Tax residence in Spain for Pakistani taxpayers

Spain treats you as resident if you spend more than 183 days there in the calendar year, if the main nucleus of your economic interests is in Spain, or — as a rebuttable presumption — if your spouse and minor children live there. Pakistan counts its own tax year of 1 July – 30 June, and a Pakistani citizen can stay resident under s. 82(d) with fewer than 183 days. Where both countries claim you, Art. 4(2) of the 2010 Pakistan–Spain Convention decides.

Check your status: Pakistan and Spain

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Pakistan's Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, compared with the law of Spain and the tax treaty.

When Spain treats you as a tax resident

Spain treats you as resident if any one criterion is met: more than 183 days in Spain, your economic centre in Spain, or (as a rebuttable presumption) your family living in Spain.

You spent more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year — you are a tax resident of Spain. The only statutory exception is a stay under cultural or humanitarian cooperation agreements with Spanish public authorities.
The main nucleus of your economic interests is in Spain; under art. 9.1.b LIRPF this alone makes you a Spanish tax resident, even with 183 days or fewer.
Your family lives in Spain — a rebuttable presumption applies that you are a Spanish tax resident (it covers the case where your spouse and dependent minor children both live there).

When you are a nonresident

183 days or fewer, and neither your economic centre nor your family is in Spain: you are not a Spanish tax resident. Salary for work performed in Spain is still taxable there.

Where the rules of Spain clash with Pakistani tax rules

Collision: more than 183 days in Spain while Pakistan also treats you as resident. Spain treats you as resident because you spent more than 183 days there in the calendar year; Pakistan may treat you as resident with 183 days in its own tax year, as a government employee posted abroad (s. 82(c)) or, if you are a citizen, under s. 82(d). Art. 4(2) of the Pakistan–Spain Convention decides: a permanent home in only one country — that country; a home in both — the centre of vital interests; if that cannot be determined or you have no permanent home in either country — habitual abode; then nationality; then mutual agreement. Under s. 107 the treaty prevails over the Ordinance.
Collision: your economic centre in Spain is enough for Spain. Spanish criteria are alternative: if the main nucleus of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, you are resident there regardless of days. If Pakistan treats you as resident as well, treaty residence is decided by Art. 4(2) (permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → mutual agreement). An economic centre in Spain weighs towards Spain at the vital-interests step, but only if you have a permanent home in both countries.
Collision: family in Spain — presumption of Spanish residence. If your spouse and dependent minor children live in Spain, Spain presumes you are resident until you prove otherwise — with a Pakistani certificate of residence (rule 19A) and evidence of your ties. Under the treaty a family in Spain weighs towards a Spanish centre of vital interests if you have a permanent home in both countries; if your only permanent home is in Pakistan, Art. 4(2)(a) points to Pakistan.
Collision: Pakistani citizen resident in both countries. Since tax year 2023, s. 82(d) of the Income Tax Ordinance treats a Pakistani citizen as resident in Pakistan if he or she was not present in any other country for more than 182 days in the Pakistani tax year, or is not a resident taxpayer of any other country. Spain can treat you as resident through your economic centre or family without 183 days. If both apply, Art. 4(2) of the treaty decides; if the treaty makes you a resident of Spain, Pakistan may tax you only on Pakistan-source income as the treaty allows. Keep a Spanish certificate of residence and a day count for both tax years.

What else to know

Different tax years: 1 July – 30 June and the calendar year. Pakistan counts days in its tax year (1 July – 30 June); Spain counts the calendar year and needs more than 183 days. The same stay can give different totals in each country. The treaty's 183-day employment test (Art. 15(2)) uses any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned — check every such window that covers your Spanish work, not only the calendar year.
Exactly 183 days: not yet resident in Spain. Spain requires more than 183 days (from day 184) in the calendar year. Sporadic absences are added to your days in Spain unless you prove residence elsewhere, and days between two proven presences are presumed to be days in Spain.
Sporadic absences count — keep proof of Pakistani residence. Spain adds short trips abroad to your days in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country, and counts presumed days between two proven presences. A Pakistani certificate of residence issued by the FBR under rule 19A shifts to the Spanish tax administration the burden of proving that you are resident in Spain, but it does not erase days you actually spent in Spain.
Working in Spain while resident in Pakistan. Pay for work physically done in Spain is Spanish-source income. If you are resident in Pakistan under the treaty, Spain does not tax it only if all three conditions of Art. 15(2) are met: no more than 183 days in Spain in any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, an employer that is not Spanish-resident, and pay not borne by a Spanish permanent establishment. Otherwise Spain taxes the pay for Spanish work days under IRNR. In Pakistan, salary earned abroad is exempt if Spanish tax on it was withheld and paid to the Spanish tax authority (s. 102); otherwise Pakistan gives a credit (Art. 22(2), s. 103).
How double tax is relieved between Pakistan and Spain. If you are resident in Pakistan, Spanish tax on Spanish-source income is credited against Pakistan tax on that income, up to the share of Pakistan tax attributable to it (Art. 22(2)); under s. 103 the limit is computed separately for each head of income and unused credit is lost. If you are resident in Spain, Pakistan tax on income Pakistan may tax is credited up to the Spanish tax attributable to that income (Art. 22(1), art. 80 LIRPF). The MLI did not change these rules.
Beckham regime (art. 93 LIRPF) for people who move to Spain to work. If you move to Spain for a job (including remote work for a foreign employer performed exclusively by telematic means), to become a company director or for certain entrepreneurial or highly qualified activities, and you were not resident in Spain in the previous five years, you may elect to be taxed under non-resident rules for the year of the move and the next five years: employment and other non-savings income at 24% up to EUR 600,000 and 47% above, and income other than employment income only if Spanish-source. Before electing, check whether you can still obtain a Spanish certificate of residence for treaty purposes — the treaty's residence article excludes persons taxed in a State only on income from sources there (Art. 4(1)).
Modelo 720: report Pakistani accounts, securities and property. Spanish residents must report foreign bank accounts, securities/insurance and real estate — including those in Pakistan — when a block exceeds EUR 50,000 (and again when it grows by more than EUR 20,000). The former draconian consequences (imprescriptible gains, 150% fine, flat fines) were held contrary to EU law by the CJEU in C-788/19 and repealed by Ley 5/2022; general penalties of arts. 198–199 of the General Tax Law now apply.
Pakistani government posting to Spain. Federal and Provincial Government employees and officials posted abroad remain resident in Pakistan under s. 82(c). Under Art. 19(1) of the treaty their government salary is taxable only in Pakistan; Spain may tax it only if the services are rendered in Spain by a Spanish resident who is a Spanish national or did not become resident in Spain solely to render the services.
Social security: no Pakistan–Spain agreement found. No social security agreement between Pakistan and Spain was found in the sources checked for this tool. Without an agreement, work in Spain is subject to Spanish social security under Spanish rules and there is no certificate of coverage to keep you in a Pakistani scheme; check with the Seguridad Social before you start work. Social security contributions are outside the income tax treaty.

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Convention between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Spain for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income (signed at Madrid on 2 June 2010). The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

Terms you will come across in Spain

residencia fiscal: Spanish tax residence under art. 9 LIRPF — more than 183 days, economic centre, or family presumption
ausencias esporádicas: short absences that Spain adds to your days in Spain unless you prove residence elsewhere
IRPF / IRNR: Spanish income tax for residents / for non-residents
régimen Beckham: art. 93 LIRPF: newcomers taxed under non-resident rules for the year of arrival and five more years
Modelo 720: information return on foreign accounts, securities and real estate above EUR 50,000 per block
AEAT: Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency; it issues Spanish certificates of residence

Questions

Is there a tax treaty between Pakistan and Spain?

Yes. The Convention signed in Madrid on 2 June 2010 has been in force since 18 May 2011. Its tie-breaker for individuals is Art. 4(2): permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement. The MLI applies but did not change Art. 4(2).

I work in Spain for a few months. Does Spain tax my salary?

If you are resident in Pakistan under the treaty, Spain does not tax the salary only if you were present no more than 183 days in any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, your employer is not Spanish-resident and no Spanish permanent establishment bears the pay (Art. 15(2)). Otherwise Spain taxes it and Pakistan exempts or credits it (s. 102, Art. 22(2)).

How does Spain count the 183 days?

Spain needs more than 183 days in the calendar year and adds sporadic absences unless you prove residence in another country — for example with a Pakistani certificate of residence issued by the FBR.

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

art. 9.1.a) Ley 35/2006 (LIRPF) — You are resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year. Sporadic absences count as days in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country (with a residence certificate).
AEAT, Manual práctico IRPF 2025 — Residencia habitual en territorio español — Days of stay = proven days + days between two proven presences + sporadic absences; the threshold is reached from day 184; intention is irrelevant.
art. 9.1.b) LIRPF — You are resident in Spain if the main nucleus or base of your activities or economic interests is in Spain, directly or indirectly. Any one criterion is enough.
art. 9.1, last paragraph, LIRPF — Rebuttable presumption: you are resident in Spain if your spouse (not legally separated) and dependent minor children habitually reside in Spain.
art. 13.1.c) TRLIRNR (Real Decreto Legislativo 5/2004) — Employment income is Spanish-source when it derives from work performed in Spain.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(a) — An individual is a resident individual for a tax year if present in Pakistan for a period of, or periods amounting in aggregate to, 183 days or more in the tax year (1 July – 30 June).
Art. 15(2) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — Pay of a resident of one State for employment exercised in the other State is taxable only in the residence State if (a) the employee is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, (b) the pay is paid by or on behalf of an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and (c) it is not borne by a permanent establishment of the employer in the other State.
Art. 4(2) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — Dual-resident individual: (a) resident only of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has one in both States — the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); (b) if that State cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State — the State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) habitual abode in both States or in neither — the State of which he is a national; (d) national of both or of neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 107(2) — Subject to s. 109, a double taxation agreement and its implementing notification have effect notwithstanding anything in any other law, so far as they provide relief from tax under the Ordinance, determine the Pakistan-source income of non-residents, or provide for exchange of information.
Income Tax Rules, 2002, rule 19A — A resident who needs a certificate of residence for a treaty country applies to the Competent Authority of Pakistan (FBR, Islamabad) in the prescribed form with proof of foreign income, CNIC, NTN and the latest return; a separate application and certificate for each tax year; decision within 45 days.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(d) (inserted by the Finance Act, 2022; consolidated text amended up to 30.06.2026 listed by FBR) — A citizen of Pakistan is also a resident individual if he or she is not present in any other country for more than 182 days during the tax year, or is not a resident taxpayer of any other country. Applies from tax year 2023.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 102 — Foreign-source salary received by a resident individual is exempt if the individual has paid foreign income tax on it; tax is treated as paid if it was withheld by the employer and paid to the revenue authority of the country where the employment was exercised.
Art. 22 Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — (1) Spain eliminates double taxation under its domestic law or by deducting from the tax of a Spanish resident the income tax paid in Pakistan (and, under Spanish law, underlying corporate tax), up to the Spanish tax attributable to the income that may be taxed in Pakistan; exempt income may be taken into account for the rate. (2) Pakistan, subject to Pakistani law on foreign tax credit, deducts Spanish tax paid on Spanish-source income taxed in both States, up to the proportion of Pakistan tax that this income bears to the entire income chargeable to Pakistan tax.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 103 — A resident taxpayer gets a credit for foreign income tax on foreign-source income equal to the lesser of the foreign tax paid and the Pakistan tax on that income (average Pakistani rate × net foreign-source income), computed separately for each head of income; unused credit is not refunded, carried back or forward; the foreign tax must be paid within two years after the end of the tax year.
art. 80 LIRPF — Foreign income tax of an identical or analogous nature is credited, limited to the Spanish tax at the average effective rate on that income.
Synthesised text of the MLI and the Spain–Pakistan Convention (Ministerio de Hacienda) — MLI in force for Pakistan from 1 April 2021 and for Spain from 1 January 2022; for Spain effective for withholding taxes from 1 January 2023 and for other taxes for periods beginning on or after that date; for Pakistan for withholding taxes from the fiscal year beginning on or after 1 July 2022 and for other taxes for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. No MLI change to Art. 4(2), Art. 15 or Art. 22. The authentic texts prevail.
art. 93 LIRPF (special regime for workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors who move to Spain — the «Beckham» regime), as amended with effect from 1 January 2023 by final provision 3.5 of Ley 28/2022 — Individuals who become Spanish tax residents because they move to Spain may elect to pay tax under the non-resident income tax (IRNR) rules for the year of the move and the following five years, if they were not resident in Spain in the five prior tax periods and the move results from, among others, an employment contract (including remote work performed exclusively by telematic means), becoming a director, or a qualifying entrepreneurial/highly qualified professional activity. All employment income earned while in the regime is deemed Spanish-source; other income is taxed only if Spanish-source; the base other than savings income is taxed at 24% up to EUR 600,000 and 47% above.
Art. 4(1) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — A resident of a Contracting State is a person liable to tax there by reason of domicile, residence, place of management or a similar criterion; the term excludes persons liable to tax there only on income from sources in that State.
AEAT, Modelo 720 FAQ — «Sanciones y efectos» and «Frecuencia en la presentación» — Since Ley 5/2022 the general penalty regime of arts. 198–199 of the General Tax Law applies to Modelo 720. The return is required when the joint value of a block of foreign assets (accounts; securities/insurance; real estate) exceeds EUR 50,000 and must be filed again only if a block's value has risen by more than EUR 20,000 since the last return.
CJEU, judgment of 27 Jan 2022, Commission v Spain, C-788/19, ECLI:EU:C:2022:55 — Spain breached the free movement of capital by attaching to the foreign-asset information return (Modelo 720) the taxation of undeclared assets as unjustified gains with no practical limitation period, a proportional fine of 150% and flat-rate fines disproportionate to those for comparable domestic infringements.
Ley 5/2022, de 9 de marzo (BOE-A-2022-3712), final provision four (amends additional provision 18 of the General Tax Law) — Adapts the Modelo 720 regime to the CJEU judgment in C-788/19: the special penalties and the imputation of unjustified gains were removed; the filing obligation remains.
Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, s. 82(c) — An individual is a resident individual for a tax year if he or she is an employee or official of the Federal Government or a Provincial Government posted abroad in the tax year — regardless of days in Pakistan.
Art. 19(1) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — Salaries paid by a State, its political subdivision or local authority for services rendered to it are taxable only in that State; they are taxable only in the other State if the services are rendered there and the individual is a resident of that State who is its national or did not become resident there solely to render the services.
FBR S.R.O. 996(I)/2011 of 26 October 2011 (notification of the Pakistan–Spain Convention) — Notifies under s. 107 the Convention signed on 2 June 2010; it enters into force with effect from 18 May 2011; withholding taxes on amounts paid or credited to non-residents from that date.
Art. 4(2)(b) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — If you have no permanent home available in either State, the treaty goes straight to habitual abode (the centre of vital interests step applies only where there is a home in both States).
Art. 4(2)(a) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — Centre of vital interests: the State with which your personal and economic relations are closer.
Art. 4(2)(c), (d) Pakistan–Spain Convention (2010) — Habitual abode in both States or in neither — resident of the State of which you are a national; national of both or of neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.

Case law

Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central (TEAC), doctrine, RG 00/04045/2020 (repeated in RG 00/04812/2020 of 25.04.2023), 28/03/2023 — Presence under art. 9.1.a LIRPF consists of proven days, «presumed» days between two proven presences and sporadic absences; a day counts in full with no minimum number of hours; the threshold is 184 days.
Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central (TEAC), doctrine, RG 00/00146/2021 (repeated in RG 00/00133/2021 of 18.12.2023), 22/02/2024 — A residence certificate issued by another country does not oblige Spain to treat the person automatically as a non-resident, but shifts to the Spanish administration the burden of proving Spanish residence; without a certificate the burden is on the taxpayer.

Updated 04/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. The FBR, other tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes with each Finance Act. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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