Habitual residence special tax regime applicable to posted workers to Spanish territory

One of the most frequent doubts that exist regarding the special regime for posted workers is whether or not they can benefit from the exemption for habitual residence (one of the questions that arose after the entry into force of what is known as the “Beckham Law”).

Those taxpayers who have opted for the Special Regime for posted workers and have acquired a property as their main residence will not be able to benefit from the exemption provided by the LIRPF.

Judgement of TSJ Madrid

This criterion was upheld in the Judgment of the TSJ Madrid Contentious-Administrative Chamber of 23 April 2018 (EDJ 2018/103360) where the Court determined that only tax residents in Spain who are taxed under the IRPF can benefit from the exemption of imputation of income for real estate that constitutes the taxpayer’s main residence.

Therefore, if the taxpayer opted for the Special Regime for posted workers, the amount corresponding to the imputed income from the property must be included in the tax return, calculating the amount based on the provisions of the LIRN (Spanish Income Tax for Non-Residents payment; Spanish IRNR).