Renta manual](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/Ayuda/25Presentacion/100/2.html) (the AEAT is Spain's tax agency) gives as examples of exempt income some pensions for permanent absolute disability or severe disability, and child support set by a court. Public grants for formal studies are only exempt on the terms and within the limits of [article 7.j of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a7) and its regulations: the exempt part does not count, but anything above it does.

![Annual thresholds under article 96 of the IRPF Act: €22,000 of salary from one payer, €15,876 with several payers where the others pay more than €1,500, €1,600 of interest and dividends with withholding, €1,000 of imputed income and €1,000 in total if you have other income.](https://storage.googleapis.com/albert-489117-melso-blog-media/diagrams/en/minimo-para-hacer-la-renta/1-bars-d38ccd6ac6.png?w=1600&h=1022&m=1&mw=1080&mh=1809 "Gross annual amounts. The combined threshold requires losses under €500. If you were registered as autónomo or received the ingreso mínimo vital, you always file. Source: article 96 of the IRPF Act.")

## Who always has to file, whatever they earn

In some cases no threshold lets you off. Under article 96 of the IRPF Act and the campaign order, you file in every case if:

1. **You were registered as autónomo** (self-employed) in the RETA (the Seguridad Social scheme for the self-employed) or in the special scheme for seafarers at any point in the year. One day is enough. It makes no difference if you invoiced very little or made a loss.
2. **You received the ingreso mínimo vital** (IMV, Spain's minimum income benefit), both you as the holder and every member of your household. This is required by [article 36 of Act 19/2021](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-21007#a36). The benefit is exempt, but only up to a combined annual limit of 1.5 times the IPREM (the public income index used for benefits), together with regional minimum incomes and other social benefits ([article 7.y of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a7)); anything above that is taxed.
3. **You want to use certain tax breaks**: lowering your tax base with contributions to pension plans, mutual societies or protected assets for people with disabilities, the transitional main home deduction or the international double taxation deduction. If you use them, you file.

If you were an employee and also autónomo, the first point wins: you file even if your salary was low. For how a payslip and a business combine, see the guide on [being employed and self-employed](/en/blog/employed-and-self-employed-spain).

> [!IMPORTANTE]
> If you had to file and didn't, put it right as soon as you can. If you owe tax and file before Hacienda contacts you, [article 27 of the General Tax Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186#a27) adds a surcharge of 1% plus 1% for each full month of delay. After 12 months, the surcharge is 15% and late-payment interest is also charged from the end of those 12 months. If you are due a refund, the fixed penalty is €200, or €100 if you file before Hacienda has asked you to ([article 198](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186#a198)).

## When you have to file with two payers

The case that catches most people out is changing jobs or spending time on unemployment benefit. Whether you have to file depends on your total salary and how it is split between payers:

- Rank your payers from the largest amount to the smallest.
- Add up what the second and later ones paid you.
- If that total is €1,500 or less, your threshold stays at €22,000.
- If it is more than €1,500, your threshold drops to €15,876.
- Compare your total gross salary from all payers with that threshold.

The reason is practical: each payer withholds as if it were your only one, so with two payslips over the year the total withheld can fall short of the annual tax. In practice, the tax return is where that gap gets settled.

If you file a joint return, the thresholds are not added together: they are the same as for an individual return, and payers are counted separately for each member of the family. Two spouses with one payer each keep the €22,000 threshold, as the [AEAT's Renta 2025 manual](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2025/c01-campana-declaracion-renta/quienes-estan-obligados-presentar-declaracion-irpf/delimitacion-obligacion-declarar-irpf.html) explains.

Unemployment benefit is employment income ([article 17 of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a17) says so) and the SEPE (Spain's public employment service) is one more payer. To make sure you don't miss any, check your tax data with the AEAT when the campaign opens: it lists the payers that have reported what they paid you.

### Example: the same salary, with one payer or two

Take the 2026 minimum wage, which [Royal Decree 126/2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-3815) sets at €1,221 a month over 14 payments: €17,094 gross a year.

- **Marta** earns the €17,094 from a single company. Her threshold is €22,000 and she does not reach it: **she does not have to file**.
- **Lucía** earns the same, but split: €14,000 from one company until October and €3,094 from another in November and December. Her second payer is over €1,500, so her threshold is €15,876. Since €17,094 is more than €15,876, **she has to file**.
- **Javier** earns €17,094 from his employer and invoiced €600 for some technical translations for companies, done on his own account without being registered as autónomo. As a business activity, that income is not in the table of employment exemptions. Only the combined €1,000 threshold applies to him, and in total he has €17,694: **he has to file**.

![Marta earns €17,094 from one payer, her threshold is €22,000 and she does not have to file. Lucía earns the same from two payers, €14,000 and €3,094, her threshold drops to €15,876 and she has to file. Javier earns a €17,094 salary and €600 in invoices, his threshold is €1,000 in total and he has to file.](https://storage.googleapis.com/albert-489117-melso-blog-media/diagrams/en/minimo-para-hacer-la-renta/2-compare-202fb89e58.png?w=1600&h=978&m=1&mw=1080&mh=1839 "Illustrative example using the 2026 minimum wage (Royal Decree 126/2026). Source for the thresholds: article 96 of the IRPF Act.")

## If you invoice without being autónomo, the minimum is €1,000

This is the point that matters most for anyone with extra income. The €22,000 exemption only works if your income comes **exclusively** from employment, capital with withholding and the other sources in the table. [Article 96.2 of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a96) leaves only one other way out: you don't file if you have exclusively employment income, capital income or business income and capital gains up to a combined €1,000, and capital losses under €500. Imputed income from property is not on that list.

In practice, these make you file even on a low salary:

- **Invoicing one-off jobs** (design, translations, consulting) without being registered. If you do them on your own account as an activity, they are business income. Teaching one-off courses or giving talks, or assigning the rights to a work you write, counts as employment ([article 17.2 of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a17)), unless you organise it as an activity with your own means (article 17.3). If you are wondering whether you can do this at all, read [invoicing without being autónomo](/en/blog/invoice-without-being-autonomo-spain): the Renta is only part of the answer.
- **Renting out a flat or a room.** Rent you receive is income from real estate and is not one of the exempt sources (imputed income from an empty home is, up to €1,000).
- **Selling shares, funds or crypto** at a gain with no withholding, or at a loss. A loss is not one of the sources in the table, so with a €17,094 salary and a €100 loss on shares you already have to file: the €1,000 threshold does not cover you.

Work you do as a business activity keeps that classification even if you are not registered in the RETA (as defined in [article 27 of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a27)). Rent, investment gains without withholding and losses also stop you using the salary exemption. On the other hand, gains subject to withholding (for example, redeeming an investment fund with withholding on the gain) fit within the combined €1,600 threshold ([article 96.2.b of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a96)). What you don't have without registering is the duty to file whatever you earn. And if you do register, even for a single project, you join the group that always files.

![If you were registered as autónomo on any day of 2026, received the ingreso mínimo vital or use a tax break that requires filing, you always file. If you only had income from the table, its thresholds apply: €22,000 with one payer, €15,876 with several and €1,600 of interest with withholding. If you had invoices, rent, gains without withholding or losses, you only skip filing if everything together comes to €1,000 or less and your losses are under €500.](https://storage.googleapis.com/albert-489117-melso-blog-media/diagrams/en/minimo-para-hacer-la-renta/3-decision-afdc360e83.png?w=1600&h=2102&m=1&mw=1080&mh=3534 "Tax breaks that require filing: pension plans, protected assets, the transitional home deduction and international double taxation. Source: article 96 of the IRPF Act.")

> [!MELSO]
> If your one-off invoices end up in a registration, you always file, and the business activity is the hardest part to square with your numbers. With [the Renta at Melso](/en/tramites/renta), a professional prepares it from your income and expenses for the year and you approve the draft before it is filed.

## Do I pay IRPF if I earn less than €22,000?

Not having to file is not the same as not paying IRPF. Your employer applies the withholding that matches your salary and pays it to Hacienda; on low salaries it can be zero, under [article 81 of the IRPF Regulations](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a81). If you don't file the Renta, that withholding stands: you neither pay more nor get anything back.

In 2026 there is a credit aimed at low salaries. The [sixty-first additional provision of the IRPF Act](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#da-15), as worded by [Royal Decree-law 5/2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-3810) ([ratified by Congress on 18 March 2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-6483)), works like this for employees:

| Gross annual salary in 2026 | Credit |
| --- | --- |
| Up to €17,094 | €590.89 |
| Between €17,094 and €20,048.45 | €590.89 minus 20% of the amount above €17,094 (at €18,000, €409.69) |
| €20,048.45 or more | No credit |

It only applies if your other non-exempt income is no more than €6,500, and it can never exceed the part of your tax liability that relates to your salary. According to the preamble of Royal Decree-law 5/2026, the aim is that people on the minimum wage pay no IRPF. The credit is worked out in the tax return, so if too much was withheld, filing the Renta is how you get it back. The other deductions are covered in [Renta 2026 deductions](/blog/deducciones-renta-2026).

> [!CONSEJO]
> Even if you don't have to file, log into Renta Web when the campaign opens and look at the result of the draft return before you decide. If you are due a refund, filing is the only way to get it: the campaign order requires a return to refund withholding and advance payments. If you owe tax and really did not have to file (check the table of sources first), you can choose not to file.

## When you have to file the Renta

The Renta is filed the year after the one you are declaring. What you earn in 2026 is declared in the spring 2027 campaign. The dates are set each year by an order of the Ministry of Finance, and as of 13 October 2026 the order for that campaign has not yet been published in the BOE (Spain's official gazette).

For reference, [article 7 of Order HAC/277/2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-7041) set the filing period for the 2025 Renta from 8 April to 30 June 2026, whatever the result. If you should have filed and didn't, you can still file late with the surcharges or the penalty explained above.

If you are autónomo, the Renta is Form 100 (modelo 100) with your business activity included: income, expenses, Form 130 advance payments and withholding on your invoices. The step-by-step guide is in [Form 100 for the self-employed](/blog/modelo-100-renta-autonomos).

## Common mistakes when working out whether you have to file

- **Looking at your net salary.** The thresholds are gross: what your withholding certificate shows as gross employment income.
- **Forgetting the second payer.** Unemployment benefit or a two-month job count. If the second and later payers go over €1,500, your threshold is €15,876.
- **Thinking a few small invoices don't count.** With business income, the threshold stops being €22,000 and becomes €1,000 for everything together.
- **Thinking a low-earning autónomo is let off.** A single day registered in the RETA means you file for that year.
- **Mixing up "I don't have to" with "it's not worth it".** If too much was withheld, the only way to get it back is to file.
- **Counting exempt income.** The exempt part of a public grant or of the ingreso mínimo vital does not count towards the threshold, but anything above its exemption limits does (and the ingreso mínimo vital makes you file in any case).
- **Using another year's thresholds.** Since the 2024 tax year the threshold with several payers has been €15,876; before that it was €15,000, according to the [AEAT's 2024 changes](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2024/guia-principales-novedades/gestion-impuesto.html). The 2025 Renta also had a temporary exception: the €2,500 threshold for the second and later payers only applied to income accrued between 1 and 22 January 2025, according to the [AEAT's Renta 2025 manual](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2025/c01-campana-declaracion-renta/quienes-estan-obligados-presentar-declaracion-irpf/delimitacion-obligacion-declarar-irpf.html). What counts is the date the income accrued, not the date you were paid. For 2026 the text of article 96 applies: €1,500.

## How Melso helps

Melso is your AI tax agent, with human professionals behind it, for the self-employed: you send it receipts and invoices over WhatsApp, it organises your income and expenses and sends you reminders over WhatsApp. If you invoice without being registered and your situation fits being autónomo, start with your [self-employed registration](/en/tramites/alta), which a Melso gestor handles. As the [Melso home page](https://melso.ai/) puts it, the Pro and Plus plans include the gestoría, the Renta (Form 100) and your own AI agent, with the scope confirmed for your activity and tax profile before you sign up (plan details on the [pricing](/en/pricing) page). Melso and its professionals prepare and review your [Form 100](/en/tramites/modelo-100), you approve the exact draft in the app and, with the required authority, the professional files it and gives you the filing receipt.

Tap **[Get started](https://melso.ai)** or **[Message us on WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34711589564)**.

> This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the minimum salary before you have to file the Renta?

If all your salary comes from a single payer, you do not have to file until you earn €22,000 gross a year. If you have two or more payers and the second and later ones paid you more than €1,500 in total, the threshold drops to €15,876. These are gross amounts, before withholding and social security contributions, and they only apply if you have no other income that makes you file, such as invoices or rent.

### When are you required to file the Renta?

You have to file if you go over any of the thresholds in article 96 of the IRPF Act (€22,000 of employment income with one payer, €15,876 with several, €1,600 of interest and dividends with withholding, €1,000 of imputed income, or, if you have other income, €1,000 in total; in that last case your capital losses must also stay below €500 for you not to file). You also always file if you were registered as autónomo on any day of the year or received the ingreso mínimo vital.

### Do I pay IRPF if I earn less than €22,000?

Not having to file does not mean not paying IRPF. Your employer withholds tax based on your salary, sometimes zero, and that money stays with Hacienda. If you do not file, the amount withheld stands. If too much was withheld, the only way to get it back is to file the Renta. In 2026 there is also a credit of up to €590.89 for salaries up to €17,094, as long as your other income is no more than €6,500 and you have enough tax liability; it shrinks above that and disappears at €20,048.45.

### How much can I earn without having to file the Renta?

It depends on what kind of income you have. With only a salary from one payer, up to €22,000 gross. With several payers, if the second and later ones add up to more than €1,500, up to €15,876. If you also have income that is not on the list of exempt sources, such as invoices without being registered, rent or a loss on selling shares, the threshold is €1,000 for everything together, with losses under €500. If you were autónomo for a single day, there is no minimum.

### Does an autónomo have to file the Renta even on a low income?

Yes. Article 96 of the IRPF Act says that anyone registered as self-employed in the RETA (the Seguridad Social scheme for the self-employed) or in the seafarers' scheme at any point in the year must file in every case. It makes no difference whether you invoiced €300 or registered in December: if you were registered in 2026, you file the 2026 Renta in 2027.

### If I invoice without being autónomo, do I have to file the Renta?

Very probably yes. If that work is a business activity, its income counts even if you are not registered, and that source is not on the list that lets you off up to €22,000. What you have left is the combined €1,000 threshold: if your salary, invoices, interest and gains together come to more than €1,000, you file. Note that courses and talks count as employment income (article 17.2 of the IRPF Act), unless you organise them yourself with your own means (article 17.3); then they are a business activity.

### Does unemployment benefit count as a second payer for the Renta?

Yes. Unemployment benefit is employment income under article 17 of the IRPF Act, and the SEPE (Spain's public employment service) is a different payer from your employer. If you worked and then received unemployment benefit, and the second payer by amount paid you more than €1,500, your threshold drops from €22,000 to €15,876. That can mean you have to file when you did not expect to.

### Is it worth filing the Renta even if I don't have to?

It is if you are due a refund. Under the order that sets up each campaign, filing is required to get back withholding and advance payments. That can happen if you changed jobs, spent part of the year out of work or have regional deductions. Renta Web works out the result before you file, so you can check it with no commitment and decide with the number in front of you.

### What happens if I had to file the Renta and didn't?

File it late as soon as you can. If you owe tax and you file before Hacienda contacts you, you pay a surcharge of 1% plus 1% for each full month of delay; after 12 months, the surcharge is 15% plus late-payment interest (article 27 of the General Tax Act). If you are due a refund, the fixed penalty is €200, which drops to €100 if you file before Hacienda asks you to.

### When do you file the 2026 Renta?

The 2026 Renta will be filed in spring 2027. The dates are set each year by an order of the Ministry of Finance, and as of 13 October 2026 the order for that campaign has not been published yet. For reference, the 2025 Renta was filed from 8 April to 30 June 2026, under Order HAC/277/2026.

## Sources

- [Act 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax (consolidated text: articles 7, 17 and 96 and sixty-first additional provision)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Order HAC/277/2026 approving the IRPF and wealth tax return forms for 2025 (article 1: filing obligation; article 7: filing period)](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-7041), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Renta 2025 manual: filing obligation](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/Ayuda/25Presentacion/100/2.html), AEAT, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Royal Decree-law 5/2026 of 17 February (article 28: credit for employment income from 2026)](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-3810), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Renta 2025 practical manual: scope of the filing obligation (€1,000 threshold, losses under €500 and temporary €2,500 exception for January 2025)](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2025/c01-campana-declaracion-renta/quienes-estan-obligados-presentar-declaracion-irpf/delimitacion-obligacion-declarar-irpf.html), AEAT, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Royal Decree 126/2026 of 18 February setting the minimum wage for 2026](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-3815), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Act 58/2003, General Tax Act (consolidated text: articles 27 and 198)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2003-23186), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Renta 2024 practical manual: changes in tax administration (threshold from €15,000 to €15,876 since 2024)](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2024/guia-principales-novedades/gestion-impuesto.html), AEAT, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Act 19/2021 establishing the ingreso mínimo vital (article 36, obligations of beneficiaries)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-21007), BOE, accessed 2026-10-13
- [Melso home page: «Pro y Plus incluyen la gestoría, la Renta (modelo 100) y tu propio agente de IA» and «Confirmamos el alcance según tu actividad y perfil fiscal antes de contratar»](https://melso.ai/), Melso, accessed 2026-10-13