La Renta: What items can you deduct on your Spanish tax return in 2025?

By - Admin April 15, 2025 Comments (0) 8 Mins Read

Find out what costs you can and can’t claim back on your annual Spanish tax return or ‘declaración de la renta’ this year.

Spain’s annual tax return is known as the declaración de la renta and completing it or knowing what you can claim back as an expense can be quite tricky, particularly because there are many regional differences too.

Anyone residing in Spain for more than 183 days and earning over €22,000 a year, who is self-employed (autónomo), or moved here in the last year, must complete it.

Your Spanish income tax return has to be filed by June 30th for the preceding year, in this case for 2024.

Calendar: The tax deadlines in Spain in 2025

There are many different allowances or deductions that can be made on your tax return such as deductions for couples, mothers, children, single parents, elderly parents, disabilities and large families.

This article, however, focuses specifically on costs that you can claim back on your tax return. For example, can you deduct rental or mortgage expenses, property tax or private health expenses? Read on to find out.

Spanish pension contributions

Up to €1,500 can be deducted for contributions to private pension plans, this used to be €2,000, but the Spanish government changed it in 2023.

If it’s a contribution from your company contributes, then it is €8,500. Therefore, the pension plan deduction is, at most, €10,000 or 30 percent of your net earnings from work.

Property tax

Those who own a property in Spain will pay the yearly Impuesto Sobre Bienes Inmuebles, better known as IBI. This is similar to council tax in the UK. If you make money from property in Spain – ie you rent it out, then this is one of the expenses you can claim back on your annual declaration. If you live in it yourself, unfortunately, you can’t include it.

EXPLAINED: Who has to do a tax declaration in Spain in 2025?

The costs of make your home more energy efficient

You can’t just deduct the cost of any renovations on your home, particularly if they’re just cosmetic, but you can deduct for any renovations which reduce the demand for heating and cooling. Deductions for energy efficiency in homes range from 20 to 60 percent depending on the type of improvement made and the degree of energy savings achieved.

Find out what you can deduct on your Spanish tax return. Photo: Christina @ wocintechchat.com / Unsplash

Buying or rental costs of your main home

This expense can only be deducted by those who bought their property and signed the mortgage before January 1st, 2013 and must have included it in previous declarations. The tax benefit is up to 15 percent with a maximum limit of €9,040, while the maximum deduction will be €1,356.

Some regions will also allow you to deduct further expenses if you buy a house in a rural area or habitually live in an area at risk of depopulation, such as in Andalusia, Cantabria, Castilla La-Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja and Valencia. You can also deduct expenses for the cost of buying a residence for a particular group of people, be it young people in need, victims of domestic violence, disabled people or large families.

Many regions also let you make deductions if you’re a landlord renting out your property for permanent rental contracts. This can be up to 50 to 60 percent for contracts signed on or after May 26th, 2023. The reduction may even be increased if the rent is reduced for tenants in so-called stressed areas, rising to 70 percent, or even reaching 90 percent under certain conditions, as is the case for rentals to young people under 35 years of age.

You can also get deductions for renting out your primary residence only if they signed the contract before January 1st, 2015, and meet certain financial requirements.

Donations

Donations of many kinds can be deducted from your annual tax declaration, whether they’re charitable donations, donations to cultural institutions, donations for scientific advancement, innovative technologies or the environment.

Generally, you can deduct 80 percent of the first €150 and 35 percent of any donations after that. If you have any doubts as to whether the donations you made last year can be included, it’s best to check with your accountant or gestor.

Investing in new companies

If you invested in a new company in Spain, it’s important to be aware that since January 1st, 2023, the maximum deduction for this has been increased from €60,000 to €100,000. In addition, the deduction percentage has also been increased: from 30 to 50 percent. This means you can deduct up to €50,000 for investments in startups and emerging companies.

To qualify for this deduction in your 2024 income tax return, the company you are investing in must not have equity capital exceeding €400,000 or be listed on a stock exchange. Furthermore, your stake in the company must not exceed 40 percent of its capital. The investment must remain as part of your assets for more than three years and less than 12.

For educational studies and textbooks

Many times, you can deduct the cost of education and the textbooks associated with them. In general, you can deduct up to a maximum of €220 per child for textbooks and for extracurricular foreign language classes, you can deduct 15 percent of the cost, up to a maximum of €110 per child.

Be aware, this does not include claiming back for all courses, unless you are autónomo (self-employed) and they are designed to help improve your business. If you’ve taken a course, it’s best to check with your gestor or accountant to see if the fees can be included on your declaration as there are slight variations between regions too.

Investments in environmental installations (some regions only)

Many regions in Spain allow you to deduct costs of investing in environmental installations such as solar panels, thermal installations, and water-saving devices. This category also includes improvements made to your habitual residence due to disability or adaptation because of technical or structural issues.

For example, if you add solar panels to your primary residence, whether you own or rent, you can deduct 20 percent of the amount invested in your installation as long as the work was completed before December 31st, 2024. Your property must also meet certain energy ratings. The maximum annual base for this deduction will be €5,000 per year. There can even be deductions of up to 60 percent for certain installations that meet the requirements.

Contact your accountant to see if these are applicable for your region.

Domestic help (some regions only)

In some regions in Spain, you can even deduct expenses for domestic help, such as cleaners, nannies or au-pairs. This is true in Madrid, Andalusia, La Rioja and Castilla y León, but you should check with your gestor to see if any more are available in your region.

For example in Andalusia, householders will be able to deduct 20 percent of the amounts paid to Social Security for your cleaner or nanny. The maximum amount that can be deducted is €500 per year.

Electric cars

If you purchased an electric car last year, then part of this is deductible too.

It aims promote electric mobility and reduce dependence on fossil fuels by giving incentives. The vehicle must be a plug-in version and must be for personal use. The maximum base on which the deduction will be applied will be €20,000, regardless of whether you have paid more for it. The reduction will be 15 percent. You can also get a 15 percent deduction for the installation of electric car charging stations in the primary residence, up to a maximum of €4,000.

Re-locating because of work

This rule allows you to reduce your tax base by up to €2,000 if you have had to change your tax address for work reasons. You can take advantage of it for two years after you move. In order to benefit from it you will have to have been registered as unemployed.

Standout regional differences

If you live in either the Canary Islands, Cantabria or Valencia, there are a set of special circumstances that allow you to offset other health expenses against your taxes, no matter whether you’re self-employed or if your company pays private health insurance for you or not. This can be expenses for dental treatments, private pregnancy treatments or childbirth for example.
Andalusia is the only region where you can deduct legal expenses.
Public transport costs can be deducted in Aragón and Asturias.

Please note, we at The Local are not financial experts. What we’ve learned, we’ve learned the hard way — by getting on the phone and listening to all those frustrating automated messages.

The information above is designed to help, but if you are in doubt or unsure of exactly what you can claim back, seek professional advice.

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