Modelo 151, 100 or 210: Which Spanish Tax Return Is Yours (2026)

Which Spanish income tax return you file depends on one question: your tax residence, and whether you opted into the special regime for people who move here to work. Spanish tax residents file modelo 100. Residents who opted into the Beckham Law file modelo 151 instead. People who are not tax resident but earn income in Spain, typically from a flat they own here, file modelo 210. Each has its own rules, its own income and its own calendar. Filing the wrong one is not a formality: you end up paying tax under the wrong system.

The three returns side by side

	Modelo 100	Modelo 151	Modelo 210
Who files it	Spanish tax residents under the ordinary system	Spanish tax residents who opted into the Beckham Law on modelo 149	Non-residents with income from Spain
Tax	Personal income tax (IRPF)	Personal income tax (IRPF), calculated with non-resident rules	Non-resident income tax (IRNR)
Income included	Worldwide income: salary, business profit, pensions, savings, rental, gains	All employment income, plus other income from Spanish sources	Only income from Spanish sources, declared income by income
How it is taxed	Progressive national and regional scales, with personal and family allowances	Employment income at 24% up to 600,000 €, 47% above; other income under non-resident rules	Non-resident rates for each type of income
When	Ordinary campaign, April to the end of June	Ordinary campaign, April to the end of June	Depends on the type of income; there is no single campaign
How long	As long as you are resident	The year you become resident and the next five	As long as you are non-resident with Spanish income

Modelo 100: the ordinary resident’s return

If you live in Spain and are tax resident here, this is your return by default. Spending more than 183 days a year in Spain is the best-known test, but not the only one: the centre of your economic interests or where your spouse and minor children live can also make you resident. Once you are, Spain taxes everything you earn, anywhere in the world. That includes a pension from your home country, dividends from a foreign broker and rent from a flat you left behind. Double taxation treaties then decide which country taxes what and how any credit is given.

Modelo 100 is the return most expats in Barcelona file. It covers employees, autónomos, pensioners and people living on savings, and it is where regional rates, family allowances and deductions come in. It is the return our income tax service for foreigners files for most clients.

Modelo 151: the Beckham Law return

Modelo 151 only exists for people who have opted into the special regime of article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law, known as the Beckham Law. You are a Spanish tax resident, but your tax is calculated with the rules for non-residents. Two practical consequences follow:

• All your employment income counts as Spanish, wherever the employer is and wherever it is paid. It is taxed at 24% up to 600,000 € and at 47% above that.
• Most income from abroad that is not employment income stays out of the Spanish return. Foreign dividends, interest or rent from a flat in your home country are generally not taxed here while the regime lasts.

You cannot just start filing modelo 151. First you opt in on modelo 149, within six months of starting your work in Spain, after sending the supporting documents to the Tax Agency. From then on modelo 151 replaces modelo 100 for the year you become resident and the next five. Each family member who opted in files their own. Our Beckham Law service covers both steps: the opt-in (450 € + VAT) and the yearly modelo 151 (250 € + VAT).

Modelo 210: the non-resident’s return

Modelo 210 is for people who do not live in Spain for tax purposes but have income from here. The typical case is a foreigner who owns a flat in Barcelona:

• If it is rented out, the rent is Spanish-source income and is declared on modelo 210.
• If it is kept for your own use, Spain still taxes a notional income for owning it, known as imputed income, also on modelo 210.
• If you sell it, the gain is declared on modelo 210 too. The buyer withholds part of the price on account, and that withholding is settled in the return.
• Interest or other Spanish-source income can also be declared on it when it is not already taxed at source.

There is no single annual campaign: each type of income has its own deadline. The two ways people get it wrong are opposite. Residents who keep filing modelo 210 as if they still lived abroad understate their tax. Non-residents who never file anything for their Spanish flat build up debts and surcharges. Our guides to non-resident income tax and the non-resident tax return go into detail.

The year you move is the tricky one

Spain does not split a calendar year into a resident part and a non-resident part. For any given year you are either tax resident or not. That makes the year of the move the one where errors cluster:

1. Arrive late in the year and you may not reach 183 days. You stay non-resident that year, and any Spanish income, such as a salary from a Spanish employer, is taxed as non-resident income.
2. Arrive early enough and you are resident for the whole year: modelo 100, or modelo 151 if you opted in.
3. The Beckham Law deadline runs regardless. Six months from the start of your activity, even if the first year ends up non-resident. Decide early.
4. Keep evidence of your arrival date: flights, lease, empadronamiento and Social Security registration. It is what you rely on if residence is ever questioned.

How to tell which one is yours

• Do you live in Spain for more than 183 days a year, or have your main economic interests here? If not, and you have Spanish income, modelo 210.
• If you are resident: did you file modelo 149 within six months of starting work in Spain, and are you still inside the six-year period? If yes, modelo 151.
• Any other resident: modelo 100.

Frequently asked questions

Can I file modelo 151 without having filed modelo 149? No. Modelo 151 is only for people whose opt-in was accepted. If the six months have passed without a modelo 149, the ordinary modelo 100 applies.

If I leave the Beckham Law, do I go back to modelo 100? Yes, from the year the waiver or exclusion takes effect. A voluntary waiver is filed in November or December and cannot be undone: you cannot opt in again.

I am under the Beckham Law and I own a flat abroad. Do I declare the rent? Generally not in Spain while the regime lasts, because it is not Spanish-source income. It still has to be declared where the flat is.

Tax rates, residence rules and filing deadlines are set by law and change from year to year, so we confirm the ones in force for your case before you file.