Moving to Spain from the UK: Tax Guide for 2026

Key points

The UK and Spanish tax years do not line up, so the year you move needs planning on both sides.

✓ Spain treats you as resident for the whole calendar year if you spend more than 183 days there, your main economic interests are there, or your spouse and dependent children live there.

✓ Moving does not make you UK non-resident on its own. HMRC applies the Statutory Residence Test to each tax year.

✓ Under the UK-Spain treaty, the State Pension and workplace and personal pensions are taxable only in Spain, but your provider keeps deducting UK tax until HMRC issues an NT code.

✓ UK rent and gains on UK property are taxed in the UK first, with credit in Spain. Report a UK property sale to HMRC within 60 days.

✓ Spain taxes the 25% pension lump sum and does not recognise the ISA wrapper.

Moving to Spain from the UK means living between two tax systems that do not line up. The UK tax year starts on 6 April, Spain's starts on 1 January, and each country tests residence in its own way. For part of the year you move, both can claim you.

Leaving also does not end your UK tax. HMRC keeps the right to tax UK rental income, UK workdays and gains on UK property. Your UK pensions only move to Spanish tax once you have done the paperwork.

This guide covers when Spain treats you as resident, how to break UK residence, what HMRC still taxes, how UK pensions are taxed in Spain, Modelo 720, the Beckham Law, and the UK filings for the year you move.

When do you become tax resident in Spain?

You are resident for a calendar year if any one of these applies:

➜ More than 183 days: you spend more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year. Short trips away still count as Spanish days unless you can prove you are tax resident somewhere else.

➜ Economic interests: the main base of your business or economic interests is in Spain.

➜ Family: your spouse and dependent children under 18 live in Spain. This is a presumption, so you can rebut it with evidence.

The catch is that Spanish residence covers the whole calendar year. Spain has no split year, so if you meet a test you are resident from 1 January, including months when you were still living in the UK.

Image 1: the UK and Spanish tax years do not line up

Worked example: Arriving on 1 July

Sarah leaves London and moves into her flat in Valencia on 1 July 2026. From then to 31 December, she spends 184 days in Spain.

For January to June the treaty tie-breaker decides. Her UK home in those months usually makes her treaty resident in the UK for that period, but she has to claim it and keep the evidence. Had Sarah arrived on 2 July, she would have spent exactly 183 days in Spain in 2026. That is not more than 183, so the day count alone would not make her resident, unless one of the other tests applied. A day either way can change a whole year.

👉 Agencia Tributaria: when you are tax resident in Spain

How do you stop being UK resident?

Moving to Spain does not make you non-resident in the UK on its own. HMRC applies the Statutory Residence Test to each tax year separately, and a Spanish residence card or padrón registration makes no difference to it.

➜ Automatic overseas tests: fewer than 16 UK days if you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, fewer than 46 if you were not, or full-time work abroad with fewer than 91 UK days and fewer than 31 UK workdays.

➜ Sufficient ties test: if no automatic test settles it, HMRC weighs your UK days against your UK ties: family, accommodation, work, the 90-day tie and the country tie.

➜ Split-year treatment: in the year you leave, the tax year can be split into a UK part and an overseas part, but only if one of the statutory cases applies.

Keeping a UK home available, visiting often and working on UK visits are the usual reasons people stay UK resident after moving. See our guides to the 📖 Statutory Residence Test and 📖 split-year treatment. If both countries end up claiming you for the same period, see 📖 dual tax residency and the tie-breaker rules.

👉 HMRC guidance: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test

👉 The law: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 (statutory residence test)

What does HMRC still tax once you have moved?

As a non-resident, the UK still taxes broadly anything with a UK source:

➜ UK workdays: salary for days you physically work in the UK stays UK-taxable, even if your employer pays you in Spain. See 📖 working remotely abroad for a UK company.

➜ UK rental income: taxed in the UK first. Register for the 📖 Non-Resident Landlord Scheme to receive rent without tax deducted. Spain taxes it too and gives credit for the UK tax. UK property income rates rise by two percentage points from 6 April 2027.

➜ Savings interest and dividends: for most non-residents, the 📖 disregarded income rules cap UK tax at whatever was deducted at source, which is often nil. Spain taxes them at its savings rates of 19% to 30%.

➜ Gains on UK property: taxed in the UK whatever your residence (see below).

British nationals keep the £12,570 UK personal allowance wherever they live. You may still need to file a UK return even when no tax is due. See our guide to 📖 what the UK taxes after you leave.

UK-Spain double tax treaty: who taxes what

The UK-Spain double tax treaty decides which country taxes each type of income once you live in Spain, and gives credit where both do.

If both countries treat you as resident in the same year, the treaty tie-breaker decides which one prevails. Relief is not automatic. For pensions you claim it on form DT-Individual, certified by the Agencia Tributaria. A treaty residence claim goes on the SA109 pages of your UK tax return.

How are UK pensions taxed in Spain?

For most people retiring to Spain, this is the part that matters. The UK-Spain treaty splits UK pensions three ways:

➜ UK State Pension: taxable only in Spain. It has paid without UK tax deducted, so there is nothing to reclaim.

➜ Workplace and personal pensions: taxable only in Spain. Your provider keeps deducting UK tax until HMRC issues an NT (no tax) code, so apply on form DT-Individual, certified by the Agencia Tributaria, before the payments start.

➜ Government service pensions: civil service, armed forces, police and similar pensions stay taxable only in the UK, unless you are a Spanish national. NHS, teachers' and local government schemes depend on the scheme and the treaty wording, so check each one.

Two things catch people out. Spain does not recognise the UK's 25% tax-free lump sum, so if you take it while Spanish resident, Spain can tax it as income. Where the timing is in your control, it is often better taken before you become Spanish resident. And Spain ignores the ISA wrapper, so interest, dividends and gains inside your ISA become taxable there. See 📖 UK tax-efficient investing for what the wrappers do in the UK.

Image 2: who taxes each type of UK income

The table assumes you are Spanish tax resident and not under the Beckham regime.

For how the different pension types are treated across all treaties, see 📖 UK pension tax when living abroad.

👉 HMRC form: DT-Individual, treaty relief on UK pensions and other income

👉 The law: Double Taxation Relief and International Tax Enforcement (Spain) Order 2013 (UK and Spain treaty)

Selling your UK home after moving to Spain

Non-residents pay UK capital gains tax on UK property. For 2026/27, the annual exempt amount is £3,000, and residential gains are taxed at 18% within your remaining basic rate band and 24% above it.

➜ Private residence relief: covers the years the property was your main home, plus the final nine months of ownership.

➜ April 2015 rebasing: if you owned the property on 5 April 2015, you can usually use its value at that date, so only later growth is taxed.

➜ 60-day deadline: you must report the sale and pay any tax within 60 days of completion, even if there is nothing to pay. The clock runs from completion, not exchange.

If you are Spanish resident when you sell, Spain taxes the gain as well, at its savings rates, with credit for the UK tax. Spain's relief rules differ from the UK's, so model both sides before you exchange. Our 📖 non-resident capital gains tax guide covers the UK calculation in detail.

👉 GOV.UK: report and pay capital gains tax on UK property

👉 The law: Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, section 1A (non-residents and UK land)

What Spain expects from you

Alongside the annual income tax return, the Renta, filed between April and June for the previous calendar year, watch for these:

➜ Modelo 720: an information return for residents with assets abroad worth more than €50,000 in any of three groups: accounts, securities and insurance, or property. It is due between 1 January and 31 March, and you file again if a group rises by more than €20,000. UK bank accounts, investment platforms and your former home often count.

➜ Modelo 721: the equivalent return for crypto held with providers outside Spain.

➜ Wealth tax: Spanish residents can be taxed on worldwide net wealth, with allowances and reliefs set by each region. A separate solidarity tax applies to net wealth above €3 million.

This guide covers the UK side. For Spanish returns and regional rules, take advice from a Spain-qualified adviser.

👉 Agencia Tributaria: Modelo 720, assets held abroad

Does the Beckham Law help?

Spain's special regime for inbound workers, known as the Beckham Law, lets qualifying arrivals be taxed broadly as non-residents for the year they arrive and the next five. Spanish employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000, and most foreign investment income falls outside Spanish tax.

➜ Who qualifies: employees moving for a job, company directors with less than 25% of the company, remote workers on the digital nomad visa, and some entrepreneurs.

➜ Five years away: you must not have been Spanish resident in the previous five years.

➜ A tight deadline: you apply on Modelo 149, generally within six months of starting work in Spain.

It is not a retirement regime. If you are moving to Spain to retire, you will not qualify, so plan your pension drawdown on normal Spanish rates.

What else changes: State Pension and inheritance tax

➜ State Pension: keeps rising each April while you live in Spain, because Spain is in the EEA. With an S1 form, the UK also covers your Spanish state healthcare.

➜ Inheritance tax: if you have been UK resident for at least 10 of the last 20 tax years, your worldwide estate stays within UK inheritance tax for 3 to 10 years after you leave. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds come into the calculation too. Spain has its own inheritance and gift tax, largely set by region.

👉 HMRC guidance: inheritance tax if you are a long-term UK resident

👉 The law: Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 6A (long-term UK resident)

What if you come back within five years?

If you were UK resident in at least four of the seven tax years before you left, and you return within five years, the 📖 temporary non-residence rules can bring some income and gains back into UK tax in the year you return:

➜ Pension withdrawals: flexible drawdown and lump sums the treaty kept out of UK tax.

➜ Close company dividends: from 6 April 2026, this includes dividends paid from profits earned after you left.

➜ Gains on assets owned before you left: such as shares, taxed as if made in the year you return.

Your UK checklist for the year you move

1. Keep a day log. Record UK days, UK workdays and Spanish days from the moment you decide to move.

2. Tell HMRC you have left. Use form P85 if you will not be filing a return, or the SA109 residence pages if you will.

3. Claim split-year treatment on your 2026/27 return if one of the cases applies.

4. Apply for NT codes on DT-Individual for each UK pension once you are Spanish resident.

5. Register as a non-resident landlord if you are letting your UK home.

6. File by 31 January 2028 for 2026/27. HMRC's free online service cannot file the SA109, so you will need commercial software or an adviser.

Still planning the move itself? See how we help people leaving the UK, or start with our leaving the UK tax calculator.

Our guides to 📖 HMRC forms for expats and 📖 whether you need to file a UK tax return walk through each step.

👉 GOV.UK: check if you need to send a Self Assessment return

How we help people moving to Spain

Global Tax Consulting advises people moving from the UK to Spain on the UK side of the move. Before you leave, we confirm when your UK residence ends under the Statutory Residence Test and whether split year treatment applies. Once you have arrived, we deal with what the UK still taxes, apply for the NT code that stops UK tax being deducted from your pension, and prepare your UK tax return with the residence pages. For Spanish returns and regional rules you will also need a Spain-qualified adviser, and we are happy to work alongside them. Every engagement is a fixed fee agreed before we start. See our pricing or request a quote.

Frequently asked questions

What UK tax should I think about when moving to Spain?

Moving to Spain does not end your UK tax obligations by itself. The UK and Spanish tax years do not match, and Spain has no split-year treatment, so timing matters. You need to confirm when your UK tax residence ends under the Statutory Residence Test, tell HMRC you have left, keep reporting UK rental income, check how your UK pensions are taxed under the UK-Spain treaty, report any UK property sale within 60 days, and plan for the temporary non-residence rule if you return within about five years.

When do I become tax resident in Spain?

When you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, when your main economic interests are in Spain, or when your spouse and dependent children live there. Spanish residence applies to the whole calendar year, so you can be resident in both countries for the months before you move.

Is my UK State Pension taxed in Spain?

Yes. Under the UK-Spain treaty, the UK State Pension is taxable only in Spain once you are Spanish resident. It also keeps rising each April, because Spain is in the EEA.

How do I stop UK tax being deducted from my private pension?

Apply for an NT code on HMRC form DT-Individual, certified by the Spanish tax authority. Until the code is in place, your provider keeps deducting UK tax and you have to reclaim it.

Can I keep my ISA if I move to Spain?

Yes, but you cannot pay into it once you are non-resident, and Spain does not recognise the wrapper. Interest, dividends and gains inside the ISA are taxable in Spain.

Do I need to tell HMRC I have moved to Spain?

Yes. Use form P85 if you will not be filing a tax return, or the SA109 residence pages of your Self Assessment return if you will, including any split-year claim.

Last reviewed on 22 October 2026 by Emma McDermott, ATT, founder of Global Tax Consulting, in line with the law in force at that date: Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45 and Double Taxation Relief and International Tax Enforcement (Spain) Order 2013, and the HMRC guidance cited above.