The exit tax: the tax on leaving when moving your residence outside Spain

The exit tax is the departure tax that Spain applies when you stop being a personal income tax taxpayer because you move your residence to another country. It is regulated in article 95 bis of Ley 35/2006 (the Spanish Personal Income Tax Act), in force since 1 January 2015. Its particularity is that it taxes a gain you have not yet received: the positive difference between the market value of your shares or participations on the departure date and their acquisition value, even if you have not sold them.

It does not affect just anyone moving abroad. Two conditions must be met at the same time. First: having been a personal income tax taxpayer for at least 10 of the 15 tax periods prior to the last one you must declare. If you were under the special expatriate regime (the so-called Ley Beckham or Beckham Law), those 10 financial years are counted from the first period in which the regime ceased to apply. Second: exceeding one of these wealth thresholds, either the combined market value of your shares or participations exceeds €4,000,000, or you hold more than 25% of an entity and the value of that participation exceeds €1,000,000 (in this second case, only the participations of that entity are taxed).

The tax covers shares and participations of any type of entity, including participations in funds and other collective investment institutions. It does not tax real estate, deposits, or other assets. If you fit the profile, the cost of not planning your departure can be very high: Managora analyses your case, quantifies the tax in writing before filing anything and processes the most favourable route the law allows according to your destination. Bear in mind that deferral and postponement only exist for certain destinations and scenarios: if the move is permanent to a third country outside the EU and the EEA, the tax is paid upon leaving.

The base is the unrealised capital gain: the market value of the shares or participations minus their acquisition value. For listed securities, the quoted price is taken. For unlisted ones, the higher of two values: the net equity from the last closed balance sheet or the capitalisation at 20% of the average results of the last 3 financial years. For participations in collective investment institutions, the net asset value or, failing that, the last published one. It is always possible to prove a different market value.

The gain is integrated into the savings tax base of the return for the last financial year in which you were a resident. If that return was already filed, it is regularised through a complementary self-assessment, without penalty, late payment interest, or any surcharge, provided it is filed within the personal income tax filing period corresponding to the first financial year in which you are no longer a resident.

In 2026 the savings base is taxed in brackets between 19% and 30% (this last rate, for the part exceeding €300,000, applies from 1 January 2025). In multi-million portfolios, the resulting quota is very high, and that is why the law provides two ways not to pay it upon leaving: deferral if you move to the EU or the EEA and postponement if the displacement is temporary.

If the move is to another European Union State, or to the European Economic Area with effective exchange of tax information, the law applies a special regime (paragraph 6 of article 95 bis): the gain is not paid upon leaving. You will only have to self-assess it if, within the 10 financial years following the last one declared as a resident, any of these 3 circumstances occur: you transfer the shares or participations inter vivos, you lose your residence in an EU or EEA State, or you breach the communication obligation. If the 10 financial years pass without any occurring, the obligation lapses and nothing is paid.

The essential condition is to communicate it to the tax agency (Hacienda or AEAT) using form 113, which identifies the securities, their market value and the destination State with your address. It is filed online at the AEAT electronic headquarters (with an electronic certificate or Cl@ve, the Spanish digital identity system) between the date of displacement and the end of the personal income tax filing period for the first financial year in which you are no longer a resident. Subsequent changes of address are communicated within a period of 2 months. Beware: breaching this communication is, in itself, one of the circumstances that oblige you to self-assess the gain, so a formal oversight can cost the entire quota.

If you sell within those 10 financial years, you must file the self-assessment (without penalty, interest, or surcharges) between the date of sale and the end of the immediately following filing period, although the gain is reduced if the transfer value was lower than the market value calculated upon departure. For moves to Switzerland, the Directorate General for Taxes (binding rulings V1842-21, V1843-21, V1844-21 and V1864-21) assumes the jurisprudence of the EU Court of Justice and rules out immediate collection in application of the Agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of persons.

Yes. When the change of residence is due to a temporary displacement for work reasons to a country that is not a non-cooperative jurisdiction, or for any reason to a country with a double taxation agreement with Spain that includes an information exchange clause, you can request the postponement of the debt payment (paragraph 4 of article 95 bis).

In this case, the gain is declared, but the postponement of the payment is requested at the same time. The request must be made within the filing period referred to in article 121 of the Reglamento del IRPF (Personal Income Tax Regulations), is governed by the Ley General Tributaria (General Tax Act) and the Reglamento General de Recaudación (General Collection Regulations) and accrues late payment interest. Regarding guarantees, the general collection rule applies: debts up to €50,000 are exempt from providing them (Orden HFP/311/2023); above that figure, which is common in portfolios that trigger the exit tax, they must be constituted, and they can be the very securities that generated the gain.

The postponement covers the 5 financial years following the last one declared as a resident and expires, at the latest, on 30 June of the year following that fifth financial year. If the work displacement is prolonged, an extension for 5 more financial years can be requested, applying for it in the 3 months before the first period ends. If you transfer the shares earlier, the postponement expires 2 months after the transfer. And if you return to Spain within the period without having sold, the postponed debt and its interest are extinguished.

Yes. If you paid the exit tax and regain the status of personal income tax taxpayer without having transferred the shares or participations, you can request the rectification of that self-assessment so that they refund what was paid for this gain (paragraph 5 of article 95 bis).

The refund includes late payment interest in your favour calculated from the date you made the payment until the date the refund payment is ordered, a more favourable rule than the general one in the Ley General Tributaria (General Tax Act). The request can be filed from the end of the filing period for the first period you must declare again as a resident.

Each situation has its way out: if you deferred with form 113, the return leaves the tax without effect; if you postponed due to temporary displacement, the debt and interest are extinguished; and if you actually paid, it is recovered with interest. The important thing is not to let the deadlines for each route pass.

Managora prepares and files it for you from start to finish: we check if article 95 bis applies to you, value the portfolio according to legal rules, quantify the tax for you in writing before filing anything and process the option corresponding to your destination, whether it is form 113 to defer payment if you move to the EU or EEA, the postponement request with guarantees if the displacement is temporary, the rectification with refund and interest if you return to Spain, or the self-assessment itself when the destination does not admit deferral or postponement. We also handle subsequent communications (changes of address, variations) so that the deferral is not lost due to a formal error.

This procedure does not accrue any tasa (official fee): the Tax Agency does not charge for filing form 113 or for requesting the postponement. What is at stake is the tax itself on your unrealised capital gain, which depends on your portfolio. You can see the updated amount of our service in the Exit Tax Management procedure file and start today: you answer the questionnaire and we take care of the rest.