Tax Planning for Businesses: Optimise Your Tax Burden

Tax planning in Spain is the legitimate practice of organising business and personal affairs to minimise tax liability within the legal framework, founded on the "economy of option" principle recognised by the Tribunal Supremo and constrained by the anti-abuse clause of Art. 15 LGT (conflict in the application of tax rules). For Spanish companies, core planning instruments include the participation exemption on intra-group dividends and capital gains (Art. 21 LIS), R&D deductions (Art. 35 LIS), the Patent Box regime (Art. 23 LIS), the capitalisation reserve (Art. 25 bis LIS), and the SME equalisation reserve (Art. 105 LIS); for individuals, planning integrates corporate remuneration structure, Wealth Tax exposure, and Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD) succession instruments.

Our tax team stays permanently up to date on legislative changes, administrative rulings, and court decisions. This continuous vigilance allows us to anticipate opportunities and prevent contingencies before they materialise.

Why Tax Planning is Critical for Your Business Profitability

Most Spanish companies pay more tax than they need to by law — not because they commit infractions, but because they make tax decisions reactively: at year-end, when there is little room for manoeuvre. An investment decision taken in December without anticipating its tax impact can cost twice what it needed to. A corporate structure with two or three companies and no holding may be generating double taxation on dividends and unnecessarily complicating the owner’s succession planning. And a shareholder-director remuneration not optimised across salary, dividends, and benefits in kind can mean a difference of EUR 20,000 to EUR 50,000 per year in the group’s overall tax bill.

Our Tax Planning Process: Audit, Strategy, and Implementation

Our tax team always begins with a rigorous diagnostic: we audit the corporate structure, applicable tax regimes, deductions used, related-party transactions, and the owner’s remuneration. That diagnostic consistently reveals saving opportunities that had not been identified. On that basis, we design a personalised tax plan with specific measures and their quantified impact: corporate restructurings, special regime elections, R&D deduction optimisation, Patent Box, dividend planning, and shareholder-director remuneration structure. We implement the agreed measures and monitor compliance and regulatory changes proactively throughout the year — not just at year-end.

Regulatory Framework: Economy of Option and the Limits of Planning

Tax planning rests on the economy of option principle recognised by the Tribunal Supremo: taxpayers have the right to organise their affairs in the most tax-efficient manner, provided there is no simulation or abuse of law. Art. 15 LGT governs the conflict in the application of the tax rule — the anti-abuse clause — which allows the AEAT to reclassify transactions without genuine economic purpose. The LIS offers a broad catalogue of incentives: participation exemption on intragroup dividends and capital gains (Art. 21), R&D deductions (Art. 35), Patent Box (Art. 23), capitalisation reserve (Art. 25), and SME levelling reserve (Art. 105). Owner IRPF optimisation rests on Arts. 17-32 of Law 35/2006 governing employment income, capital income, and business income.

Real Results in Tax Planning: Quantified Savings Before Committing to Fees

• Diagnostic with quantification of identified savings potential: concrete figures before committing to additional fees.
• Personalised annual tax plan with measures prioritised by impact and implementation complexity.
• Average tax savings of 15-25% on the current tax bill for companies with no prior planning.
• Optimised, documented, and defensible corporate and remuneration structure before the AEAT.
• Proactive review ahead of every relevant regulatory change to maintain tax efficiency without retrospective audits.

Our tax team stays permanently up to date on legislative changes, administrative doctrine, and court decisions. This continuous vigilance allows us to anticipate opportunities and prevent contingencies before they materialise.

Tax planning is not a one-off year-end exercise: it is a continuous process that accompanies every significant business decision. When a company faces a corporate transaction, a restructuring, or an international expansion, the tax consequences must be analysed from the outset — not after the deal is closed. Decisions taken without considering their tax dimension generate avoidable costs that accumulate year after year.

We work with companies of all sizes, from family SMEs to groups with multiple entities and international operations. In every case, the starting point is a rigorous diagnostic that sets out the real situation: regimes applied, deductions used, contingency risks, and unexplored opportunities. Only from that precise knowledge is it possible to design a strategy that works.

The integration of tax with corporate structure is one of the highest-value dimensions. A well-designed holding can separate operating assets from patrimonial assets, facilitate profit reinvestment without additional tax cost, and simplify the owner’s succession planning. These benefits, compounded over several years, represent a real and measurable competitive advantage. Our restructuring experts work jointly with the tax team to ensure any structural change is executed with maximum tax efficiency.

Beyond structure, deduction optimisation is another core pillar. Spain offers significant tax incentives for investment in R&D, job creation, investment in disadvantaged zones, and internationalisation. However, many companies do not apply them correctly for lack of knowledge or adequate documentation. Our team ensures every euro of deduction you are entitled to is reflected in your return and backed by the documentation needed to withstand any AEAT review. Ongoing tax compliance is the indispensable complement to any planning strategy.