Declare foreign income once resident

Euro Weekly News reported on May 13 that foreign residents in Spain are still leaving overseas income off their annual IRPF returns, even after becoming Spanish tax residents. The warning centers on draft returns issued by Spain’s Tax Agency, which often do not automatically include income reported outside Spain. That gap can affect retirees, investors and workers with pensions, savings or distributions from abroad. Spain’s Agencia Tributaria says residents for tax purposes are taxed on their worldwide income, including income earned outside Spain. ### Which foreign income does Spain say residents must declare? Agencia Tributaria says Spanish tax residents must report foreign-source income under the same personal income tax system that applies to domestic income. The agency’s guidance lists pensions from another country, dividends from another country and other foreign income among the items that can affect IRPF. (euroweeklynews.com) Euro Weekly News said common omissions include foreign state pensions, private pensions, investment distributions, bank interest, dividends and withdrawals from overseas accounts. The publication said those amounts are often absent from the draft return, leaving taxpayers to add them manually if they are reportable. (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es) ### Why are draft returns a problem for some foreign residents? Euro Weekly News said the draft return usually reflects information reported within Spain, not all assets or income held abroad. That means a taxpayer who relies only on the pre-filled form may file an incomplete return if foreign banks, pension providers or investment platforms have not supplied data that appears in the draft. (euroweeklynews.com) Agencia Tributaria’s resident-income guidance frames the issue more broadly: once a person is resident for tax purposes in Spain, foreign income can still be taxable in Spain even if it arose in another country. The agency also notes that double-taxation relief may apply in some cases, but the reporting obligation still exists. (euroweeklynews.com) ### Who is most exposed to this kind of mistake? Euro Weekly News singled out cross-border retirees, including people relocating to smaller Spanish municipalities such as Taboadela, as a group at risk of misreporting income from abroad. The article said retirees often continue receiving state pensions, private pension payments or investment income from their home countries after moving. (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es) Foreign residents with legacy bank accounts and investment portfolios outside Spain also face added complexity because interest, dividends and distributions may arrive from several institutions in different jurisdictions. Euro Weekly News said that can make it easier to miss amounts that never appear in Spain’s draft filing data. (euroweeklynews.com) ### Does this only affect income tax, or foreign assets too? Agencia Tributaria separately maintains Modelo 720, an information return covering certain assets and rights held abroad. The form is not the same as the annual IRPF return, but it is part of Spain’s reporting framework for residents with foreign financial ties. The Tax Agency’s Modelo 720 page identifies it as a declaration for assets and rights located abroad. (euroweeklynews.com) In practice, that means a resident may face both an income-reporting question under IRPF and a separate asset-reporting question under foreign-asset disclosure rules, depending on what they hold outside Spain. That second point is an inference from the agency’s separate IRPF and Modelo 720 pages. (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es) ### What should taxpayers check before filing? Agencia Tributaria says the 2025 income-tax campaign runs from April 8 to June 30, 2026 for online filing. Phone assistance runs from May 6 to June 30, 2026, with appointments available from April 29, and in-person office assistance runs from June 1 to June 30, 2026, with appointments from May 29. (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es) The practical check is whether foreign pensions, dividends, interest and other overseas income appear in the return data before submission. Taxpayers using the draft return can compare it with annual statements from foreign pension schemes, banks and brokers, and the next formal deadline remains June 30, 2026, in the Agencia Tributaria calendar. (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es)