Moving to Spain? Get Your Tax Plan Right Before It Costs You Thousands

In this article our Director Alejandro Sanchez, Chartered Accountant, shares a simple overview of the most common questions he receives when speaking to clients for the first time and the key mistakes people make during the process of buying property or moving to Spain. Most people only realise their tax mistake once it’s too late—and by then, it can be very expensive to fix.

Every week, I speak to people who are planning to move to Spain from different nationalities. Some are buying a holiday home, others are relocating permanently, and many are simply exploring the idea. I consider that if you’re already looking at properties in Spain, this is exactly the right time to get your TAX PLAN in place.

And there’s one thing I see again and again. Most people focus on the property first… and only think about tax afterwards. And when they finally speak to us, they usually say the same thing:

“I wish I had done this earlier…it would have saved me a lot of money.”

When we speak about taxes in Spain, timing is not just important it’s everything.

As a Chartered Accountant, my approach is always to step back and look at the client’s full situation first. That means understanding their personal circumstances, their tax position in their home country and how everything will be treated once they move to Spain. The goal is simple: organise everything in advance so you don’t end up paying more tax than necessary in Spain.

A common mistake I see is that people believe they will not be tax resident in Spain simply by staying under 183 days. In reality, it’s not always that easy. Many people rely on the “183-day rule” without fully understanding it—and that’s where problems often start. Bear in mind that tax residency depends on several factors thats should be taken in consideration.

At LEGAL AND TAX IN SPAIN, we are a team of both lawyers and chartered accountants, this allows us to take a much more complete approach. Rather than looking at the property purchase only, we design a 360º plan—combining the legal side of the purchase with our FREE TAX PLAN to personalise your tax strategy based on your specific situation considering what actions should be taken in your home country to minimise your tax bill in Spain.

This means you’re not getting general advice—you’re getting a coordinated plan from day one.

Why your Tax Plan should come before anything else?

When you move to Spain, your tax situation changes completely. At some point, you will become a Spanish tax resident, and from that moment, Spain can tax your worldwide income and assets.

That’s a big thing to take in consideration, and it needs to be planned properly at the right time.

But the problem is that most people don’t think about this early enough. They come to Spain, they find a property they love, they buy it… and only afterwards start asking questions about tax. By then, many of the best options are no longer available.

For this reason this is something I always say to my clients, and it often surprises them: You should organise your tax plan before you even start looking at properties and let me tell you that in many cases, it can make a significant difference.

“Can I buy a property in Spain before sorting out my tax situation?”

You can but, in many cases, this is where people make their most expensive mistake.

Buying a property is not just a lifestyle decision, if you also move to Spain it’s also a tax decisión then it will affect your residency status, your future tax obligations, and even how your income and assets are treated in Spain.

For this reason it is a must to organise your TAX PLAN first, then look at properties.

“What is the Free Tax Plan and when should I do it?”

If we organise the Conveyancing as part of the services we include the Free Tax Plan. It is a personalised strategy we prepare for clients before they move to Spain.

We analyse your situation—income, assets, residency, investments—and help you organise everything in the most efficient way.

The key is timing: it should be done before you become a Spanish tax resident and ideally before you start looking at properties.

This allows you to make informed decisions from the beginning, rather than trying to fix things later.

You will have our legal and tax team working together for you from the very beginning

“Why is timing so important?”

Because in tax planning and timing changes everything.

The same decision made before or after becoming a tax resident can have completely different consequences.

We see many cases where clients could have saved a significant amount simply by acting earlier.

As a conclussion we can say that if you are thinking about moving to Spain or buying a property, the most important step is to organise your tax situation before making any decisions.

At LEGAL AND TAX IN SPAIN, we offer a FREE TAX PLAN to help you structure everything correctly from the beginning.

If you’re already exploring properties, this is exactly the right time to speak to us.

info@legalandtaxinspain.com