The two years of the pandemic and new technologies have shown that the physical presence of a worker is no longer necessary in a workplace. Many people have chosen to work from home and many others have chosen to work remotely from anywhere in the world. This new breed of workers are called digital nomad.
Beyond the advantages that working while traveling can have, digital nomads have a single issue: how should they calculate and pay the taxes on their activities? Should they pay taxes in the country where they are a permanent resident or in the country where they receive this income?
Mobility between autonomous communities internationally entails a specific taxation that the digital nomad needs to be aware of. A change of residence has consequences on an income statement. It is therefore important that the digital nomad know the tax regulations of Spain before moving to another country.
A digital nomad visa holder will still have to file tax returns in their home countries unless they establish another tax residency somewhere else. Digital nomads in Spain will have to pay non-resident taxes that are calculated from the number of days the remote worker has resided in Spain in the last year. If the remote worker was a resident of Spain, then he or she must file an IRPF or Personal Income Tax declaration or be considered a non-resident income taxpayer.
A taxpayer’s tax residence in Spain is acquired if he or she has resided in Spain for a minimum of 183 days within the calendar year or if the main activity of his or her business is in Spain. Habitual residence in an autonomous community is also determined by the 183 day rule. Registration in the autonomous community to which the remote worker has moved is recommended. Tax residents in Spain must pay taxes for all their income including those generated abroad. Therefore, a digital nomad who resides in Spain but works for a foreign company outside of Spain must declare all his or her income.
The new visa for digital nomads that is still pending in the Spanish congress will allow remote workers to reside and work in Spain for five years and pay non-resident income tax. This new law is exceedingly beneficial for the remote worker in many ways and is expected to be in place and operational in May 2023 or earlier.