The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) in its Consultation V1310-22, dated 9 June 2022 decides whether a Spanish national who transfers his residence to Gibraltar maintains his tax residency in Spain.
The case arises where a Spanish national intends to transfer his residence to Gibraltar due to a new employment with a company registered in Gibraltar.
The Personal Income Tax Law provides that Spanish nationals who prove their new tax residence in a country or territory considered to be a tax haven will not lose their status as taxpayers for this tax. This rule applies in the tax period in which the change of residence takes place and for the following four tax periods.
The DGT recalls that Gibraltar currently remains on the list of tax havens, as a non-cooperative jurisdiction and that under the International Agreement on Taxation and Protection of Financial Interests between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in relation to Gibraltar, made ad referendum in Madrid and London on 4 March 2019 (and in force since 4 March 2021), Spanish nationals who change their residence to Gibraltar after the signing of that agreement will be considered, in any case, tax residents in Spain.
Therefore, despite transferring their residence to Gibraltar, Spanish nationals will continue to be resident in Spain for tax purposes.