These are the findings of a report by Spain’s Registry of Tax Advisors and Economists (Reaf), titled “The opinion of tax adviser economists on our tax system”. 

Fifty-five percent of the 900 Spanish tax advisors interviewed said that these changes of tax residence to another country or region were primarily only theoretical, so only on paper without physically moving.

Sixty-eight percent of Spanish tax advisors considered the number of fiscal address changes were on the up in Spain and 57 percent said the number of queries they had personally received relating to tax residence changes had also increased.

Anyone who spends more than 183 days in Spain during a calendar year is considered a Spanish tax resident (find out more here).

Just over 87 percent of respondents estimated that the differences in tax regulations between regions are the main cause for people changing their fiscal address, whether they actually do move or it’s just on paper.

Sixty-two percent of the tax advisors that spoke to Reaf also consider that the stark differences in the level of tax pressure between the regions cannot be maintained.

“When tax differences are established by the autonomous communities, one should not lose sight of the fact that they can motivate these changes of residence.” Reaf President Agustín Fernández said regarding the survey.

The most obvious example of these big tax differences between Spain’s 17 regions is inheritance tax, which can be very high in some regions such as Asturias and Castilla y León and almost non-existent in others such as Madrid.

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Up to 86.5 percent of the surveyed tax advisors also considered that Spain’s Tax Agency – Hacienda – hasn’t adapted to changes to trends involving business and taxpayers and 96.1 percent said that Spain’s State Tax Administration Agency (Aeat) prioritised tax collection over tax justice.

Overall, these Spanish tax professionals were critical of Spain’s tax system, believing it hasn’t improved or adapted enough over time. 

Almost half of them believe Spain’s tax management system has been tightened whereas only 27.8 percent believe tax inspections have improved. There’s also a division of opinions among the experts over whether tax matters should be handled by Spain’s central tax body or together with the regions as it is currently. 

What they all agree on is the lack of clarity of Spain’s tax rules, 95 percent of respondents state that the wording of official Spanish tax regulations is deficient.

“If there is a change of real address and you go to live in Madrid, perfect, what cannot happen is that you are registered in Madrid to have the most favourable taxation and then you are enjoying the sun of our region every day,” Valencian Tax Agency general director Sonia Díaz said in 2019 when this trend became more commonplace. 

It’s worth noting that with Personal Income Tax (IRPF), the region where you’ve stayed a greater number of days in a calendar year is considered your habitual residence, whilst when it comes to inheritance tax the last five years are considered.

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