Spanish wealth tax for non-residents in 2026

Do non-residents pay wealth tax in Spain? The short answer

Yes. Spain's wealth tax for non-residents covers only what you own in Spain on 31 December, such as property, bank accounts and shares. You deduct €700,000, or the allowance of the region where most of your Spanish value sits, and your tax treaty may take accounts and shares out. Above roughly €3,700,000 net, Spain's solidarity tax on large fortunes can apply too.

You are a non-resident if you do not meet the Spanish income tax (IRPF) residence tests, which this tax borrows (article 5.Dos of Law 19/1991); our Spanish tax residency guide explains them. This guide follows the rules of the common tax territory; the Basque Country and Navarre have their own (foral) rules.

Which assets are taxed and which are not?

Article 5.Uno.b of the Wealth Tax Law (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio) taxes non-residents on assets and rights located in Spain, or exercisable or to be fulfilled there. Spain calls this real liability (obligación real). A resident, by contrast, is taxed on their worldwide wealth.

Since Law 38/2022, in force from 29 December 2022, unlisted shares in any entity, Spanish or foreign, whose assets are at least 50% Spanish real estate count as located in Spain.

You can only deduct debts used to acquire or invest in your Spanish assets (article 9.Cuatro). The 2025 Wealth Tax manual of the AEAT, Spain's tax agency, accepts a personal loan you can show was used to buy the property, and rules out a mortgage on the property used for anything else (Supreme Court judgment 167/2023 of 13 February). And the exemption of up to €300,000 is for your main home as Spanish income tax defines it (article 4.Nueve): a holiday home is taxed on its full value.

Which region sets your allowance and your rates?

Under the state rules, a non-resident deducts a €700,000 allowance (article 28) and applies the state scale, from 0.2% to 3.5% (article 30). But the fourth additional provision (disposición adicional 4.ª) gives them the right to apply the rules of the region where the greatest value of the assets and rights taxed in Spain is located.

From 2015 that right was limited to residents of the European Union and the European Economic Area; Law 11/2021 extended it to every non-resident from 11 July 2021, including those living in the UK, the US or Switzerland. According to the AEAT manual it is an option: if you use it, you apply all of that region's rules; if not, the state rules.

These are the rules for the tax due on 31 December 2026 in a selection of regions, from the Ministry of Finance's Tributación Autonómica. Medidas 2026:

Valencia's €2,000,000 allowance applies from 11 August 2026. "Limited" means Madrid and Andalusia only relieve the difference between your wealth tax and your solidarity tax: above roughly €3,700,000 net, you pay as wealth tax what the solidarity tax would have charged. All fifteen regions are compared in our guide to wealth tax by region.

How does your country's tax treaty change the bill?

A double tax treaty can cut back what Spanish law taxes, but only if it covers wealth tax.

• Germany. Article 21 of the 2011 treaty lets Spain tax property located here (21.1), assets of a permanent establishment (21.2) and shares in companies at least 50% of whose assets are Spanish real estate (21.4). Everything else, such as bank accounts, listed shares or funds, is taxable only in Germany (21.5).
• United Kingdom. Article 21 of the 2013 treaty follows the same pattern, but shares are taxable in Spain if more than 50% of their value comes from Spanish real estate.
• United States. The 1990 treaty covers "taxes on income" only, as the title of the 2013 protocol amending it shows. A US resident is taxed in Spain on everything they own here.

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What about the solidarity tax? Its law applies "without prejudice" to treaties, and the German and UK treaties extend to "identical or substantially similar" taxes introduced later (article 2.4). But we have found no court ruling or Spanish tax ruling confirming that article 21 applies to the solidarity tax: check it for your case.

Do non-residents pay the solidarity tax on large fortunes?

Yes. The Temporary Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes (ITSGF) has the same taxpayers as wealth tax, real liability included. It is not devolved to the regions, so none can relieve it, and Royal Decree-law 8/2023 extended it until wealth taxation is reviewed as part of the reform of regional financing.

The representative rule is in article 3.Seis: anyone not resident in the EU appoints, before the filing period ends, a person resident in Spain and notifies the tax office with that person's express acceptance. Residents of European Economic Area states with mutual assistance rules are exempt. More in our solidarity tax guide.

Does the 60% cap apply to non-residents?

Article 31 of the Wealth Tax Law stops wealth tax plus income tax from exceeding 60% of your income tax base, with a maximum reduction of 80%: you always pay at least 20% of the wealth tax. The law limits it to personal liability.

This is what is confirmed, according to Order HAC/652/2026:

• The Supreme Court (judgments 1372/2025 of 29 October, appeal 4701/2023, and 1402/2025 of 3 November, appeal 7626/2023) held that the difference in treatment is "discriminatory" and unjustified.
• Order HAC/277/2026 removed from the 2025 Form 714 the note limiting the cap to personal-liability taxpayers.
• The TEAC, Spain's central tax appeals tribunal (decisions RG 4119/2025 and 5527/2025 of 18 December 2025), applied the same reasoning to the solidarity tax, and the 2025 Form 718 was adapted.

What is still open: the law still refers to Spanish income tax bases and liabilities, which a non-resident does not declare in Spain, and no rule says how their income should be counted. The calculation has to be made and documented case by case. If you paid without the cap, you can ask for the returns to be corrected (article 120.3 of the General Tax Law) within four years of the end of the filing period (articles 66 and 67); as of October 2026, that usually leaves 2022 to 2025 open. More in our guide to the joint income and wealth tax cap.

Illustrative example: Klaus, resident in Germany, with a villa in Mallorca and a flat in Madrid

Klaus is 63, sold his family company and lives in Munich. On 31 December 2026 he owns in Spain:

• A villa in Mallorca bought in 2016 for €3,200,000, with a cadastral value of €1,150,000.
• A flat in Madrid bought in 2021 for €1,300,000, with a cadastral value of €420,000 and an outstanding €300,000 mortgage he took out to buy it.
• €250,000 in an account at a Spanish bank and €400,000 in shares of a listed Spanish company.

He wants to know whether he must file, under which rules and whether the solidarity tax applies. We assume no checked values higher than the purchase prices.

Step 1. Which assets count. The treaty with Germany leaves the account and the shares to Germany alone (article 21.5), so only the properties enter the wealth tax, each at the highest of its three values: the villa at €3,200,000 and the flat at €1,300,000.

Step 2. Which debts he deducts. The mortgage paid for the flat, so he deducts the €300,000. Taxable base: 3,200,000 + 1,300,000 − 300,000 = €4,200,000.

Step 3. Which rules apply. The greatest value is in the Balearic Islands (€3,200,000 against €1,300,000), so he can opt for the Balearic rules. With their €3,000,000 allowance, the taxable base after the allowance is €1,200,000.

Step 4. The tax. The Balearic scale gives €3,528.67 on the first €681,869.75 and 1.24% on the remaining €518,130.25: €9,953.49 in total. Under the state rules he would deduct €700,000: a base of €3,500,000 and tax of €39,946.37. Applying the Balearic rules is a right the law gives him.

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Step 5. The solidarity tax. Taxable base of €4,200,000 minus the €700,000 allowance: €3,500,000. The first €3,000,000 is taxed at 0% and the remaining €500,000 at 1.7%: €8,500.00. After crediting the €9,953.49 of wealth tax paid, nothing is due and he does not file Form 718. But if the treaty did not reach the solidarity tax, the account and the shares would come in: a taxable base of €4,850,000, tax of €19,550.00 and €9,596.51 to pay. That is the point to check before July.

Step 6. Cap and obligations. The 60% cap could reduce his wealth tax, at most down to 20%: €1,990.70. He files Form 714 in 2027 because tax is due. As an EU resident, he needs no representative unless the AEAT asks for one.

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When and how does a non-resident file?

The tax falls due on 31 December (article 29) and is filed the following year:

1. Check whether you must file: if tax is due or your Spanish assets are worth more than €2,000,000 (article 37).
2. File Form 714 online, which is mandatory, with a digital certificate, Cl@ve Móvil or, if you are an EU citizen, your national eID through eIDAS. The 2025 return was filed from 8 April to 30 June 2026 (by 25 June with direct debit); the 2027 window has not been published yet.
3. Tick the regional option if you apply the rules of the region with the greatest value.
4. File Form 718 if tax is due, from 1 to 31 July of the following year, also online; with direct debit, by 26 July (Order HFP/587/2023).
5. Check the representative rule. For wealth tax, only with a permanent establishment or if the AEAT requires one; failing to appoint one then is a serious offence with a fixed €1,000 fine (article 6). For the solidarity tax, whenever you live outside the EU.

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How much room is there for planning, and where are the limits?

Choosing between options the law itself offers is lawful tax planning (economía de opción): applying or not the rules of the region with the greatest value, documenting what a loan was used for or applying the 60% cap. Shortcuts do not work:

• A company to "take" the property out of the tax. If at least 50% of its assets are Spanish real estate, you are taxed on the shares.
• A debt that does not finance the Spanish asset. It is not deducted.
• Transactions with no real business reason. The AEAT can declare abuse of the rules (conflicto en la aplicación de la norma, article 15 of the General Tax Law) and charge the tax with interest, or a sham (simulación, article 16), with interest and, where applicable, a penalty.

Every decision needs a valid business reason and a paper trail. If you are thinking of moving to Spain, you would be taxed on your worldwide wealth, unless you use the inbound workers' regime (the Beckham Law), which according to the AEAT manual keeps real liability for wealth tax. We cover it in our guide to moving to Spain with significant wealth.

Common mistakes

• Thinking a non-resident pays no wealth tax. You pay on what you own in Spain, and you file if your assets exceed €2,000,000 even when the tax is zero.
• Thinking Madrid charges nothing. Above roughly €3,700,000 of net wealth, Madrid's relief only covers the difference with the solidarity tax.
• Valuing the property at its cadastral value alone. The highest of three values counts.
• Applying the main home exemption to a holiday home. That exemption of up to €300,000 does not apply to a second home.
• Forgetting Form 718 or the representative. The solidarity tax has its own July window and, if you live outside the EU, requires a representative in Spain.
• Assuming the treaty settles everything. There is no wealth tax treaty with the US, and whether treaties reach the solidarity tax is not confirmed.

How Melso helps

Melso Private offers lawful tax planning for net wealth from €1 million: AI reads your deeds and statements and cross-checks each country's rules and treaties, and tax advisers review each scenario, choose the measures and stand behind them. You see each measure with its legal basis, risk and cost, and Melso files the agreed returns, such as Spanish wealth tax and the solidarity tax, once you approve the exact version, coordinating with your advisers in your home country. It works in English, Spanish and Catalan, with a fixed written fee proposal, never a percentage of savings: visit Melso Private and click Request a conversation (the first one, 45 minutes long, is free).

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