New resident
Moving to Mallorca: what changes the day you become tax resident
Becoming resident in Spain is not a form you sign. It happens by the facts, usually on the 183rd day, and from then on Spain taxes your worldwide income and wealth. Most surprises come from things left at home: a pension, a company, an account, a house. We map your position before the first return, and then file it.
Is this you?
- You are moving to Mallorca for good, or spending most of the year here, and do not qualify for the Beckham regime.
- You keep a pension, a company, investments or a house in your home country.
- Your first Spanish return is due and you want it done right, including the foreign assets declaration.
What Spanish law requires
You become tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days in the country in a calendar year, or if the main centre of your economic interests is here. If your spouse and minor children live here, residence is presumed. Days abroad without proof of residence elsewhere count as Spanish days.
Once resident, you are taxed on worldwide income at the progressive scale, with the Balearic Islands setting part of the rates. Foreign tax paid is credited within the limits of the treaty. Pensions, dividends and rental income from abroad are each allocated by the treaty in force between Spain and your country, and the rules differ for public and private pensions.
Wealth tax applies to worldwide assets, with the Balearic exempt threshold of three million euros for residents and a further exemption for the main home up to 300,000 euros.
Tax Form 720 is the information return on assets held abroad. It is due when accounts, securities or property abroad exceed 50,000 euros in any of the three categories, filed between 1 January and 31 March of the year after you become resident, and again whenever a category grows by more than 20,000 euros.
A company you own abroad may be treated as managed from Spain once you run it from here, and its income may be attributed to you under the controlled foreign company rules. The house you kept abroad generates imputed income in Spain unless it is let.
Your country of departure has its own rules on leaving. Germany and Switzerland in particular look at available accommodation and the centre of vital interests. The two sides have to be planned together.
What we do
- A written assessment of your residence position and of the date it starts, with the treaty analysis for each source of income you keep abroad.
- Pre-move planning: the timing of the move within the year, gains worth realising before residence starts, and the treatment of your foreign company and pension.
- Registration with the Spanish tax authorities and the town hall, and the certificate of tax residence for your home country.
- Your first Spanish income tax return, and the wealth tax return where it applies.
- The Tax Form 720 foreign assets return, and its update in later years.
- Coordination with your adviser at home for the year of departure.
What we need from you
Send these by email or through the secure link we give you after the first call. We tell you exactly what is missing.
- Passport, NIE and the date you moved, with proof such as the rental contract or purchase deed.
- Your pension statements and the type of pension, public or private.
- Statements of foreign accounts and investments as at 31 December.
- The accounts of any company you own abroad, and where it is managed from.
- Your last tax return in your home country.
Deadlines
| Window | Filing | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan – 31 Mar | Tax Form 720, foreign assets return | First year of residence, where assets abroad exceed €50,000 in a category |
| April – 30 Jun | Tax Form 100, income tax return | Every year from the first year of residence |
| April – 30 Jun | Tax Form 714, wealth tax | Where worldwide assets exceed the Balearic threshold of €3 million |
Frequently asked questions
I spend six months here and six months at home. Where am I resident?
Counting days is only the first test. Spain also looks at where your economic interests are centred, and your home country has its own tests. Where both claim you, the treaty tie-breaker decides, on permanent home, centre of vital interests and habitual abode, in that order. It has to be looked at with the facts in hand.
Is my German pension taxed in Spain?
It depends on the type of pension and on the treaty. As a rule, public-service pensions stay taxable in Germany, while private and company pensions are taxed in Spain, with statutory pensions subject to specific rules. We map it before the first return.
Do I have to declare my house in Germany?
Yes, twice over. It goes on Tax Form 720 if its value exceeds 50,000 euros, and it generates imputed income on your Spanish return unless it is let, in which case the rent is declared.
What if I bought a house here before moving?
Then you have probably been filing Tax Form 210 as a non-resident. The year you become resident, that stops and the house goes on your resident return. We make sure the two do not overlap or leave a gap.
Sources: Articles 8 to 10 of the personal income tax act (Ley 35/2006); Ley 19/1991 on wealth tax; eighteenth additional provision of the Ley General Tributaria on Tax Form 720; the double tax treaties between Spain and Germany (2011), Switzerland (1966 as amended) and the United Kingdom (2013).
This page is general information and reflects the rules in force on the date shown. It is not advice and does not replace an assessment of your own case. Last reviewed: 18 September 2026.
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Or write to us: info@tramuntanatax.com