Moving from Switzerland to Spain: tax, residence and business
Once you move from Switzerland to Spain, you are taxed in Spain on your worldwide income from the year in which you spend more than 183 days in the country or move your centre of economic interests here (art. 9 of the Spanish Personal Income Tax Act); if Switzerland also treats you as resident, the 1966 treaty (BOE-A-1967-3470) breaks the tie. You can opt for the Beckham regime (24% up to €600,000) if you were not resident in Spain in the previous five years, by filing Modelo 149 within six months. Swiss pensions for past employment are taxed only in Spain, and the Swiss tax withheld on 2nd-pillar capital can be reclaimed within three years.
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Specialised advice and personal service
BMC handles the Spanish side of your move: tax residence, the Beckham regime (Modelo 149 and Modelo 151), Modelo 720, your Spanish tax return with Swiss pensions and income, the residence certificate you need to reclaim Swiss withholding tax, registration and NIE, self-employed registration or setting up an SL. We coordinate with your adviser in Switzerland on what is decided there. The first meeting is free, and before we start you receive a written proposal with the fee and the first-year total.
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Tax residence
you are resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days a year in the country or your main economic interests are here (art. 9.1 LIRPF); if Switzerland also treats you as resident, art. 4.2 of the 1966 treaty decides.
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Beckham regime
24% on employment income up to €600,000 in the year of the move and the following five, if you were not resident in Spain in the previous five years (art. 93 LIRPF); you apply with Modelo 149 within six months.
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Swiss pensions
pensions for past employment, including those from your pension fund (BVG), are taxed only in Spain (art. 18 of the treaty); the Spanish tax authority has applied the same criterion to AHV benefits.
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2nd and 3rd pillar capital
Switzerland always withholds tax when paying it to someone living abroad; as a Spanish resident you can reclaim it within three years. The mandatory BVG part cannot be taken in cash if you remain compulsorily insured in Spain.
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The problem
Once you move from Switzerland to Spain, you are taxed in Spain on your worldwide income from the year in which you spend more than 183 days in the country or move your centre of economic interests here (art. 9 of the Spanish Personal Income Tax Act); if Switzerland also treats you as resident, the 1966 treaty (BOE-A-1967-3470) breaks the tie. You can opt for the Beckham regime (24% up to €600,000) if you were not resident in Spain in the previous five years, by filing Modelo 149 within six months. Swiss pensions for past employment are taxed only in Spain, and the Swiss tax withheld on 2nd-pillar capital can be reclaimed within three years.
Our solution
BMC handles the Spanish side of your move: tax residence, the Beckham regime (Modelo 149 and Modelo 151), Modelo 720, your Spanish tax return with Swiss pensions and income, the residence certificate you need to reclaim Swiss withholding tax, registration and NIE, self-employed registration or setting up an SL. We coordinate with your adviser in Switzerland on what is decided there. The first meeting is free, and before we start you receive a written proposal with the fee and the first-year total.
How we do it
Free first meeting
In the free first meeting we look at your situation in Switzerland and in Spain, tell you whether the case is a fit and what we would do. You then receive a written proposal with the fee + VAT and the first-year total.
Before you leave Switzerland
We set the right date for the change of residence, assess whether you qualify for the Beckham regime and which part of your 2nd and 3rd pillar capital you can withdraw, and coordinate the departure with your Swiss adviser.
Arrival in Spain
Registration with an NIE as a Swiss national, Spanish Social Security registration or an A1 certificate if you remain posted, and Modelo 149 within six months of starting your activity.
First tax year
Spanish tax return with your Swiss pensions and income, or Modelo 151 if you are under the Beckham regime, Modelo 720 where applicable, and the residence certificate to reclaim Swiss withholding tax on capital.
Short answer
- Spanish taxes from the year of the move. You become tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days of the calendar year in the country or if your main economic interests are here (art. 9.1 of Law 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax). As a resident you are taxed on your worldwide income, including what you still receive from Switzerland.
- The 1966 treaty prevents double taxation. The treaty between Spain and Switzerland signed in Bern on 26 April 1966 (BOE-A-1967-3470), amended by the Protocols of 2006 and 2011, decides which country taxes each type of income.
- Beckham regime. If you were not resident in Spain in the previous five years and you move for work, to take up a directorship or to start a business, you can pay 24% on up to €600,000 of employment income in the year of the move and the following five (art. 93 LIRPF). You apply with Modelo 149 within six months.
- Pensions. Swiss pensions for past employment, including those from your pension fund (BVG), are taxed only in Spain (art. 18). The Spanish tax authority has applied that criterion to AHV benefits.
- 2nd and 3rd pillar capital. Switzerland always withholds tax when paying it to someone living abroad; as a Spanish resident you can reclaim it within three years. The mandatory BVG part cannot be taken in cash if you remain compulsorily insured in Spain.
- Registration and business. As a Swiss national you follow the rules for EU citizens: no visa, registration within three months with an NIE. A Spanish SL can be set up with €1 of share capital.
Tax residence and the treaty tie-breaker
Spain applies three criteria under art. 9.1 of Law 35/2006:
- 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.
- Main centre or base of your activities or economic interests in Spain, directly or indirectly.
- Family presumption: unless proven otherwise, you are presumed resident if your spouse, not legally separated, and your dependent minor children habitually live in Spain.
Switzerland may still treat you as resident, for example if you keep a home there. In that case art. 4.2 of the treaty decides, in this order: the state where you have a permanent home available to you; if you have one in both, the state of your centre of vital interests; then where you habitually live; then nationality; and as a last resort, agreement between the two tax authorities. Whether you keep your Swiss home is therefore one of the first decisions of the move.
The Spain-Switzerland treaty, income by income
| Income | Who taxes it | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Salary for work physically done in Spain | Spain. Remote work from Spain for a Swiss company is taxed in Spain (DGT, V2614-22 and V0057-23). The 183-day rule is counted per fiscal year | Art. 15 |
| Dividends from Swiss companies | Spain, with Swiss withholding of at most 15% that Spain credits | Arts. 10.2.a and 23.1 |
| Interest | Spain only | Art. 11.1 |
| Pension for past employment, including from a pension fund (BVG) | Spain only | Art. 18 |
| AHV benefits | No specific clause; the DGT has treated them as taxable only in Spain | Arts. 18 and 21 |
| Capital from a 2nd-pillar vested benefits account | Spain only (DGT, V2090-25); Switzerland withholds at source and you reclaim it there | Art. 18 |
| Public pension paid by Switzerland to a Swiss national | Switzerland only | Art. 19 |
Where Switzerland taxes, Spain credits the Swiss tax up to the Spanish tax on that income and applies exemption with progression (art. 23.1). Point III bis of the Protocol lets you use the Spanish domestic relief methods instead.
The Beckham regime if you come from Switzerland
The special regime of art. 93 of Law 35/2006, as amended by Law 28/2022 with effect from 1 January 2023, lets you be taxed as a non-resident while living in Spain.
Requirements:
- You were not tax resident in Spain in the previous five tax periods.
- You move to Spain for one of these reasons: an employment contract, including remote work using exclusively telematic means that your employer did not order; a directorship of a company (if it is a wealth-holding company, an entidad patrimonial, without a related-party stake of 25 % or more); an entrepreneurial activity approved under art. 70 of Law 14/2013; or highly qualified work for start-ups or in training, research, development and innovation.
- You do not earn income through a permanent establishment in Spain, except in the last two cases.
How you are taxed:
- Employment income and other general income: 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above.
- Dividends, interest and gains: 19%, 21%, 23%, 27% and 30% (the last band since 2025, under Law 7/2024).
- All employment income is treated as earned in Spain. Other foreign-source income is not taxed in Spain while the regime lasts.
- For Wealth Tax you are taxed only on assets located in Spain.
Deadlines and forms: you notify the option with Modelo 149 within six months of the start date of your activity shown in your Spanish Social Security registration or in the document that lets you keep your home-country social security (art. 116 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations). Every year you file Modelo 151. The regime covers the year of the change of residence and the following five. Your spouse and children under 25 can join if they move with you in the first year and meet the conditions of art. 93.3.
More detail on our Beckham regime page.
Modelo 720 and Modelo 721
- Modelo 720: an information return on assets abroad. Tax residents file it when accounts, securities and insurance, or real estate outside Spain exceed €50,000 per block. Deadline: 1 January to 31 March of the following year. You only file again if a block grows by more than €20,000. After the Court of Justice of the EU judgment of 27 January 2022 (case C-788/19), Law 5/2022 removed the special penalty regime. According to the Spanish tax agency, taxpayers under the Beckham regime do not have to file it.
- Modelo 721: crypto-assets held with a custodian abroad above €50,000, same deadline (Order HFP/886/2023). Assets you hold yourself are not included.
Swiss pensions and retirement capital
- AHV (1st pillar): the treaty has no specific clause. The DGT has ruled that a Swiss pension for past employment (V1542-22), widow and orphan pensions from Swiss social security, under certain conditions (V1214-22), and a one-off payment from the AHV compensation fund (V0162-16) are taxed only in Spain. In the last case, any Swiss withholding is not credited in Spain: you reclaim it in Switzerland.
- Pension fund pensions (BVG, 2nd pillar): Spain only, as pensions for past employment (art. 18).
- 2nd pillar and pillar 3a capital: Switzerland always withholds tax at source when paying it to someone living abroad (arts. 95 and 96 DBG). For Spanish residents that tax is refundable: you file the claim within three years of the payment, with a confirmation from the Spanish tax agency that you are resident and that it knows of the payment. Public-law pension capital is refunded only to Spanish or third-country nationals, not to Swiss nationals. The DGT holds that capital from a vested benefits account is taxed only in Spain (V2090-25).
- Cash withdrawal: since 1 June 2007 the mandatory BVG part cannot be paid out in cash if you remain compulsorily insured in Spain for old age, death and invalidity (art. 25f FZG). The extra-mandatory part can.
- Swiss public pension: a pension Switzerland pays to a Swiss national for services to the state is taxed only in Switzerland (art. 19).
Social security
The EU-Switzerland Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1999, coordinates social security in its Annex II. Since 1 April 2012 (Decision 1/2012 of the Joint Committee) that annex applies Regulation (EC) 883/2004 and treats Switzerland as a Member State:
- General rule: you contribute where you physically work (art. 11.3.a).
- Temporary posting by your Swiss employer: you stay in the Swiss system with an A1 certificate if the expected duration does not exceed 24 months (art. 12).
- Habitual work in both countries: art. 13, with priority for your country of residence if you carry out a substantial part of your work there.
Registration as a Swiss national and NIE
You do not need a visa. Royal Decree 240/2007 applies to Swiss nationals and their family members under the Free Movement Agreement (third additional provision). If you will live in Spain for more than three months, you apply in person for registration in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals within three months of entry and immediately receive the registration certificate with your NIE (art. 7.5).
Setting up a company in Spain
- An SL with €1 of share capital: Law 18/2022 lowered the minimum in art. 4 of the Spanish Companies Act to one euro. Until capital reaches €3,000, at least 20% of profit goes to the legal reserve and, if the company is wound up, the shareholders are jointly liable for the difference up to €3,000.
- Self-employed or SL: it depends on turnover, risk and whether you want to apply the Beckham regime as a director. We run the numbers with you in the first meeting.
More detail on company formation in Spain.
Leaving Switzerland: a careful note
This part is governed by Swiss law and is best settled with your adviser in Switzerland. What the federal sources say:
- No general federal exit tax on private holdings: gains on the sale of private assets are tax-free (art. 16.3 DBG), and a deemed sale on departure only applies when business assets are transferred abroad (art. 18.2 DBG).
- End of unlimited tax liability: according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, unlimited tax liability in Switzerland ends on departure.
- Retirement savings: withholding tax on 2nd pillar and pillar 3a capital, and the limit on cash withdrawal of the mandatory BVG part, are covered in the pensions section.
- What we assess case by case: cantonal rules and business assets. We go through them in the first meeting.
BMC services and fees
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| First meeting | Free |
| Written entry report: analysis of your case and the recommended route | From €1,000 + VAT |
| Beckham regime, employee: eligibility analysis, Modelo 149 and representation until the decision | From €1,200 + VAT |
| Beckham regime, director, shareholder or self-employed | From €2,500 + VAT |
| Modelo 151, annual Beckham regime return | From €400 + VAT per return |
| Spanish tax return with foreign income or double taxation | From €390 + VAT |
| NIE: appointment, forms and document support | From €299 + VAT |
| Self-employed registration with the tax agency and Social Security | From €300 + VAT |
| Standard SL formation | From €1,500 + VAT |
| Small SL retainer: bookkeeping, taxes and annual accounts (12-month minimum) | From €390 + VAT per month |
Before we start you receive a written proposal with the fee and the first-year total. Book your free first meeting here or see all our fees.
Sources
- Spain-Switzerland treaty, Bern, 26 April 1966 (BOE-A-1967-3470), 2006 Protocol (BOE-A-2007-6418) and 2011 Protocol (BOE-A-2013-6151)
- Law 35/2006 on Personal Income Tax, arts. 9 and 93 and Law 28/2022 (BOE-A-2022-21739)
- Personal Income Tax Regulations, art. 116 and Modelo 151 on the Spanish tax agency site
- Order HAP/72/2013, Modelo 720, Spanish tax agency FAQ, judgment C-788/19 and Law 5/2022
- Order HFP/886/2023, Modelo 721
- Royal Decree 240/2007, art. 7 and third additional provision
- EU-Switzerland Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, Joint Committee Decision 1/2012 and Regulation (EC) 883/2004
- Spanish Companies Act, art. 4 and Law 18/2022 (BOE-A-2022-15818)
- Federal Direct Tax Act (DBG), ESTV: withholding tax on pension benefits, Vested Benefits Act (FZG), art. 25f, Federal Social Insurance Office and Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
- DGT binding rulings V2614-22, V0057-23, V1542-22, V1214-22, V0162-16 and V2090-25
General information, last updated 6 October 2026. It does not replace an analysis of your case.
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