The taxation of UN pensions in Spain was fought over in the courts for more than a decade, but the Spanish Supreme Court judgment of 21 December 2022 (no. 1737/2022) put an end to the uncertainty: former United Nations officials who are tax resident in Spain cannot apply the personal income tax (IRPF) exemption to the pension they receive from the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

If you have worked as an official of the UN or one of its specialised agencies (WHO, UNESCO, FAO, ILO…) and now live in Spain, you have probably wondered whether your retirement pension has to be declared for Spanish income tax or whether it keeps the tax exemption you enjoyed while in service. Following the Supreme Court ruling, the answer is clear: it is taxable. That does not mean, however, that there is no room to optimise your tax position, or that you should accept any assessment without having it reviewed first.

What the Spanish Supreme Court said about UN pensions

To understand how UN pensions are taxed in Spain, you need to start from a single judgment. The Supreme Court settled the issue in its ruling of 21 December 2022 (no. 1737/2022), handed down in the cassation appeal lodged by the State Attorney’s Office against an earlier judgment of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands that had upheld the exemption.

The legal debate turned on a single provision: Section 18(b) of Spain’s instrument of accession to the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (in Spanish), published in the Official State Gazette following Spain’s ratification in 1974. This provision exempts from taxation the “salaries and emoluments” paid by the UN to its officials.

The Court interprets the term “emoluments” as being tied to active service and the actual performance of duties. Once officials retire, they no longer serve the Organisation, so the pension they receive (even though it is paid by the Joint Staff Pension Fund, which is partly funded by their own contributions) is paid in the pensioner’s own interest rather than in the interest of the UN.

For that reason, the Supreme Court concluded that the IRPF exemption does not apply to UN pensions and that the pension must be taxed as employment income under article 17 of Act 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax. A detailed legal analysis of the judgment (in Spanish) also traces how the dispute developed from the first rulings through to the establishment of settled case law.

Why there was so much uncertainty before the judgment

Until 2022, the administrative and judicial positions were at odds. The Spanish Tax Agency and the Central Economic-Administrative Court (TEAC, decision of 5 April 2018) maintained that UN pensions were taxable in Spain, while several judgments of the High Court of Justice of Madrid handed down between 2003 and 2016, and that of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands of 16 December 2020 (appeal 188/2020), had recognised the exemption. It was this last judgment that the State Attorney’s Office appealed and that led to the Supreme Court’s unifying ruling.

The Directorate-General for Taxation had itself defended taxability in several binding rulings, relying on the fact that the privileges in the Convention are granted in the interest of the Organisation and not of the individual official, in accordance with Section 20 of the Convention. This back-and-forth between courts created years of legal uncertainty for retired officials of international organisations living in Spain, many of whom had filed their returns applying the exemption while awaiting a definitive ruling.

UN vs NATO vs EU pensions: a comparison of their tax treatment

Not all international organisations receive the same tax treatment in Spain, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes among pensioners. The following table summarises the position of each group:

Organisation / group	Is the pension subject to Spanish income tax?	Legal basis	Reference judgment or position
UN and specialised agencies (WHO, FAO, UNESCO, ILO…)	Yes	1946 UN Convention, Section 18(b)	Supreme Court 21-12-2022, no. 1737/2022
NATO	Yes	1951 Ottawa Agreement, art. XIX	Supreme Court 13-06-2022, cassation appeal 5579/2020
European Union (EU officials)	No (express exemption)	EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, art. 13	Exemption recognised in the Protocol itself
Spanish military personnel on active UN/NATO missions (salary, not pension)	The salary while in service is not	Art. 7.p) IRPF Act	Supreme Court 8-4-2024 and judgments from 2025-2026 (UNIFIL)

The case of military personnel on active missions is not comparable to a retirement pension: it concerns the salary earned during active service abroad, not the benefit received after retirement, which is what the UN pension judgment deals with.

How to protect yourself: tax strategies now that UN pensions are taxable

The fact that UN pensions are now clearly subject to Spanish income tax does not mean there is nothing you can do. Specialist advice for UN pensioners can make a real difference to the final tax bill. These are the usual lines of work:

• Reviewing the withholding calculation and how the pension is included in the tax base, as part of the pension may correspond to contributions the official made in the past out of income that was already taxed. This may allow the tax base to be reduced and economic double taxation to be avoided.
• Applying international double taxation relief (art. 80 IRPF Act) if an equivalent tax has already been paid on the same income in the country where the official was posted.
• Correcting tax returns for years that are not time-barred (the last four tax years) if it turns out that income was declared incorrectly or that criteria already overturned by the courts were applied.
• Planning overall wealth taxation: inheritance, wealth tax and gains on the sale of a home, where international civil servants are still treated differently and each case should be reviewed individually.
• Exploring a tax discrimination complaint before the European institutions where the different treatment between residents affects other taxes beyond income tax on the pension.

To assess which of these options applies to you, the analysis must start from your specific file: the paying organisation, the tax years affected, your previous country of residence and the structure of your assets. Riera Consulting’s International Taxation service is designed precisely for situations like these, and our dedicated EU officials area also handles residence, nationality and inheritance matters that often go hand in hand with this type of client.

Riera Consulting’s track record in defending international civil servants

Riera Consulting did not come to this area by chance. As reported in a feature on the firm in Emprendedores magazine (in Spanish), Riera Consulting received the ProDespachos Award at the latest edition of the Emprendedores Awards for its work in defending a fairer tax system for international workers.

In 2020 the firm, led by Víctor Riera, filed a complaint with the European Commission about the tax discrimination suffered in Spain by officials and other servants of the European institutions, even though they live, work and pay tax in Spain. The complaint concerns benefits such as the wealth tax exemption, reductions in inheritance and gift tax, the exclusion from imputed income on real estate and the exemption for reinvestment in a main residence.

The same feature notes that Riera Consulting is currently studying the pensions of international civil servants (including those from the UN, NATO and the EU) and that it provides services to the Association of Spanish International Civil Servants (AFIE) in Madrid. This specialisation, uncommon among Spanish firms, has driven the firm’s expansion from its original base in Alicante to Madrid and Barcelona.

Common mistakes when declaring a UN pension in your Spanish tax return

• Applying the exemption out of habit, carrying over the approach of the 2020 judgment of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands, which was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022.
• Failing to distinguish between salary in active service and a retirement pension: the former may be exempt in certain cases of work performed abroad, but that does not automatically extend to the pension.
• Ignoring the part of the pension that corresponds to your own contributions already taxed, which can lead to paying tax twice on the same income.
• Letting the four-year deadline pass for correcting returns for years in which an incorrect tax approach was applied.
• Treating the UN case as if it were the EU case, when the two organisations have different regimes of privileges and immunities and therefore different tax consequences.

Frequently asked questions

Is a UN pension exempt from income tax in Spain?

A UN retirement pension is not exempt from Spanish income tax (IRPF). Since the Supreme Court judgment of 21 December 2022, it is taxed as employment income under article 17 of the IRPF Act.

What exactly did the 2022 Supreme Court judgment say?

The judgment (no. 1737/2022) establishes that the concept of exempt “emoluments” in the UN Convention does not include retirement pensions, which are paid in the interest of the official and not of the Organisation.

Does this case law also affect NATO pensioners?

Yes. The Supreme Court applied equivalent reasoning to NATO pensioners in its judgment of 13 June 2022, confirming that their retirement pension is also subject to Spanish income tax.

What about pensions paid to EU officials?

Pensions paid to EU officials follow a different regime: the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union expressly recognises their exemption, unlike the UN and NATO.

Can I recover income tax overpaid in previous years?

Only for tax years that are not time-barred, generally the last four years, and provided there is a calculation error or a point that can be corrected other than the criterion established by the Supreme Court in 2022.

Why is the salary of a soldier on a UN mission exempt but the pension is not?

Salary earned in active service may qualify for the exemption in article 7.p) of the IRPF Act, which is designed for income from work actually performed abroad. A retirement pension does not derive from active service, so it falls outside that provision.

What can I do if the Spanish Tax Agency has already issued an assessment on this?

It is advisable to review the full file before accepting it, as there may be scope to challenge the amount, apply reliefs that were not taken into account or arrange payment in instalments, with the support of a specialist.

Is specialist advice worthwhile if I have to pay tax anyway?

Yes. Although the taxation of UN pensions is now settled, the final amount depends on factors such as your own contributions, double taxation or your assets, where there is still legitimate room for optimisation.

Turn the Supreme Court ruling into a well-prepared tax return, not a problem

The taxation of UN pensions in Spain is no longer an open question, but it remains a technical area in which a small detail (a contribution counted incorrectly, a tax year left unreviewed, a forgotten relief) can make a significant difference to the tax payable. At Riera Consulting we have spent years working alongside international civil servants and organisations such as AFIE, and we know first-hand the details that make the difference in these cases.

If you receive, or are about to start receiving, a pension from the UN, NATO or another international organisation and want to make sure you declare it correctly (and do not pay more than you should), contact our International Taxation team and we will review your case.

The tax privileges of EU officials in Spain stem from the Protocol (No 7) on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, the text annexed to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that governs, among other matters, the special tax regime for officials and other servants of the European institutions. It exempts their salaries from national income tax in exchange for a tax levied by the Union itself.

Technically, the legal instrument is the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, but in Spain it is known above all for its practical effect: the unique tax regime that applies to EU officials living in the country.

What the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities means for officials in Spain

The EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities is a legal text with the same rank as the founding Treaties, currently in its consolidated version published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ C 202, 7 June 2016). It does not deal only with tax matters: it also covers the inviolability of the institutions’ premises and archives, the immunity from legal proceedings of the judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the diplomatic privileges of permanent representations.

For an EU official or other servant, the relevant part is Chapter V, devoted to officials and other servants of the Union, which contains articles 11 to 16. These articles create a genuinely European tax: a tax deducted at source from the salaries, wages and emoluments paid by the Union, replacing national taxes on employment income.

This protection dates back to the 1965 Merger Treaty (Treaty of Brussels) and has remained essentially unchanged through every subsequent Treaty reform, including the Treaty of Lisbon. The reason is functional: to guarantee the financial independence of people working for supranational institutions and prevent any Member State from putting fiscal pressure on the staff of bodies such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Central Bank or the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO, based in Alicante).

What article 12 says: the income tax exemption for EU officials and other servants

Article 12 of the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities creates a Union tax on the salaries, wages and emoluments paid by the Union to its officials and other servants, and exempts those same amounts from national taxes. In Spain, this means that an official of the EUIPO, the European Commission or any other covered institution does not include their EU salary in the IRPF tax base.

The technical rules for this European tax are set out in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 260/68 (in Spanish) of 29 February 1968, which lays down the conditions and procedure for applying it. The rate is progressive, similar in logic to income tax, but it is calculated and withheld by the institution itself, not by the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT).

An important nuance: the exemption covers the salary paid by the Union, not every type of income the official or other servant receives. Other income is taxed under its own rules, but the EU salary cannot be used to raise the tax rate applied to that other income: unlike the “exemption with progression” commonly found in double tax treaties, the Protocol does not allow the State to take it into account to increase national tax indirectly.

What article 13 says: the special tax residence rule

Article 13 addresses a different question: where an official who moves to another Member State because of their post pays income tax, wealth tax and inheritance tax. The rule is clear: the official is deemed to keep their tax domicile in the country where they lived before entering the service of the Union, provided the move is solely due to the performance of their duties at a European institution.

In practice, this creates an unusual situation: a Belgian official posted to the EUIPO in Alicante can physically live in Spain (registered with the town hall, with children at school and a home of their own) and yet keep their tax residence in Belgium for income tax, wealth tax and inheritance tax purposes. This legal fiction has generated the most litigation and the most misunderstanding among national tax authorities, including Spain’s.

Which officials and other servants are covered (and who is not)

Not everyone who works for a body with an EU presence is automatically covered by the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities. The Protocol itself refers to subsequent regulations of the European Parliament and the Council to define the exact categories of officials and other servants to whom articles 11, 12 (second paragraph) and 13 apply, in whole or in part.

Group	Covered by arts. 12-13?	Applicable tax regime
Permanent officials of EU institutions (Commission, Parliament, EUIPO, ECB, etc.)	Yes	Union tax (Reg. 260/68) + tax residence of origin
Temporary and contract staff of the EU covered by the Staff Regulations	Yes, depending on the category set by regulation	Union tax + tax residence of origin
Local staff hired directly in Spain by an institution	Usually not	Ordinary Spanish income tax rules
Officials of non-European international organisations (UN, NATO, WHO)	No (different or no protocol)	Depends on the applicable headquarters agreement or double tax treaty
Retired officials of EU institutions receiving an EU retirement pension	Specific regime, not always fully equivalent	Has given rise to litigation over the taxation of pensions under Spanish income tax
Judges and staff of the CJEU, Members of the Commission and other senior office holders	Yes, with additional specific rules (arts. 11, 21 and 22)	Union tax + additional immunities

This last area (retired officials of international organisations, including the United Nations or NATO, whose pensions are subject to Spanish income tax) is currently one of the most active fronts of litigation, although technically it is governed by protocols and headquarters agreements other than the EU’s Protocol No 7. In short, the tax privileges of EU officials in Spain are not a uniform benefit: their scope always depends on the specific category of the post.

How the Protocol affects wealth tax, inheritance tax and your main residence in Spain

The exemption under the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities does not stop at income tax. Because article 13 preserves the tax residence of origin, an EU official posted to Spain may be treated as a non-resident for wealth tax and inheritance tax purposes. In theory, this should exclude them from Spanish taxation on assets located outside Spain under these taxes, with the non-resident rules applying to the assets they do hold here (typically, their home).

The practical problem is that Spain has been denying these non-residents tax benefits that it grants to residents on their main residence: the wealth tax exemption, inheritance tax reductions, the exclusion from imputed income on real estate under income tax, and the exemption for reinvestment when selling the home. It is precisely this discrimination that gave rise to the best-known case of the Protocol being applied in Spain.

The Riera Consulting case: the complaint to the European Commission over tax discrimination

In 2020, after a detailed study of the regime arising from the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, Alicante lawyer Víctor Riera, managing partner of Riera Consulting, filed a complaint with the European Commission over the unfavourable tax treatment Spain applied to officials of the European institutions (many of them EUIPO staff based in Alicante) who, being non-resident for tax purposes under article 13 of the Protocol, were denied benefits on their main residence in Spain.

The European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Spain: in June 2025 it sent a letter of formal notice, and on 29 April 2026 it issued a reasoned opinion on the discrimination it sees in the taxation of non-residents’ main residences. These are steps within the proceedings, not a court ruling: if Spain does not amend its legislation, the Commission may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU.

This case is largely the origin of the book “El régimen fiscal de los funcionarios y agentes de las instituciones de la Unión Europea” (The tax regime of officials and other servants of the European Union institutions, Editorial Aranzadi, 2024), in which Víctor Riera sets out for the first time in Spanish the full body of international, European and domestic law that applies to this area. To date, no other Spanish firm has published an equivalent monograph on the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities as applied to the taxation of officials and other servants, which places Riera Consulting in a unique position to advise on complex cases in this field.

Common mistakes when applying the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities

• Declaring the EU salary in your Spanish income tax return out of unawareness, paying tax twice on the same income (once to the Union, once to Spain).
• Adding the EU salary when calculating the rate on other income subject to income tax (rents, a parallel professional activity, etc.), which indirectly increases national tax contrary to the Protocol.
• Assuming the whole family is covered: spouses with their own professional activity in Spain, or children with their own income, do not automatically benefit from the official’s regime.
• Confusing the EU Protocol with the headquarters agreements of other organisations (UN, NATO, WTO), which have different and not always as protective rules.
• Failing to claim the main residence benefits (wealth tax, inheritance tax, reinvestment) when the official is non-resident under article 13, reviewing in each case the tax, the tax year and the appropriate route for the claim while the European proceedings continue.
• Letting tax years in which too much was paid become time-barred, without requesting the correction of returns from the AEAT within the four-year period.

The EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities vs double tax treaties: how they differ

The EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities is often confused with a bilateral double tax treaty (DTT), but they are different legal instruments that work in different ways.

Criterion	EU Protocol No 7	Double tax treaty (OECD model)
Nature	Rule with Treaty rank, common to all 27 Member States	Bilateral treaty between two specific States
Who it applies to	Officials and other servants of EU institutions	Any taxpayer with cross-border income between the two signatory States
How double taxation is avoided	Replaces national tax with the Union’s own tax (full exemption of the EU salary)	Allocates taxing rights between the two States or grants a credit for tax paid abroad
Tax residence	Legal fiction: residence of origin is kept (art. 13) for as long as the post lasts	Determined case by case under the treaty’s tie-breaker rules
Supervisory body	European Commission and Court of Justice of the EU	Competent authorities of each signatory State, with a mutual agreement procedure

The difference is not merely theoretical: mistakenly applying the rules of a double tax treaty to an official or other servant covered by the Protocol (or vice versa) is one of the most common causes of errors in this group’s tax returns.

Frequently asked questions

Are the “tax privileges of EU officials in Spain” the same as Protocol No 7?

Yes. What is commonly referred to in Spain as the protocol of privileges for EU officials is Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union; legally they are the same instrument, annexed to the Treaties.

What is the EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities?

The EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities is Protocol No 7 annexed to the EU Treaties, which governs the tax exemption of the salaries of officials and other servants of the European institutions and their special tax residence rule.

Which officials are exempt from Spanish income tax under this Protocol?

Permanent officials and certain temporary and contract staff of institutions such as the European Commission, the Parliament, the ECB or the EUIPO are exempt, provided the category of their post is included in the regulations implementing articles 12 and 13.

Do I have to declare in Spain the salary I receive from a European institution?

A salary paid directly by a Union institution is not included in the Spanish income tax base, because it is already subject to the Union’s own tax. Nor can it be taken into account to raise the rate applied to other income.

What is the Union tax that replaces Spanish income tax?

It is a progressive tax, governed by Regulation 260/68, which the institution itself withholds from the salaries of its officials and other servants, replacing national taxes on that same income.

Does the Protocol also exempt me from wealth tax?

Article 13 may make the official a non-resident for tax purposes in Spain, which changes the wealth tax and inheritance tax rules that apply to their assets, although the European Commission considers that Spain discriminates against these non-residents in the taxation of their main residence and issued a reasoned opinion in 2026.

Where am I tax resident if I work for an EU institution in Spain?

Your tax residence remains in the country where you lived before joining the institution, under article 13, even though you physically live in Spain for as long as your posting lasts.

What happens to my income that does not come from the European Union?

Rents, investment income and other income unrelated to the EU salary are not covered by the Protocol and are taxed in Spain under the general rules for residents or non-residents, as applicable.

Do retired officials of international organisations have the same exemption?

Pensions from international organisations other than the EU are not governed by this Protocol but by their own instruments (for the UN, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations; for NATO, the Ottawa Agreement) and by headquarters agreements, and their taxation under Spanish income tax has been the subject of specific litigation separate from the EU’s.

How does this Protocol differ from a double tax treaty?

The Protocol replaces national tax with the Union’s own tax and applies only to staff of European institutions, whereas a double tax treaty allocates taxing rights between two States for any taxpayer with cross-border income.

How can I claim if the Spanish Tax Agency has applied the Protocol incorrectly?

You can request the correction of your returns from the Spanish Tax Agency within four years, providing documentation that proves your status as an official or other servant covered by articles 12 and 13.

A precise regime, not an automatic benefit

The EU Protocol on Privileges and Immunities offers real protection, but it is defined with surgical precision: it covers the EU salary and the tax residence of origin, not every type of income or every person connected to a European institution. Understanding exactly where that protection ends (and claiming what is due while the proceedings opened by the European Commission continue) is what separates a correct tax return from avoidable overtaxation.

If you are an EU official and are unsure exactly how the Protocol applies to your situation in Spain (salary, tax residence, assets or home), Riera Consulting is the leading Spanish firm in this field, backed by being the only authors of a monograph published by Aranzadi on the tax regime of officials and other servants of the European Union. Visit our dedicated page on tax advice for EU officials or contact our team to review your case.

Living in Spain and being tax resident in Spain are not always the same thing for an official or other servant of the European Union. Their taxation depends on two different rules in Protocol No 7: the national tax exemption for certain remuneration paid by the EU and, where its conditions are met, keeping the tax domicile they had before entering the service of the Union.

That is why it is wrong to say either that EU officials pay no tax in Spain or that everyone who lives here must declare their worldwide income for Spanish income tax. The first step is to establish the employee’s status and tax residence; only then can each type of income and each tax be analysed.

What the exemption of the EU salary means

Article 12 of the Protocol subjects remuneration paid by the Union to its internal tax and exempts it from national taxes. The exemption has no €60,100 cap like the one that applies to certain work performed abroad. Before applying it, you need to check that the person and the payments are covered by the regime: working for a contractor of a European institution does not, on its own, make an employee an EU official or other servant.

The benefit applies to that remuneration, not to all income or assets acquired with it. Rental income, an investment or a property must be analysed under their own rules. Nor can the EU salary be used to indirectly increase national tax on other income by adding it in to set the tax rate.

Tax residence: the Protocol first, then the general rules

Article 13 sets a special rule for anyone who, solely because of the performance of their duties for the EU, moves their residence to a Member State other than the country where they had their tax domicile when they entered the service of the Union. If that country of tax origin is a Member State, the domicile is deemed to be kept there for the purposes set out in the Protocol. It is not freely chosen and does not depend on nationality.

The rule covers taxes on income and on wealth, inheritance tax and double tax treaties between Member States. It can also extend to a spouse who does not carry on a professional activity of their own and to dependent children in the official’s care. Applying it requires the facts and the family situation to be checked.

Two illustrative examples. A person with a tax domicile in France when they entered the service of the EU who moves to Spain solely because of their duties may keep their French tax domicile. Conversely, someone with a tax domicile in Spain who moves to Belgium for that reason may remain tax resident in Spain. Both examples assume that all the conditions of article 13 are met.

Where this rule does not apply, the ordinary rules and, where relevant, the applicable treaty must be examined. Article 9 of the Spanish Income Tax Act (in Spanish) looks, among other criteria, at presence for more than 183 days and at the main core or base of economic interests. The habitual residence in Spain of a spouse who is not legally separated and of dependent minor children is a presumption that can be rebutted, not an absolute rule.

How other income is taxed

With Spanish tax residence, personal income tax applies to worldwide income, subject to the relevant exemptions, treaties and double taxation rules. Rents, dividends, interest, other remuneration and gains on sales may all fall within the tax. National pensions also need their own classification; not every pension is necessarily taxable. Whether you must file a return is determined under article 96 of the Income Tax Act (in Spanish); the obligation does not arise automatically from having any additional income.

With a tax domicile kept in another Member State, Spanish income tax on worldwide income cannot be demanded merely because you live in Spain. Spanish-source income may be subject to Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) (in Spanish), with its exemptions and the applicable treaty. For example, renting out a property located in Spain requires a different analysis from the EU salary.

The type of investment also matters: dividends and interest are usually income from movable capital; selling or redeeming fund units usually produces a capital gain or loss, without prejudice to any special regimes that may apply.

EU official or other servant vs seconded national expert

Aspect	Official or other servant covered by the Protocol	Seconded national expert (SNE)
Main remuneration	EU remuneration under their statutory regime.	Keeps the remuneration from their home administration; may receive allowances from the host institution.
Tax basis	Article 12 of the Protocol for covered payments.	Ordinary rules for each item. Art. 7.p) is a conditional possibility.
€60,100 limit	Does not apply to the art. 12 exemption.	Only relevant if the art. 7.p) exemption applies.
Tax residence	Article 13 must be checked in particular.	Keeping the tax domicile under art. 13 is not presumed merely from being an SNE.

Article 7.p) of the Spanish Income Tax Act (in Spanish) requires, among other conditions, work actually performed abroad for a non-resident entity or a foreign permanent establishment, and a tax requirement in the destination country. The amount is calculated according to the work and travel that meet the legal conditions. An SNE who performs their work in Spain does not obtain this exemption merely by providing services to a European institution. Allowances must be reviewed separately.

Main residence: what has really happened in the European infringement case

On 18 June 2025, the European Commission announced a letter of formal notice to Spain in case INFR(2025)4007. The communication questions the treatment of homes used as a main residence by non-resident taxpayers, compared with the exclusion of imputed income on residents’ main homes.

On 29 April 2026, the Commission announced a reasoned opinion in the same case because of the discrimination it sees in that taxation. This is the latest step in the case identified in the official sources consulted for this review. The communication contemplates a possible referral to the Court of Justice if Spain does not take the necessary measures.

These steps are not a court ruling and do not prove that the legislation was corrected in 2025. Nor do they support a claim that there is a general favourable decision covering all main residence benefits in wealth tax and inheritance tax. Any claim must be examined by tax, tax year, legal basis and stage of the procedure; there is no automatic refund simply because the case has been opened.

Wealth tax, inheritance tax and reporting obligations

The salary exemption does not on its own eliminate taxes on wealth. You need to determine whether liability is unlimited or limited, which assets and rights are taxable, the exemptions and the applicable territorial rules. For inheritance tax, article 13 also contains a specific rule on movable property located in the State of actual residence. It should not be extended without analysis to any gift or to the whole family estate.

The obligation to report assets abroad also depends on the regime and on the requirements of each return. The Spanish Tax Agency includes among those who may have to file form 720 EU officials who keep their Spanish tax residence while living in another Member State, provided the form’s conditions are met. Having an exempt salary is not enough to be released from it, and living in Spain is not enough to be required to file it.

What to review before filing

• Personal and employment situation: appointment or contract, staff category, date of entering the service of the EU, tax domicile at that time, reasons for the move and the spouse’s professional activity.
• Income and assets: EU salary certificates, income unrelated to the post, property, investments and previous returns. The protected salary must not be included as taxable income or as exempt income with progression to increase tax on other income.
• Home and possible claims: actual use of the property, tax paid, tax year affected and whether there is a self-assessment or an assessment issued by the authorities. Any reference to the European case must be backed by documentation and an analysis of the appropriate route.

Frequently asked questions

Do European Commission officials pay tax in Spain?

They may. The salary protected by article 12 is not subject to national taxes, but other income and assets may be. The answer depends on their tax residence and on the rules for each tax.

Do more than 183 days in Spain always make me tax resident in Spain?

No. The special rule in article 13 on keeping the tax domicile must be checked first. The ordinary day count does not allow it to be ignored.

Does a seconded national expert always get the €60,100 exemption?

No. They must meet the requirements of article 7.p) and justify the work actually performed abroad. It does not apply automatically because of the appointment.

Should I include my EU salary as ordinary salary in my Spanish tax return?

No, when it is covered by article 12. Keep proof of it and check separately whether you need to file an income tax return for other income or other returns.

Has the Commission already resolved all the tax problems of EU officials in Spain?

That cannot be stated on the basis of the verified sources. The communications identified from 2025 and 2026 relate to a specific case on non-residents’ main homes and do not prove a general solution for all taxes.

A tax review tailored to your situation

The first question is not how much salary is exempt, but which regime applies to you and where your tax domicile is deemed to be. From there, your income, assets and the obligations that really apply can be reviewed.

To have your case reviewed, request an individual review from Riera Consulting’s tax team for EU officials and provide your appointment, the institution’s tax certificates and the returns for the years to be analysed.

Una innovación que va más allá de la tecnología: la defensa de una fiscalidad más justa

Riera Consulting ha sido reconocido como el Despacho Más Innovador 2025 en la XXI Edición de los Premios Emprendedores celebrada este lunes 3 de noviembre de la mano de la Revista Emprendedores.

El galardón, otorgado por ProDespachos, fue recogido por nuestro CEO, Víctor Riera, quien destacó en su intervención el compromiso del despacho con una fiscalidad más justa, moderna y adaptada a los nuevos tiempos, especialmente en defensa de los nómadas digitales y de los funcionarios europeos residentes en España.

“La verdadera innovación no siempre es tecnológica. A veces consiste en tener la valentía de cuestionar lo establecido para construir un marco jurídico más justo”, señaló Víctor Riera durante su discurso.

Innovar para transformar la justicia fiscal

Este reconocimiento pone en valor la valentía de Riera Consulting al impulsar cambios legales y fiscales en defensa de colectivos internacionales que, hasta ahora, habían sido injustamente tratados por el sistema tributario español.

Este reconocimiento llega tras el trabajo del despacho, que impulsó una denuncia ante la Comisión Europea por la discriminación fiscal que padecían los funcionarios y agentes de las instituciones de la UE y los nómadas digitales.
La denuncia provocó la apertura de un procedimiento de infracción contra España, tal como recogimos en un artículo anterior (puede ver la noticia completa aquí).

Riera Consulting cuenta con una amplia experiencia en regímenes fiscales especiales y en la defensa de los derechos de quienes desarrollan su actividad profesional en contextos internacionales, como los funcionarios de la EUIPO (Oficina de Propiedad Intelectual de la Unión Europea) con sede en Alicante.

Un reconocimiento a la visión y al compromiso

Durante la gala, Glòria Moles Pallejà, directora de contenidos de ProDespachos, fue la encargada de entregar el galardón.
Para la organización, esta categoría tiene un valor especial, ya que los despachos profesionales son esenciales para que muchas empresas sigan creciendo y adaptándose a los nuevos retos del mercado.

El premio reconoce no solo la trayectoria de Víctor Riera y del equipo de Riera Consulting, sino también la pasión, esfuerzo y visión colectiva que impulsan cada proyecto del despacho.
Un logro posible gracias a la confianza de nuestros clientes, quienes son el verdadero motor de nuestra innovación.

Este premio nos motiva a seguir defendiendo los valores que nos identifican: la equidad fiscal, la seguridad jurídica y la confianza de quienes ven en Riera Consulting un aliado estratégico para crecer con solidez, dentro y fuera de España.

¿Buscas asesoramiento profesional?
Contamos con un equipo especializado en gestión fiscal, laboral, contable y mercantil para garantizar el cumplimiento de tus obligaciones.
Contacta con nuestro despacho. En RIERA CONSULTING ponemos nuestra experiencia a tu servicio para ayudarte en lo que necesites.