Exit tax in Spain: when you pay it on leaving
Spain's exit tax in 2026: who pays it (10 of 15 years resident and shares above €4M or €1M), how holdings are valued, the tax rate, which return it goes on, the Form 113 option for EU moves and a worked example.
In short
- It applies if you were an IRPF taxpayer for at least 10 of the 15 years before your last year as a resident and you hold shares or units, funds included, worth more than €4,000,000, or more than 25% of an entity worth more than €1,000,000.
- Holdings are valued on 31 December of your last resident year and taxed as savings income: in 2026, at 19% to 30%.
- The gain goes on that last year's Renta, or on a supplementary return with no surcharge within the Renta filing period for your first year abroad.
- If you move within the EU or the European Economic Area, Form 113 lets you declare the gain only if, within 10 years, you sell or give away those shares, leave the EU and the EEA or stop reporting your details.
- If you come back without having sold, you get the tax back with interest; for temporary moves you can ask for a deferral that is cancelled if you return within 5 years.
What is Spain's exit tax? The short answer
Spain's exit tax is a departure tax inside Spanish income tax. If you stop being resident after at least 10 of the previous 15 years and your shares and funds are worth more than €4 million, or more than €1 million with over 25% of one company, you are taxed on the unrealised gain as if you had sold.
An unrealised gain is what your shares are worth today minus what they cost you, even if you have not sold them. The rule is Article 95 bis of the Spanish Personal Income Tax Law (IRPF, impuesto sobre la renta de las personas físicas), in force since 1 January 2015 (Law 26/2014). It is not a separate tax: it is a capital gain on your last return as a resident. This is the national rule; the Basque Country and Navarre run their own income tax.
Who pays the exit tax in Spain? The tests
Three things must happen together: you stop being an IRPF taxpayer because you move your residence abroad, you had been one for many years, and your shares and units exceed a minimum value.
| Test | Rule | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Prior residence | IRPF taxpayer for at least 10 of the 15 tax years before the last one you file as a resident | Art. 95 bis.1 |
| General threshold | Shares and units in any entity worth more than €4,000,000 in total | Art. 95 bis.1.a |
| Holding threshold | If you are below that: more than 25% of an entity whose shares are worth more than €1,000,000 (only that holding is taxed) | Art. 95 bis.1.b |
| Inbound workers (Beckham Law) | The 10 years count from the first year without the special regime | Art. 95 bis.8 |
Ten of the last fifteen years: how they are counted
You look at the 15 tax years before the last one you file as a resident, leaving that last year out. Spain's Directorate General for Taxation (DGT, the Finance Ministry body whose binding rulings the tax agency must follow) explained this in binding ruling V0148-18: someone resident since 2008 who moved to the United States in June 2018 had 2017 as his last year and fell short of 10 of 15; moving in August made 2018 the last year, and the test was met.
The difference comes from the more-than-183-days rule in Article 9 of the law, which also makes you resident if your main economic interests are here or if your spouse and minor children live here. Your departure has to be real and provable: see our guide to Spanish tax residency.
If you arrived under the Beckham Law, the 10 years count from the first year without that regime.
The thresholds: €4 million, or €1 million with more than 25%
The order matters. If your shares and units are worth more than €4,000,000 in total, the gain on all of them is taxed: your company, your listed shares and your funds. The 25% rule only comes in if you are below that figure, and then only that holding is taxed.
Both thresholds use market value on 31 December of your last year as a resident, under the valuation rules in the next section.
What counts and what does not
- Counted: shares or units "in any kind of entity" that you own: listed or unlisted, Spanish or foreign, and units in investment funds.
- If your company sits under a family holding company, what you own are shares in the holding, and those are what get valued.
- Not counted: property and bank accounts, and bitcoin-type cryptocurrencies, which are not holdings in an entity (ruling V0666-25). Other crypto-assets are assessed one by one.
- Only positive differences are added. An unrealised loss cannot be deducted this way.
How is the gain worked out, and at what rate?
The gain is market value minus acquisition cost. Market value is taken at the accrual date of your last year as a resident, which for IRPF is 31 December (Article 12 of the law), not the day you move: if you leave in February 2027 and are no longer resident that year, 31 December 2026 is the date that counts.
| Type of holding | How it is valued (Art. 95 bis.3) |
|---|---|
| Listed on a regulated market | At its market price on that date |
| Unlisted | The higher of: net equity in the last balance sheet closed before that date, or the average result of the last three closed financial years capitalised at 20%; unless a different market value is proven |
| Investment funds | Net asset value on that date or, if there is none, the last one published |
Capitalising at 20% means multiplying average profit by 5, so for a very profitable company it can be far above book value. A recent funding round or a purchase offer can prove a different value, either way: document whatever valuation you use.
The gain is savings income. In 2026, the national scale in Article 66 and the regional scale in Article 76 add up to these rates:
| Savings income | Combined rate in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Up to €6,000 | 19% |
| €6,000 to €50,000 | 21% |
| €50,000 to €200,000 | 23% |
| €200,000 to €300,000 | 27% |
| Over €300,000 | 30% |
The regional savings scale is set by the IRPF Law itself, so the rate is the same in every region under the common system. The first €300,000 pays €71,880; with several million, the average rate gets close to 30%.
When, and on which return, do you pay?
The gain is allocated to your last year as a resident and goes in section F4 of that year's Renta (the annual income tax return, Form 100 or modelo 100), as the AEAT help pages explain (the AEAT is Spain's tax agency). If you have already filed it, you file a supplementary return (autoliquidación complementaria) with no penalty, late-payment interest or surcharge.
The deadline is the end of the Renta filing period for your first year as a non-resident (Article 121 of the regulation). If 2026 is your last year in Spain, you have until the end of the 2027 Renta campaign, which runs in 2028.
When you leave, also check:
- Income not yet allocated. Anything still due from an instalment sale, such as deferred consideration from selling a company, is allocated to your last year through a supplementary return within three months (Article 14.3 of the law and Article 63 of the regulation); if you move within the EU, you can declare it as you receive it. More in tax on selling your company.
- Your change of tax address, which you report separately (Article 48 of the General Tax Law).
Does it matter which country you move to?
Yes. The general rule is to pay when you leave, with three exceptions:
| Where you move | What happens | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Another EU or EEA state (and Switzerland, per the DGT) | You can choose Form 113: you only declare if, within 10 tax years, you sell or give away, leave the EU and the EEA or fail to report | Art. 95 bis.6 and Art. 123 of the regulation |
| A temporary move for work to a country that is not a non-cooperative jurisdiction, or for any other reason to a country with a treaty and information exchange | You can ask for a deferral, with collateral and interest, which is cancelled if you return within 5 tax years without selling | Art. 95 bis.4 and Art. 122 of the regulation |
| Any other country, for good | You declare and pay on your last year's Renta | Art. 95 bis.1 and 2 |
| A non-cooperative jurisdiction, if you are Spanish | You stay in IRPF that year and the 4 following, and the exit tax still applies | Art. 8.2 and 95 bis.7 |
Moving within the EU or the EEA: the Form 113 option
The European Economic Area (EEA) adds Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to the EU; the UK is in neither. If you move to one of those states, paragraph 6 of Article 95 bis lets you skip self-assessing the gain when you leave. You only declare it if, in the 10 tax years after your last year as a resident:
- You transfer those shares or units during your lifetime (sell, contribute or give them away).
- You stop living in the EU or the EEA.
- You fail to meet the reporting obligation.
You choose the option on Form 113 (modelo 113), approved by Order HAP/2835/2015, online, between the date you move and the end of the Renta filing period for your first year as a non-resident. You state the shares, their market value, the country and your address, and every later change of address must be reported within two months.
If one of the three events happens, you file a supplementary return for your last resident year, with no penalty, interest or surcharge, before the end of the next Renta filing period (Article 123 of the regulation). If you sell for less than the exit value, the gain is reduced by the difference. If the 10 tax years pass with none of these events, nothing is self-assessed, and if you return to Spain earlier, the rule lapses.
The DGT sets out two points in binding ruling V1648-26, issued in June 2026: Switzerland gets the same option, because of its free movement agreement with the EU and EU Court of Justice case C-581/17, and giving shares to your spouse is a lifetime transfer that triggers the gain on the shares given.
Temporary moves: the deferral
If the move is temporary, for work to a country that is not a tax haven or for any other reason to a country with a double tax treaty and information exchange, you can ask to defer payment (Article 95 bis.4 and Article 122 of the regulation):
- You apply within the filing period for the gain, naming the destination country and, for work, enclosing a document from your employer.
- Late-payment interest runs and collateral is required, which can be the shares themselves.
- The deferral ends no later than 30 June after the five tax years following your last resident year: if that year is 2026, 30 June 2032.
- If you return within those five tax years without selling, the debt and its interest are cancelled; the cost of the collateral is not refunded.
- For work moves, you can ask for up to five more tax years. If you sell earlier, the deferral ends two months after the sale.
Coming back to Spain after paying
If you paid and become resident again without having sold, you can ask for your return to be corrected and the tax refunded, with late-payment interest from the day you paid, once the filing period for your first Renta as a resident again has ended (Article 95 bis.5).
Moving to a non-cooperative jurisdiction
If you are a Spanish national and move to a tax haven, you remain an IRPF taxpayer in the year of the move and the four following years (Article 8.2 of the law), and the exit tax still applies, allocated to your last year of actual residence. Since 2021, "tax haven" has been read as non-cooperative jurisdiction (tenth additional provision of Law 36/2006).
The list is in Order HFP/115/2023, amended by Order HAC/649/2026, whose changes apply to IRPF from 2027. Andorra is not on the current list: see moving to Andorra from Spain.
Worked example: a founder with €6 million in shares moves to Lisbon
Marta is 54, lives in Barcelona and has been tax resident in Spain all her life. In 2008 she founded a software company, an unlisted limited company (sociedad limitada), and still holds 40% of it, which cost her €120,000. She also has investment funds worth €800,000 that cost her €600,000. In February 2027 she moves to Lisbon with her family.
Step 1. Does she stop being resident in 2027? She will spend fewer than 183 days in Spain and her family lives in Lisbon, but almost all her wealth is a Spanish company, and the tax agency may ask where her main economic interests lie. We assume her last resident year is 2026; she meets the 10-of-15 test.
Step 2. Value her 40% on 31 December 2026. The company's financial year ends on 31 December, so the last balance sheet closed before that date is 2025's:
- Net equity on 31 December 2025: €8,000,000; 40% is €3,200,000.
- Results for 2023, 2024 and 2025: €2,600,000, €3,000,000 and €3,400,000. Average: €3,000,000. Capitalised at 20%: €15,000,000; 40% is €6,000,000.
The higher figure, €6,000,000, applies, because no recent transaction proves another value. With the funds, the total is €6,800,000: above €4,000,000, so the gain on everything is taxed.
Step 3. Gain and tax. The gain is €5,880,000 on the company and €200,000 on the funds: €6,080,000. We assume she has no other savings income in 2026 and that her personal allowance is used up against her general income. On the 2026 scale: €71,880 on the first €300,000, plus 30% of the remaining €5,780,000, €1,734,000. Total: €1,805,880.
Step 4. Pay now or take the Form 113 option. Portugal is an EU state, so Marta can choose:
- Pay. She declares the gain on her 2026 Renta or a supplementary return, by the end of the 2027 Renta campaign in 2028 at the latest, and pays €1,805,880.
- Take the Form 113 option within the same deadline. She pays nothing unless one of the three events happens between 2027 and 2036. If she sells her 40% in 2030 for €5,000,000, the gain on the company falls by €1,000,000, the shortfall against the €6,000,000 exit value: she declares €4,880,000 on a supplementary 2026 return and pays €1,445,880. The funds are not taxed while she keeps them.
The example leaves out whatever Portugal taxes when Marta sells, under its own law and its treaty with Spain, and whether it accepts the exit value as her cost. If it does not, she may be taxed twice: worth checking before she moves.
How Melso helps
Choosing between paying on departure and the Form 113 option, and valuing an unlisted company under the Article 95 bis rules, are decisions best settled with numbers before the move. At Melso Private your advisers model each scenario in Spain and in the destination country, and you approve every measure with its legal basis, risk and cost.
Can you plan around the exit tax lawfully?
Yes, with the options the law itself offers: Form 113 if you move within the EU or the EEA, the deferral if the move is temporary, a well-documented valuation and deciding calmly when and where you move. Choosing between lawful options is legitimate tax planning (economía de opción). The limits are in the law too:
- Your residence has to be real. If your life, your family or your main economic interests stay here, you remain resident.
- Conflict in applying the rules (anti-avoidance). The tax agency can recharacterise blatantly artificial arrangements with no relevant effect beyond the tax saving (Article 15 of the General Tax Law).
- Sham transactions. If a transaction pretends to be something it is not, what was really done is taxed and penalties may follow (Article 16).
- Valid business reasons. Restructuring your companies before you leave needs its own documented business rationale.
Common mistakes with Spain's exit tax
- Counting only the company. Above €4,000,000, your funds and listed shares are taxed too.
- Valuing on the day you move. The date that counts is 31 December of your last resident year.
- Assuming the EU option is automatic. You must file Form 113 on time and report every change of address within two months.
- Giving shares away after moving within the EU. Within the 10 tax years, it triggers the gain on the shares given.
- Treating Form 113 as your change of address. Your tax address is reported separately.
- Moving to a non-cooperative jurisdiction as a Spanish national. You stay taxable in Spain for five years and the exit tax still applies.
How Melso helps
Melso Private provides lawful tax planning for people with net wealth from €1 million: tax advisers working with AI that reads your deeds, returns and statements, cross-checks each country's law and treaties and models scenarios. The advisers choose the measures and stand behind them, work alongside your notary, private bank and advisers in your new country, and file the returns you agree on once you approve the exact version. The first conversation lasts 45 minutes, is free of charge and we reply within 2 business days: Request a conversation.
This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.
Sources
- Law 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax (consolidated text): Articles 8, 9, 12, 14, 66, 76 and 95 bis, BOE (accessed )
- Royal Decree 439/2007, Personal Income Tax Regulation (consolidated text): Articles 63, 121, 122 and 123, BOE (accessed )
- Order HAP/2835/2015 of 28 December approving Form 113 to report capital gains on a change of residence, BOE (accessed )
- Form 100, Renta 2025 help: section F4, capital gains on a change of residence outside Spain, AEAT (accessed )
- Law 58/2003, General Tax Law (consolidated text): Articles 15, 16 and 48, BOE (accessed )
- Law 36/2006 on measures to prevent tax fraud (consolidated text): first and tenth additional provisions, BOE (accessed )
- Order HFP/115/2023 listing non-cooperative jurisdictions (consolidated text after Order HAC/649/2026), BOE (accessed )
- Binding ruling V0148-18: counting the 10 of 15 tax years under Article 95 bis, DGT (accessed )
- Binding ruling V1648-26: move to Switzerland, the paragraph 6 option and a gift of shares, DGT (accessed )
- Binding ruling V0666-25: cryptocurrencies and capital gains on a change of residence, DGT (accessed )
