Spanish taxation of ETFs and index funds

IRPF del ahorro is the Spanish capital gains tax bracket. In 2026: 19% up to €6,000 gain, 21% up to €50,000, 23% up to €200,000, 27% up to €300,000, 30% above. Progressive: each bracket only taxes the portion within it.

Mandatory informational declaration for Spain tax residents with foreign assets exceeding €50,000 per category (foreign bank accounts, securities like ETFs at DEGIRO or Trade Republic, foreign real estate). Filed Jan-Mar of following year. No tax due, just informative. In January 2022 the EU Court of Justice (case C-788/19) ruled its special penalties contrary to EU law; Law 5/2022 removed them and the general penalty rules now apply, but the obligation persists.

Unique Spanish tax benefit: transfers between investment funds (NOT ETFs) are tax-deferred. You can move money between funds without paying capital gains tax. IRPF is only triggered on final cash withdrawal. This makes investment funds (available at MyInvestor) more tax-efficient than ETFs for Spain residents who plan to rebalance.

Accumulating ETFs (Acc) reinvest dividends internally. No tax event for the investor while holding. Only taxed on sale, as capital gain (precio venta - precio compra) at IRPF del ahorro rates. This is the most tax-efficient policy for accumulation phase.

Wash sale rule in Spain: if you sell an ETF or stock at a loss and rebuy the same security within 2 months before or after, the loss is disallowed for tax purposes. To realize a tax loss, wait more than 2 months before rebuying the same ticker, or buy a different ETF with similar exposure. The 2-month window applies to securities admitted to trading. Non-listed securities fall under a 1-year window, and whether index fund units belong in one category or the other is unsettled, so 12 months is the only period compatible with both readings.