Taxes in Spain for Ukrainians

This page helps you understand which taxes apply to you in Spain: as an employee, a self-employed person, a property owner, a person with income or property in Ukraine, or a non-resident. Figures are given for the 2025 and 2026 tax years, with a reference to the relevant provision.

# Who is a tax resident of Spain?

You are a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain during a calendar year or have your main center of activities or economic interests here. Short trips abroad count toward these 183 days unless you prove tax residency in another country. The law also presumes that a person is resident if their spouse (from whom they are not legally separated) and dependent minor children live in Spain.

Immigration status does not determine tax residency. The Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) says plainly that a person can have a residence permit in the country and not be a tax resident there. A person is treated as resident or non-resident for the whole calendar year.

We have not found any separate tax rules for holders of temporary protection in the law: the same general criteria apply to them.

# What taxes does a resident pay?

A resident pays personal income tax (IRPF) on all their income, wherever it is received, including in Ukraine. The tax has a state portion on a single scale and a regional portion that each autonomous community sets itself, so the combined rate depends on the region.

State portion of the rate on wages and other general income in 2025:

The regional scale is added to this. Interest, dividends and gains from selling assets belong to a separate savings base. Since 2025 the combined rates for it are 19, 21, 23, 27 and 30%, with thresholds at €6,000, €50,000, €200,000 and €300,000.

Tax already paid abroad is credited against the Spanish tax, but not beyond the amount Spain would charge on that income at the average rate.

# What about income and property in Ukraine?

As a resident of Spain, you declare your Ukrainian income here too, and tax paid in Ukraine is credited within the rules of the convention and of Spanish law. The convention for the avoidance of double taxation that Spain concluded with the USSR in 1985 applies between Spain and Ukraine. A new convention with Ukraine was signed in September 2020, but it has not been published in Spain’s Official State Gazette (BOE), so it does not apply.

Main rules of the 1985 convention:

Double taxation is eliminated by the country of residence under its own law; in Spain, this means a credit for tax paid abroad. The convention has no separate article on ordinary (non-government) pensions, and we have not found an official clarification of how a Spanish resident’s Ukrainian pension is taxed.

If you are a resident and hold accounts, securities, insurance or real estate abroad, including in Ukraine, worth more than €50,000 in any one of these groups, you must file an information return on Modelo 720 between 1 January and 31 March of the following year. You file it again if the amount in a group has grown by more than €20,000. Since the 2022 judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU, violations carry the general penalties instead of the special ones that applied before. Cryptocurrency is not declared on Modelo 720: cryptocurrency held abroad, for example on foreign exchanges, worth more than €50,000 is declared separately on Modelo 721 by the same deadline.

If you moved but kept your sole trader business (FOP) in Ukraine, read our separate article.

# What does a self-employed person (autónomo) pay?

A self-employed person pays an income tax advance and value added tax every quarter, and Social Security contributions every month. They register with the Tax Agency on Modelo 036 before starting the activity; Modelo 037 was abolished as of 3 February 2025.

After that, two returns are filed every quarter:

• Modelo 130: the income tax advance payment, 20% of net profit; professionals do not file it if at least 70% of their income in the previous year was already subject to withholding at source;
• Modelo 303: value added tax (IVA).

Deadlines: the first 20 days of April, July and October, and by 30 January for the fourth quarter. A self-employed person must file an annual income tax return regardless of the amount.

Since 2023, Social Security contributions of the self-employed have depended on actual income. In 2026 the minimum base is €653.59 a month (for income up to €670), and the maximum is €5,101.20. A total of 31.50% of the base is paid: 28.30% for common contingencies, 1.30% for occupational contingencies, 0.90% for cessation of activity, 0.10% for vocational training and 0.90% for the intergenerational equity mechanism (an additional contribution that supports the pension system).

# What does a property owner in Spain pay?

An owner pays local property tax (IBI) every year. The rate is chosen by the municipality: for urban property, from 0.4 to 1.10% of the cadastral value, with possible surcharges.

If a resident owns housing other than their main home and does not rent it out, an imputed income is added to their income: 2% of the cadastral value, or 1.1% if that value was revised in the current year or in one of the previous ten years. Gains from selling real estate belong to the savings base.

# How is a non-resident taxed?

A non-resident pays non-resident income tax (IRNR) only on income obtained in Spain. The general rate is 24%; 19% applies only to residents of EU and European Economic Area countries, so residents of Ukraine pay 24%. Dividends, interest and capital gains are taxed at 19%, and pensions on their own scale: 8% up to €12,000; 30% up to €18,700; 40% above that.

Non-residents from countries outside the EU cannot deduct expenses: the tax is calculated on the full amount of income. For housing in Spain that is not rented out, a non-resident declares an imputed income every year on Modelo 210. When a non-resident sells real estate, the buyer withholds 3% of the price toward the tax.

The deadlines for filing Modelo 210 are described on the page about the tax return.

# What other taxes might you come across?

• Value added tax (IVA): the standard rate is 21%, the reduced rate 10% (including food, new housing, transport and restaurants), and the super-reduced rate 4% (bread, books and newspapers, medicines, social housing).
• Inheritance and gift tax: the national law, Ley 29/1987, sets the general rules, while allowances and scales are set by each autonomous community, so the amount of tax depends on the region.

# What is changing right now?

Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 on housing has been in force since 8 October 2026. It changes the rules for rentals in income tax (including a new deduction for tenants for 2026), IVA rates for short-term rentals and renovation work from 1 December 2026, and IBI surcharges for empty and tourist housing, and from 2027 it replaces the imputed income rate for housing with a scale from 1.1 to 3%. A decree of this kind must be approved by parliament; since parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026, the decision will be taken by the Permanent Deputation of the Congress (Diputación Permanente). The Congress rejected the previous decree on this subject (26/2026) on 2 October 2026. So we do not yet describe these changes as rules in force, and we will update this page after the decision.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Assuming that temporary protection or another permit automatically makes you a tax resident or, conversely, exempts you from taxes.
• Not declaring Ukrainian income after you become a resident of Spain.
• Missing Modelo 720 if your assets in Ukraine exceed €50,000 in one group.
• Looking for “the new convention with Ukraine”: it has not entered into force, and the 1985 convention applies.