From Madrid, we assess your tax residence in Spain when you are arriving, leaving, returning or living between countries. We review stays, activities, ties and supporting documents for the relevant tax years. Advice can be provided remotely to clients throughout Spain or people planning a move from abroad.
Living between two countries does not necessarily mean you can choose where to pay tax. We start with the facts for the year: where you have stayed, where you work and which ties you maintain. We then assess the Spanish rules and any applicable tax treaty.
A move may take place on a particular date, but your work, home and income do not always change at the same time. You may start working in Spain while keeping a home or income abroad. We need to put the events of the tax year in order, rather than treating a single date as the answer.
We review when you will be in Spain, how you will work and any income you will continue receiving abroad. If the move might qualify for the impatriate regime, we assess its requirements separately. A change of address does not automatically grant access to the regime.
When you leave, we check your continuing ties to Spain and how you will evidence residence in your destination country. A property, rental income or activity here may still create Spanish obligations after you cease to be resident. We help separate these issues and identify the documents needed.
Returning to Spain may affect pensions, earnings, investments and assets accumulated abroad. We establish your residence history and return dates before reviewing returns or potentially applicable regimes. Spanish nationality alone does not settle these questions.
Moving country can affect how your residence and obligations are assessed. We review the context of the move, periods of presence and relevant personal and economic ties. Where two countries consider the same person resident, the applicable treaty is examined. The address on an administrative document is not a substitute for this assessment.
Spending more than 183 days in Spain during the calendar year is one Spanish test. We review arrivals, departures, temporary absences and their evidence, alongside proof of residence elsewhere. An estimated calendar helps prepare the consultation but cannot establish residence on its own.
We also examine the main centre or base of activities or economic interests, directly or indirectly. Relevant work, business and income sources are identified without confusing the location of a bank account with the centre of all activity. This test can matter even when the day count does not exceed the threshold.
Spanish law includes a rebuttable presumption where a spouse who is not legally separated and dependent minor children habitually live in Spain. We review the actual circumstances and available evidence. Personal ties may also matter under a treaty, but its tests cannot be replaced by a general impression of where your life is based.
If both countries regard you as resident under their domestic laws, we check whether a treaty applies and follow its residence tests in the prescribed order. A permanent home, the centre of vital interests and other connections may matter. A residence certificate provides evidence, but does not replace an assessment of the conflict.
Depending on your case, we may need tax residence certificates, a record of stays, employment or housing contracts, and evidence of income and family ties. We explain what is relevant and how to share it through an appropriate channel. Do not send identity, tax or banking documents through the initial form.
For the calendar, distinguish actual stays from planned ones and identify periods where information is incomplete. Dates and the tax year covered matter in contracts and certificates. We request only the background relevant to the people and years included in the engagement.
Our tax residence advice in Madrid begins by agreeing which years and people the assessment should cover. We establish the facts, review the rules and evidence, and explain our conclusions and the next steps. For a family, we assess each person’s circumstances rather than assuming that everyone has the same tax position.
To prepare the review, set out the countries involved, the planned or actual move date and the relevant employment, family and financial circumstances. MRC defines the information and evidence needed for each case. The aim is to understand the starting position before applying the rules, without turning an estimate of days into an automatic conclusion about residence.
We compare the facts with Spanish rules and, where relevant, the applicable treaty. We check that certificates and contracts refer to the same year and identify facts still needing evidence. Conflicting documents require clarification before reaching an assessment; we do not simply select the most favourable detail.
The consultation should help you understand which facts matter for your position in Spain, which documents are missing and which issues require further action. If advice on another country’s legislation is also needed, we identify that requirement. A residence review does not automatically include all returns or procedures arising from the move: that scope is expressly agreed.
These questions often arise when planning a move abroad. The conclusion depends on the facts of each tax year, not simply the date shown on one document.
Not on its own. The economic interests and family ties covered by the legislation may also matter. Where two countries are involved, the relevant treaty must also be considered. The assessment is not limited to counting days.
They do not settle the question. Administrative residence and tax residence follow different rules. These documents may form part of the background, but they must be considered alongside your stays, activities and other facts.
The domestic rules of both countries must be checked first, followed, where applicable, by the treaty’s rules for resolving dual residence. A certificate or nationality should not be assumed to determine the outcome in every case.
The moving date does not automatically split the Spanish tax year in two. The rules for the year and any applicable treaty must be reviewed. It is worth assessing the dates before assuming which income should be reported in each country.
Returning can affect pensions, salaries, investments and assets that remain abroad. We review previous years of residence and the return dates to identify the Spanish obligations that need assessing. Spanish nationality does not replace this review.
The competent tax authority issues the certificate. MRC can review the documentation and its relevance to your case; the firm does not issue the official certificate.
Yes. The initial information can include the countries involved, planned dates and the work or activity you expect to undertake. This identifies matters worth assessing before the move. Changed plans may require a revised assessment.
A description of your situation, the countries involved, relevant tax years and the question you need to resolve. We then establish which documents are needed and the work covered by the proposal. Fees and timing depend on the agreed scope.
Yes. Our Madrid office provides this service remotely to clients throughout Spain and to people planning a move from abroad. We review your tax position in relation to Spain and the countries involved in your case. If you also need specific advice on obligations in the other country, we identify that requirement separately.
Contact
Tell us which countries and tax years are involved and whether your move has already happened or is still being planned. We will explain which facts and documents are needed to assess tax residence and agree any subsequent work included in the proposal.
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