Spain Crypto Tax Guide 2023

This guide covers everything you need to know about Agencia Tributaria's Bitcoin and cryptocurrency tax laws in Spain.

This guide is regularly updated

Before we start - Spain's crypto tax rules are in constant flux. At Koinly we keep a very close eye on Agencia Tributaria's crypto policies and regularly update this guide to keep you informed and tax-compliant.

24 March 2022: Spanish Treasury confirms Model 720 does not apply to crypto assets.

15 February 2022: Updated to include Dac8 directive.

29 November 2021: Updated for the 2022 tax year.

19 June 2021: Welcome to your Spain cryptocurrency tax guide!

Is cryptocurrency taxed in Spain?

Yes - you'll pay tax on crypto in Spain. Crypto can attract several different taxes including Income Tax, Income Savings Tax, Inheritance and Gifts Tax and Wealth Tax in Spain. It'll all depend on the transaction you're making.

The State Agency for Tax Administration of Spain - Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) - has not yet set out particularly clear crypto tax guidance yet. The general guidance states that crypto is viewed as an asset from a tax perspective in Spain and is taxable under Personal Income Tax. Crypto could be subject to Income General Tax (renta general) or Income Savings Tax (renta del ahorro). You'll need to report your crypto taxes as part of your Personal Income Tax Declaration.

In July 2021, the Spanish government published a law to gain higher control of cryptocurrencies. It states that Spanish crypto traders must inform the tax authorities about the possession of any cryptocurrency held, and any transaction that you make in a very detailed way. This applies to crypto you have both in and outside Spain. This ministerial order will be approved and come into force in 2022.

Will the Agencia Tributaria know about your crypto?

Yes - the Agencia Tributaria will now about your crypto.

In July 2021, the Spanish Government approved the Law on Measures to Prevent and Combat Tax Fraud. This ruling forces centralized crypto exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and many more to share customer information with the Spanish government. It is not yet in force, but it will be at some point in 2022.

Previously, the Agencia Tributaria have sent notices to certain taxpayers informing them that they were aware they'd invested in cryptocurrencies and urging them to declare any profits.

As well as the above, the European Union’s Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive has come into force on June 5 2021, every company that provides financial services to cryptocurrency customers and businesses will have to comply with much tougher regulations about when and how they identify customers. Data is made available between EU member states in a bid to stamp out money laundering and illegal activities.

In addition to this, the new EU directive on data sharing - Dac8 - will likely take effect later this year. The proposed directive means it's likely the Agencia Tributaria will have the ability to check whether an individual owns crypto, as well as look into crypto companies' accounts and gain insight into crypto assets.

All this to say - you should declare any gains or income you have from crypto investments. The penalties for crypto tax evasion are steep - up to five times higher than the amount you failed to declare and potentially prison time too.

How Spain taxes Cryptocurrency

The Spanish government does not see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as fiat currency like EUR.

Instead, the Agencia Tributaria classes crypto as property. This dictates cryptos tax treatment and means crypto can be subject to four different taxes in Spain depending on the specific transaction:

1. Income Savings Tax (Capital Gains Tax).
2. Income Tax.
3. Wealth Tax.
4. Inheritance and Donations Tax.

Let's go through each different kind of tax and how and when it'll apply to your crypto, as well as how much you'll pay.

Income Savings Tax (Capital Gains Tax)

Your capital gains from crypto will be subject to Income Savings Tax. You have a capital gain whenever you dispose of your crypto - so whenever it changes hands. This would include:

• Selling crypto for EUR.
• Trading crypto for another cryptocurrency.
• Gifting crypto.

You'll pay between 19% to 26% in tax depending on how large a net profit you've made.

Income Savings Tax Rate

Your Income Savings Tax rate will vary depending on how large a net capital gain you've made:

The Income Savings Tax rate is progressive. This means that you won't pay the same tax rate on the entire amount. For example, if you had a €60,000 net capital gain, you wouldn't pay 23% on all of it. Instead, you'd pay 19% for the first €6,000, 21% for the next €44,000 and 23% on the remaining net profit.

How to calculate your crypto capital gains

The first step is to determine your cost basis. This is the purchase price of your crypto plus the costs related to acquiring or disposing of it. If you otherwise acquired your crypto - this is generally the fair market value of your crypto on the day you received it.

Once you have your cost basis, subtract your cost basis from the price you sold your crypto for. If you otherwise disposed of your crypto - like by trading it or gifting it - subtract your cost basis from the fair market value of your crypto on the day you disposed of it.

If you have a capital gain:

Report the total amount in your annual personal income tax return.

If you have a capital loss:

You can offset losses against gains of a similar kind. So if you've got crypto gains (or other investment gains), you could offset your crypto losses against these gains. If you have no gains to offset your losses against or if your losses exceed your gains, you can carry this forward to future tax years. Unutilized losses can be carried forward for four years and you can use them to offset a maximum 25% of your net capital gain each year.

Income Tax

Income Tax, also known as IRPF (impuesto sobre la renta de las personas físicas), applies to crypto when you're seen to be earning an additional income through your crypto investments. You may however be able to deduct some specific allowable expenses under the Spanish Tax system.

The Spanish tax office haven't released much guidance on when crypto may be subject to Income Tax. In the limited existing guidance, they state that the following would be subject to Income Tax:

• Getting paid in crypto.
• Crypto mining.

There are, of course, a huge variety of other crypto transactions that could also be seen as income - for example airdrops, staking rewards, liquidity mining and more. Although the Spanish tax office hasn't released guidance on these transactions yet - it's likely these would also be viewed as a kind of income. The conservative approach is that anytime you're earning new coins or tokens as a result of your activities, you're likely to pay Income Tax based on the fair market value of the crypto in EUR at the point you receive it.

Income Tax rates on crypto

Spanish Income Tax is complicated. It's made up of a progressive state tax rate and autonomous community tax rate. So the tax rate you'll pay depends on your total annual income... but also where you live in Spain.

This is because each autonomous community sets their own progressive tax rate scale - so tax rates may vary from one community to another, even if you had the same total annual income.

You can see the state tax rates here and find your autonomous community tax rates on your local government site.

Wealth tax

Certain regions of Spain charge a Wealth Tax, such as Catalonia, Comunitat Valenciana and Andalusia. The fiat value of any crypto owned must be considered when determining the value of that your wealth.

If the taxpayer is obliged to make this declaration, they must include the value of the cryptocurrencies at the time of the tax declaration and pay according to the applicable rate. These amounts should be valued for Wealth Tax purposes in accordance with their market price at the date of accrual (i.e. 31 December of the corresponding tax year); in other words, in accordance with their exchange value in euros on such date.

Each of the Autonomous Communities in the country defines a minimum up to which you must start paying this tax, but usually that minimum is €700,000.

So, basically, you will need to calculate the total value of all the assets you have, including cryptocurrencies. If the total amount is higher than the minimum exempt in your region, you will need to pay wealth tax.

It is a progressive tax that ranges from 0.2% to nearly 4% depending on your wealth and on the specific region in which you live (because percentages also differ in that sense). However, in summary:

• Catalonia: between 0.21% and 2.75% tax.
• Asturias: between 0.22% and 3% tax.
• Region of Murcia: between 0.25% and 3.5% tax.
• Andalusia: between 0.20% and 2.5% tax.
• Cantabria: between 0.24% and 3.03% tax
• Community of Valencia: between 0.25% and 3.5% tax.
• Balearics: between 0.28% and 3.45% tax.
• Extremadura: between 0.3% and 3.75% tax.

Madrid is the only autonomous community that does not impose a wealth tax. However, you need to submit a Wealth Tax Return for information purposes if your total assets are worth more than 2 millions euros.  

Inheritance and Donations Tax

If a person receives an inheritance including cryptocurrencies, this must be included in the ISD statement.

Like with the Wealth Tax, the tax you'll pay on inherited or gifted crypto will vary depending on how much you received and where you live. Each Autonomous Community sets their own tax rate for inherited and gifted assets. But in general, the taxable rate will vary between 7% to 36.5%.

Tax Free

You won't always pay tax on your crypto, there are a few crypto transactions that are tax free in Spain, including:

• Buying crypto.
• Holding crypto - unless subject to Wealth Tax.
• Transferring crypto between your own wallets.

How to report crypto taxes in Spain

The AEAT wants to know about your crypto activity in terms of income and capital gains. You'll need to declare both in your annual income tax return.

How to file crypto taxes in Spain

If you are a Spanish tax resident, complete Form 100 (Modelo 100) in order to make a Spanish income tax declaration.

Once you, or your accountant has calculated your crypto tax (we have an app for that!), the easiest way to file your taxes is via the AEAT's Renta Online.

Spain tax deadline

The Spanish tax year runs from the 1st of January to the 31st of December each year - just like the calendar year.

Spanish income tax returns must be filed by 30 June for the preceding year. This means you will need to submit your tax return for the 2022 tax year by 30 June 2023.

Model 720 Declaration and crypto

The Model 720 Declaration is used to inform the tax agency about your assets abroad, so you can pay income tax accordingly (both the income tax declaration and the Model 720 must be aligned). It is used to declare holdings abroad of more than €50.000. It was previously believed that the Model 720 applied to cryptocurrency, however recently the Spanish treasury has confirmed that this is not the case. However, if you have other financial assets held abroad that are more than €50,000 in value, you would need to file the Model 720 declaration.

Which accounting method for crypto tax in Spain?

In Spain, crypto tax is calculated using the FIFO method (first in, first out) when calculating your crypto taxes. This assumes the first asset you bought is the first asset you sold and you'll calculate your crypto taxes based on this cost basis. To understand more about how FIFO works, check out this article.

Now that you know how to go about calculating and filing your crypto taxes, let's explore Spain's crypto tax rules in more detail. Here's a breakdown of the most common crypto scenarios and the type of tax liability they result in.

Income Savings Tax (Capital Gains Tax) Transactions

Not sure when you'll pay Income Savings Tax on your crypto in Spain? Here's the most common examples.

Income Tax Transactions

Not sure when your crypto will be considered income? Here's a few common examples.

Wealth Tax

For most of us, the Wealth Tax won't be a particular consideration when calculating our crypto taxes. However, if you're over your region's wealth threshold, you'll need to consider the following scenario in your taxes.

Inheritance and Gift Tax Transactions

Not sure when you'd pay inheritance or gift tax? Here's the common scenarios.

Do I need to keep records of my crypto transactions?

Yes, the AEAT requires you to keep detailed records of cryptocurrency transactions for 5 years after you “prepared or obtained the records”, or “completed the transactions or acts those records relate to”, whichever is later. You need to keep the following records:

• the date of your crypto transactions
• the value of the cryptocurrency in Euros at the time of the transaction (which can be taken from a reputable online exchange.)
• what the transaction was for and who the other party was (even if it’s just a wallet address).

Who can help you calculate your crypto tax?

Crypto tax reporting is fairly new, and a road less travelled for most accountants, but that doesn't mean the AEAT is going to cut you any slack. Here are 4 ways you can tackle your crypto taxes and keep in the taxman's good books. We'll start with the easiest and most accurate method first.

1. Use a crypto tax calculator like Koinly to create a crypto tax report. Send the report to your accountant to complete your tax return. Super accurate, super easy.
2. Use a crypto tax calculator like Koinly to create a crypto tax report. Add the necessary data to your tax return and file it yourself. Accurate, and easy, if you know what you're doing.
3. Get an accountant to work out your crypto activity by supplying each a transaction history for each crypto exchange, wallet and blockchain you use. Let them work it out and file for you. Not very accurate, lots of admin, potentially costly.
4. Work out your activity yourself, and file yourself. Best of luck to you.

How to use a crypto tax app like Koinly

Don't get stuck in the busywork. Don't get it wrong. Don't rely on your accountant to know where to look. Use Koinly. Here's how easy it is:

1. Sign up for a FREE account. You only need a paid plan at the point you download your chosen crypto tax report.
2. Select your country (Spain), currency (euro) and accounting method (FIFO).
3. Connect Koinly to your wallets and exchanges via API or by importing a CSV file of your transaction history. Koinly integrates with Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and 600+ more. (See all)
4. Let Koinly crunch the numbers. Make a coffee.
5. Ta-da! Your data is collected and your full tax report is generated!
6. To download your crypto tax report, upgrade to a paid plan from $49 per year.
7. Send your report to your accountant, or complete your AEAT income tax submission yourself, using the figures from your Koinly report. Done!

The information on this website is for general information only. It should not be taken as constituting professional advice from Koinly. Koinly is not a financial adviser. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice to check how the website information relates to your unique circumstances. Koinly is not liable for any loss caused, whether due to negligence or otherwise arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided directly or indirectly, by use of this website.