Habitual residence in the territory of an Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy for personal income tax purposes

Regulations: Art. 72 Law Income Tax

Criteria for determining habitual residence

As a general principle, taxpayers with habitual residence in Spanish territory are residents in the territory of an Autonomous Community or City with a Statute of Autonomy. To determine in which of the Autonomous Communities or Cities with Statute of Autonomy the resident taxpayer has his habitual residence, the following criteria must be applied:

1. Permanence criteria

According to this criterion, the taxpayer resides in the Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy in whose territory he has spent the greatest number of days of the tax period (generally, the calendar year), counting temporary absences for these purposes and presuming, unless proven otherwise, that the person remains in the territory of the Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy where his habitual residence is located.

2. Main center of interest criterion

When it is not possible to determine residence according to the previous criterion, it will be considered that the taxpayer resides in the Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy where he has his main center of interests; That is, in the one in whose territory the majority of the personal income tax base has been obtained, determined by the following income components:

1. Employment income, which will be deemed to be obtained where the respective workplace is located, if it exists.

2. Income from real estate capital and capital gains derived from real estate, which will be deemed to have been obtained in the place where the property is located.

3. Income from economic activities, whether business or professional, which will be deemed to be obtained where the management centre of each of them is located.

3. Criterion of the last residence declared for personal income tax purposes

In the absence of the above criteria, the person is considered to be resident in the territory in which his or her last declared residence for personal income tax purposes is located.

Note: In accordance with the provisions of article 72.3 of the Personal Income Tax Law, changes of residence whose main objective is to achieve lower effective taxation on this tax will not have any effect, unless the new residence is prolonged continuously for at least three years. In these cases, the corresponding complementary self-assessments must be submitted. See Chapter 18.

Natural persons resident in Spanish territory, who do not remain in said territory for more than 183 days during the calendar year , will be considered residents in the territory of the Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy in which the main nucleus or base of their activities or their economic interests is located.

Finally, when the person is a resident in Spanish territory by presumption, that is, because his or her legally non-separated spouse and dependent minor children habitually reside in Spain, he or she will be considered a resident in the territory of the Autonomous Community or City with Statute of Autonomy in which they habitually reside.

Joint declarations of family units whose members reside in different Autonomous Communities or Cities with Statute of Autonomy

When taxpayers in a family unit have their habitual residence in different Autonomous Communities or Cities with a Statute of Autonomy and choose to pay taxes jointly, the section "Autonomous Community/Autonomous City of residence in 2021" will indicate the one in which the member of the family unit with the highest taxable base has his habitual residence, determined in accordance with the rules for individualization of income of the Personal Income Tax.

When one of the different Autonomous Communities is outside the foral regime (Navarre or the Basque Country), this criterion will also be taken into account to determine the foral or state competence in order to collect personal income tax.