Before you start

NIE
A determination of whether you are tax resident for the year
Records of worldwide income and foreign assets
A certificado digital or Cl@ve credentials for the Agencia Tributaria

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether you are tax resident, and from when
More than 183 days in a calendar year makes you resident, as does having your centre of economic interests in Spain. Residency is assessed for the whole calendar year rather than pro-rated from your arrival, which produces surprising results for anyone moving mid-year with significant income already earned abroad.
OnlineWho: You
2
Understand that half your income tax is Andalusian
IRPF combines a state scale with an autonomous community scale and Andalusia sets and has reduced its own. The same gross salary produces a different net in Granada, Alicante and Barcelona — and different again in Bilbao, which runs an entirely separate foral system. Any comparison quoting one national figure is wrong at higher incomes.
OnlineWho: You
3
Know what the Andalusian wealth tax rebate does and does not cover
Andalusia rebates the regional wealth tax in full. The state's temporary solidarity levy on large fortunes was introduced precisely to capture what regional rebates release and applies above its own threshold regardless of where in Spain you live. So the advantage is real in the middle and much thinner at the very top, and it deserves an adviser rather than an assumption.
In personWho: You
4
Check the Andalusian deductions you actually qualify for
Andalusia runs regional IRPF deductions that are far more relevant to an ordinary Granada income than the wealth tax rebate — including reliefs tied to renting a main home under an age threshold, to dependants and to certain educational costs. They are claimed in the Renta and are commonly missed by newcomers who only read about the headline regional scale.
OnlineWho: You
5
File the Modelo 720 if you hold foreign assets
Tax residents must report overseas accounts, securities and property above a threshold in each of three categories, with a separate Modelo 721 for cryptoassets held abroad. These are information returns rather than taxes, with their own deadline, and they are the most common serious compliance failure among new residents.
OnlineWho: You
6
File the annual Renta between April and June
The declaration for the previous calendar year is filed in the spring window. The Agencia Tributaria pre-fills a draft — the borrador — which is usually right for a simple Spanish salary and materially wrong for anyone with foreign income, a foreign pension or a research grant with unusual treatment. Do not confirm it unchanged.
OnlineWho: YouApril–June annually

Documents you’ll need

NIE
Certificado digital or Cl@ve credentials
Employment income certificates or grant award documentation
Records of all worldwide income and foreign accounts
Documentation of foreign property, pensions and securities for the Modelo 720

Things most newcomers don’t know

The Andalusian wealth tax rebate is real but it is the wrong thing for most people to optimise for.

Andalusia rebates wealth tax in full where the Comunitat Valenciana and Catalonia charge it, and it has cut its regional half of IRPF. That is a genuine advantage — but it only bites above the exempt minimum, and the state solidarity levy on large fortunes recaptures much of it at the top. For someone arriving in Granada on an ordinary or remote income, the regional IRPF deductions for renting a home or supporting dependants are worth more in cash than the headline that gets quoted.

Source: Junta de Andalucía

Spanish tax residency is worldwide and is assessed for the whole calendar year.

Once you cross the 183-day threshold, Spain taxes your global income for that entire year rather than from your arrival date. Someone arriving in May with a bonus or a share sale from earlier in the year can find that income in the Spanish net. If you have significant pre-move income, the difference between arriving in June and arriving in July can be very large, and it is a decision you only get to make once.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

Research grants and short academic contracts are the local tax complication.

Granada's incoming population is unusually weighted towards doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, and the treatment of a grant differs from that of a salary — in whether it carries social security affiliation, in what is withheld, and in whether a foreign-funded fellowship is taxable here at all. The borrador will not reflect any of this correctly. If your income is a grant rather than a payslip, the first Renta is the one to pay someone to check.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

The borrador is a draft, not an answer.

The Agencia Tributaria pre-fills a return from the data it holds, and for a straightforward Spanish salary it is usually correct. It knows nothing about a foreign brokerage account, an overseas rental, a foreign pension or a fellowship paid from abroad. Confirming it unchanged is fast, common and expensive, and it is the single most avoidable mistake new residents make.

Source: Agencia Tributaria

Common mistakes to avoid

Quoting a single national income tax rate and ignoring the Andalusian regional scale.
Treating the Andalusian wealth tax rebate as complete without accounting for the state solidarity levy.
Missing the Andalusian regional deductions, which matter more on a Granada income than the rebate does.
Confirming the borrador unchanged when you have foreign income or a grant.
Missing the Modelo 720 or Modelo 721 in your first year as a tax resident.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.