Double taxation relief in Spain on foreign income (art. 80 IRPF)

In short: Double taxation relief in Spain is a deduction in the Renta (art. 80 of the IRPF law, the income tax law). If you are a tax resident and already paid tax abroad on foreign income, that tax comes off your Spanish tax. It has a cap: the smaller of two amounts applies, the tax paid abroad or the tax Spain would charge on that part of the income. According to an AEAT entry from March 2026 (INFORMA consultation 148848), the part of the base that counts is the one determined under the internal IRPF rules and taxed abroad. To claim it you must file the Renta and keep proof of the tax paid abroad.

What the AEAT says. INFORMA is the tax information service of the Tax Agency (AEAT), with answers to taxpayers' questions. Its page of news for March 2026 includes consultation 148848. According to the AEAT, to apply the deduction the «part of the taxable base taxed abroad» in art. 80.1.b) is to be understood as the part of the base, determined under the internal IRPF rules, that was taxed abroad. The AEAT cites resolution 8643/2023, dated 20 October 2025, of the Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal (TEAC), the administrative body that settles tax claims. We could only read that summary: the viewer for the full consultation showed no text and we have not read the resolution.

Who can apply it. Someone who is a tax resident in Spain and has earnings (from work, capital or an activity) or capital gains obtained and taxed abroad (art. 80.1). As a resident you report your income from any country, so that income enters the IRPF. The deduction aims to stop it being taxed twice. If the other country did not tax the income, there is nothing to deduct.

How it is calculated. The smaller of two amounts is deducted (art. 80.1):

• The tax paid abroad: the amount actually paid abroad under a tax of identical or analogous nature to the IRPF or the IRNR (the non-resident income tax) on that income.
• The Spanish cap: the result of applying your effective average rate to the part of the taxable base taxed abroad.

The effective average rate is your total net tax divided by your taxable base and multiplied by 100, to two decimals. The total net tax is the IRPF, state plus regional part, before this deduction. The taxable base is the base of the tax after the reductions have been applied. The rate is worked out separately for general income and savings income (art. 80.2). The deduction is subtracted from the total net tax (art. 79).

Example from the AEAT manual for the Renta 2025: the tax paid abroad adds up to €2,180, €1,100 on general income and €1,080 on savings income. With the average rates in the example, 17.10 % on general income and 16.60 % on savings income, the Spanish cap comes to €1,885.20. The deduction is €1,885.20, the smaller of the two. The difference up to what was paid abroad is not deducted, and the text of art. 80 does not provide for carrying it over to other years. The example assumes there is no treaty between Spain and the country of the income; with Ukraine the 1985 treaty applies (below).

What counts as an «analogous» tax. The law gives no list of foreign taxes: it asks for one of identical or analogous nature to the IRPF or the IRNR. The AEAT help for the Renta speaks of the actual amount paid abroad «by reason of a tax of a personal nature». Whether the tax of your country fits is a matter of interpretation, case by case.

The treaty with Ukraine and exempt income.

• The treaty between Spain and the other country divides which State may tax each income, and the IRPF law applies without prejudice to treaties (art. 5). With Ukraine the 1985 treaty with the USSR applies; its status and that of the new treaty are in the tax residence card.
• Art. 16 of the 1985 treaty says that, for income the treaty allows the other State to tax, the State of residence eliminates double taxation under its own legislation. It sets no method of its own. The AEAT manual says the deduction aims to stop income obtained abroad being taxed both in the IRPF and in an analogous tax of the other country. Its example assumes there is no treaty between Spain and the country of the income.
• The law (art. 98.2.a) mentions anyone with «income exempt with progression» under a treaty: they cannot confirm the draft as it is. Which incomes those are, and whether any exist with Ukraine, we have not confirmed.

Where it goes in Renta WEB. The AEAT filing help for the Renta 2025 (section 8.7.3.1, Double taxation deduction) says the program opens a data entry window. There you enter separately:

• General income: net earnings from work obtained abroad (gross income minus deductible expenses), net reduced earnings from capital and economic activities, capital gains and the actual amount paid abroad.
• Savings income: the net reduced return on movable capital obtained abroad or, if it is a capital gain, the gain subject to tax, and the actual amount paid abroad.

Anyone entitled to the deduction must file the return (art. 96.4), and anyone who claims it cannot confirm the draft as it is (art. 98.2): you have to edit it and file. We give no box numbers because we have not confirmed them in the help. This is the help for the Renta 2025; the AEAT will publish the one for the Renta 2026, filed in 2027, later.

Documents

• Proof of the tax actually paid abroad, with amount, year and type of tax: for example, the payer's withholding certificate, a payment receipt or the other country's tax return.
• Proof of the foreign income: payslips, pension certificate or statements, with amounts and country.
• The data to work out the net income: gross income and deductible expenses.
• Tax residence certificate for Spain, only if the foreign payer asks for it (how to request it).

Indicative list: in what we have read, neither the law nor the AEAT help says which document is valid; keep the one that shows the amount paid. Whoever claims a right must prove it (art. 105 of the General Tax Law) and the AEAT can review up to 4 years (art. 66).

What you can do

• Check whether you are a tax resident in Spain that year.
• Gather the proof on the list and keep it for at least 4 years.
• In Renta WEB, follow help 8.7.3.1 and add general income and savings income separately, each with its tax paid abroad.
• File the return without confirming the draft as it is.
• If you doubt the tax of your country, a treaty or the currency, ask a tax adviser.

What we have not confirmed

• Whether the single tax of a Ukrainian FOP counts as tax paid abroad for this deduction. We have found no official consultation.
• How an income that a treaty leaves exempt is treated, and whether everything withheld is deducted when the other country withheld more than the treaty allows.
• How income in another currency is converted into euros.
• The full text of consultation 148848 and of TEAC resolution 8643/2023.

What this card does not cover. If you hold accounts or assets outside Spain, there is also the Modelo 720. For a salary from a foreign company, see remote work for a foreign company, and for the limits and the first Renta, tax return for foreign residents.

Official source: AEAT, INFORMA news for March 2026, consultation 148848; art. 80 of the IRPF law, BOE.

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.