Filing Taxes as an Employee in Spain: The IRPF Guide

If you work as a salaried employee on Mallorca, there is one topic you cannot avoid: the annual tax return. In Spain it is called the Declaración de la Renta, it runs on form Modelo 100, and it is handled almost entirely online through the Renta Web platform. The good news: for most employees the return is done much faster than in many other countries, because the Agencia Tributaria already provides a pre-filled draft (borrador). The bad news: if you confirm the borrador without checking it, you often give away money or make mistakes that get expensive later. This guide walks you through the whole process step by step.

What Is the IRPF and Who Has to File?

The IRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas) is Spain's personal income tax. It is levied on salaries, pensions, rental and investment income, applies to all tax residents in Spain, and is declared once a year on Modelo 100 through the Agencia Tributaria's online platform Renta Web.

You are generally a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain or your center of life is here. You can find the details in our guide to tax residency on Mallorca. As a tax resident you must declare your entire worldwide income, including income from back home.

Not every employee is required to file. The key thresholds:

• One single employer: filing is mandatory from 22,000 EUR of gross annual employment income
• Several employers in the same year: the threshold drops sharply (most recently 15,876 EUR) once the second employer has paid you more than 1,500 EUR
• Regardless of the above: filing is mandatory if you have rental income, notable investment income, or want to claim certain deductions and refunds

The exact thresholds for each tax year are published by the Agencia Tributaria at the start of every campaign. Important for newcomers: even if you are below the thresholds, filing voluntarily often pays off, because withheld payroll tax (retenciones) can only be refunded through the return.

Deadlines and How the Renta Campaign Works

The Renta campaign follows the same rhythm every year: it starts in early April and ends on 30 June. You always declare the previous year, so in 2026 you declare your 2025 income. If you want to settle a payment by direct debit (domiciliación), you have to file a few days earlier, usually by 25 June.

If the return results in a payment, you can pay in two installments: 60 percent immediately on filing and the remaining 40 percent in early November, interest-free. If you are due a refund, the Agencia Tributaria transfers the money to your Spanish account, usually within a few weeks and at the latest by the end of the year.

The tax scale is progressive and ranges from 19 to 47 percent depending on income and region. In the Balearics the rate is made up of a national and a regional component. Your employer already withholds retenciones from your salary every month, so the return only settles the difference at the end.

Renta Web and the Borrador: Step by Step to Filing

As an employee you do not need any tax software. Everything runs through Renta Web on the Agencia Tributaria portal. Here is how to proceed:

To log in with Cl@ve you need to register once, either online with a digital certificate or in person with an appointment. All the information is on the official portal clave.gob.es. How a Spanish employment contract, payslip and retenciones fit together is covered in our post on working as an employee on Mallorca.

Deductions Expats Often Miss

The Spanish system has fewer itemized work-related deductions than some other countries, but there are flat-rate and regional deductions that many expats leave unused:

• Joint filing (tributación conjunta): reduces the taxable base by 3,400 EUR and pays off above all when one partner earns little or nothing
• Social security contributions: your Seguridad Social contributions are fully deductible and are usually already in the borrador
• Employee flat rate: 2,000 EUR is deducted automatically as other expenses, and the amount can increase if you change jobs and relocate
• Pension plan contributions: up to 1,500 EUR per year for private plans, more through occupational schemes
• Regional deductions of the Balearics: depending on the year these cover things like rent, school costs or children; the items change regularly and appear in Renta Web under Deducciones autonómicas
• Maternity deduction: up to 1,200 EUR per year for working mothers with children under three

For newcomers with a high salary the Beckham regime can also be interesting: if you apply in time, you pay a flat 24 percent on Spanish employment income up to 600,000 EUR for up to six years and file Modelo 151 instead of the normal Renta. The application must be submitted within six months of the start of your social security registration.

Frequently Asked Questions About the IRPF Return

Do I have to file as an employee with one employer and a 20,000 EUR salary?

No, below 22,000 EUR with a single employer there is no obligation. Filing voluntarily is still often worth it, because excess retenciones are only refunded through the return.

What happens if I miss the 30 June deadline?

If you file late on your own initiative, a surcharge of 1 percent plus 1 percent per full month of delay applies. If the Agencia Tributaria contacts you first, it gets considerably more expensive with fines. So better to file late voluntarily than to wait.

Do I need a tax advisor (gestoría) for the return?

For a simple employment situation without foreign income, Renta Web is usually enough. With foreign investment income, property, or in your first year after the move, professional help is generally worth the money.

Conclusion

Filing taxes as an employee in Spain is no bureaucratic monster: open the borrador, check the data, add what is missing, submit. Three things are decisive: the 30 June deadline, declaring your worldwide income in full, and the deductions the borrador does not know about automatically. If you have those under control, Modelo 100 is done in an afternoon. The official sources to get started: