Inheritance tax in Spain by region: the 2026 guide

How much inheritance tax do you pay in Spain in 2026? The short answer

Inheritance tax in Spain in 2026 depends above all on where the deceased lived for their last five years. For children, spouses and parents, ten regions bring it close to zero, with reliefs of 99% to 100% and no cap on the amount. Catalonia, Asturias, Galicia, Aragon and Castilla-La Mancha charge much more on large estates.

How does inheritance tax work in Spain?

Spain's inheritance and gift tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones, ISD) is a State tax set by Law 29/1987, but it is devolved to the autonomous regions, which can change allowances, rates, multipliers and reliefs (article 48 of Law 22/2009). The result is fifteen versions of the same tax in the common-regime regions. The Basque Country and Navarre have their own foral laws and are outside this guide.

Each heir pays on what they receive (article 5), not the estate as a whole. The taxable base (base imponible) is the net value of their share: market value minus deductible charges and debts; for real estate, the cadastral reference value (valor de referencia), unless you declare a higher one (article 9). Household contents (ajuar doméstico) are added to the estate at 3% of its value unless a lower value is proven (article 15).

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Kinship groups and the State rules

The State law, which applies wherever a region has not set its own rule, sorts heirs into four groups (article 20.2):

The State rates run from 7.65% to 34%, the rate charged above €797,555.08 of net taxable base (base liquidable) (article 21). The multiplier rises with the wealth the heir already had: for groups I and II, from 1.0000 to 1.2000 above €4,020,770.98 (article 22). The State law also gives a 95% allowance for the deceased's main home, capped at €122,606.47 per heir, and another 95% allowance for a family business, both with a 10-year holding period, plus 100% up to €9,195.49 on life insurance paid to close family.

Which region taxes the inheritance, and whose rules apply?

An inheritance follows the rules of the region where the deceased had their habitual residence (article 32 of Law 22/2009). That residence looks backwards: it is the region where they spent the most days in the five years before death, counted date to date, and unless proven otherwise it is presumed to be where their main home was (article 28.1.1(b)). Where the heirs live or where the assets are does not matter.

Two consequences follow:

1. A late move does not change the rules. If someone moves two years before dying, their previous region still has more days in those five years, and its law applies.
2. A move made for tax reasons has no effect. Article 28.4 of the same law denies effect to changes of residence whose main purpose is to pay less in devolved taxes. A real move, for family or health, is legitimate, but it is proven with facts (home, days, daily life), not with a town-hall registration (empadronamiento).

For gifts, real estate is taxed where it is located and everything else where the recipient lives (see our guide to gifts from parents to children). In Ceuta and Melilla the State law applies with a 99% relief for groups I and II if the deceased lived there for the 5 years before death (article 23 bis).

How much do children and spouses pay in each region in 2026?

The table sums up, for inheritances by groups I and II, what each common-regime region has in force in 2026 according to Tributación autonómica. Medidas 2026, the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) report updated on 23 September 2026, and, for Andalusia, Asturias, Catalonia and Madrid, their laws as consolidated in the BOE, Spain's official gazette.

Three points the table cannot show:

• A relief is not an exemption. The relief (bonificación) applies to the tax due, after allowances, rates and multiplier. At 99% you pay 1% of a tax bill that can be large: in Madrid, a child inheriting €1.5M pays €4,325.66 (articles 21 to 25 of Madrid's consolidated text).
• In Catalonia, the bigger the inheritance, the smaller the relief. For children and parents it is a weighted average across bands of taxable base: 60% on the first €100,000, falling to 0% above €3,000,000 (article 58 bis of Law 19/2010). With a €1,500,000 base it comes to 39.50%. And it is lost if you choose allowances such as the family business one (the main home allowance is compatible).
• Asturias weighs most on medium and large estates. It deducts €300,000 per heir (article 17), but charges groups I and II a scale that starts at 21.25% and reaches 36.5% above €616,000 of net taxable base (article 21), with no relief. On the example's assumptions, a child pays more in Asturias than in Catalonia once the inheritance passes about €375,000.

Illustrative example: €3M left to two children in Catalonia, Madrid or Asturias

Carmen is 80, widowed and has lived in Barcelona for decades. Her net wealth is about €3,000,000: a portfolio of funds and listed shares, two let flats and cash. She has two children aged 50 and 47, each with their own wealth below €400,000. Her daughter lives in Madrid, and Carmen is thinking of moving in with her. Her children want to understand how much the tax changes from region to region.

Assumptions: each child receives a taxable base of €1,500,000 (household contents included, no debts or costs), with no main home, family business or life insurance, under the 2026 rules. We compare what would happen if Carmen had lived in each region for the last five years.

How the figures are reached:

1. Catalonia. After the €100,000 allowance (article 2), the scale gives €153,000 on the first €800,000 of net taxable base, plus 32% on the remaining €600,000: €345,000 (article 57). Multiplier 1.0000, with existing wealth up to €500,000 (article 58).
2. Madrid. €199,604.23 up to €798,817.20, plus 34% on €685,182.80: €432,566.38 (article 23). Multiplier 1.00 below €403,000 of existing wealth and a 99% relief: €4,325.66 is left.
3. Asturias. €177,700 up to €616,000, plus 36.5% on €584,000: €390,860. Multiplier 1.0000 and no relief (article 22).

For the two children together, the total tax would be €417,450 in Catalonia, €8,651.32 in Madrid and €781,720 in Asturias.

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What the example does not allow is choosing a region at the last minute. If Carmen moved to Madrid and died within two and a half years, Catalonia would still have more of her days in the previous five years, and its law would apply. Even if she lives there longer, a move whose main purpose is to pay less tax has no effect (article 28.4 of Law 22/2009). If she moves, it should be for real reasons, with evidence.

The other levers have limits too. Gifts from the same person to the same child within three years are added together to set the rate, and gifts made in the four years before death are added to the inheritance for the same purpose (article 30). The family business allowances have activity, management and holding requirements. And what each child inherits counts towards their own wealth tax from 31 December of that year (see wealth tax by region).

What if the deceased or the heirs do not live in Spain?

A Spanish resident pays on everything they inherit, wherever it is (article 6 of Law 29/1987); residence follows the income tax (IRPF) rules, covered in our guide to Spanish tax residency. A non-resident pays only on assets located in Spain and on life insurance taken out with Spanish insurers or in Spain (article 7).

For years, non-residents could not use the regional reliefs. The Court of Justice of the EU held this contrary to the free movement of capital on 3 September 2014 (case C-127/12), and the law added a second additional provision that at first covered only the EU and the European Economic Area. After Supreme Court judgment 242/2018 of 19 February, Law 11/2021 extended it to all non-residents. Today:

• If the deceased lived in a Spanish region, non-resident heirs apply that region's rules.
• If the deceased did not live in Spain, the rules of the region holding the highest value of the assets in Spain apply. If there are no assets in Spain, each heir applies the rules of their own region of residence.

Because the tax is only devolved to the regions when the taxpayer lives in Spain (article 32.2 of Law 22/2009), a non-resident heir files a self-assessment with the State tax administration (the AEAT, Spain's tax agency), even when applying regional law. And if, as a resident, you inherit assets abroad that paid a similar tax there, article 23 lets you deduct the lower of the tax paid abroad and the Spanish tax on those assets at the average rate. For wealth tax, see wealth tax for non-residents.

What is the deadline for Spanish inheritance tax?

Six months from the date of death (article 67 of the Regulation). You can ask for an extension of another 6 months, but only within the first 5 months, with the death certificate, the heirs, an approximate list of the assets and the reason (article 68). If you are not notified of a decision within a month, it is deemed granted. The extension starts when the 6 months end and carries late-payment interest until you file.

Regions can regulate how the tax is managed, so check your region's procedure. If the extension ends without a filing, the tax authority can assess the tax with the data it has, without prejudice to penalties.

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What changes in Spanish inheritance tax in 2026?

Law 29/1987 does not change (its consolidated text shows no amendments since 2022). The 2026 changes are regional, according to chapter II of Medidas 2026:

• Madrid (Law 3/2026, from 1 July). New 99% allowances of its own for sole-trader businesses, professional practices and shareholdings, on inheritances and gifts, for groups I to III and fourth-degree relatives. They require a 5-year holding period and cannot be combined with the State's 95% allowance, which requires 10 (article 22 of Madrid's consolidated text).
• Valencia region (Law 5/2026, from 11 August). Its family business allowances become improvements of the State one: 99% with a 5-year holding period. Since 1 June 2026, siblings, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces get a 25% relief, rising to 50% on 1 June 2027.
• Galicia. The kinship and disability allowances apply only once between the same deceased and the same heir, even across several acquisitions.
• Extremadura (from 5 August). Nephews and nieces of someone without descendants now get the group I and II benefits.

Common mistakes with Spanish inheritance tax

• Looking at the wrong region. What counts is the deceased's residence over the previous five years, not where the heirs live or where the assets are.
• Treating a relief as an exemption. With a 99% or 100% relief you still have to file, and in Madrid anything you leave undeclared loses the relief.
• Forgetting household contents or undervaluing property. Household contents are presumed at 3% of the estate, and for real estate the floor is the cadastral reference value.
• Asking for the extension in the sixth month. It is only granted if you ask within the first 5.
• Choosing an allowance in Catalonia without running the numbers. Opting for the family business allowance means losing the relief in article 58 bis.
• Selling or not keeping what you inherited long enough. If you break the holding period for the main home or the family business (10 years with the State allowance, 5 with Madrid's), you pay the tax you did not pay before, plus late-payment interest.

How Melso helps

Melso Private provides lawful tax planning for net wealth from €1M, and lifetime giving and succession are part of its analysis: tax advisers work with AI that reads deeds, returns and statements, cross-checks each country's law and its treaties, and models scenarios like Carmen's. The advisers review each scenario, choose the measures and stand behind them, and you see each measure with its legal basis, risk and cost; nothing is applied or filed without your approval. We coordinate with your notary, your private bank and your advisers in other countries, and the first 45-minute conversation is free of charge. Go to melso.ai/en/private-wealth and choose Request a conversation.

This article is for information only and does not replace professional advice for your case. Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.