Form 149 for communication of the option, waiver, exclusion and end of travel to Spanish territory for expatriate workers.
All persons travelling to Spain and remaining here for more than 180 days acquire tax residence in Spain. They may opt for taxation through the NON-RESIDENT Income Tax system, while maintaining the conditions of taxpayers under normal Income Tax by complying with the following conditions:
- Not having been resident in Spain in any of the 10 previous tax periods.
- In order to be able to submit Form 149, their travel to Spain must have come about through the following circumstances:
- After obtaining an employment contract, except if the contract obtained involves a special employment relationship for sports professionals (Royal Decree 1,006 dated June 26th, 1985).
- It is a consequence of having become a director of an entity.
- No income is obtained through any permanent establishment located on Spanish territory.
After Form 149 has been submitted, the Spanish Tax Administration will send out, within the maximum term of 10 days, a notification granting this regime if each of the requirements established by the regulations for this special regime have been complied with. The notification is in the form of a document accrediting that the taxpayer has exercised the option for this regime and all taxpayers subjected to this regime will be obliged to submit a tax return for personal income tax using a special form, namely Form 151 (according to the regulations in force from January 1st, 2015) or else using Form 150.
The special regime requested through Form 149 is applicable during the tax period in which tax residence in Spain is acquired by the taxpayer and for the next five tax years. In this way, workers travelling to Spanish territory or “impatriates” can opt for the special regime for Non-Resident Income Tax while maintaining their status as taxpayers for Personal Income Tax.
The deadline for submitting this communication through Form 149 is obligatorily within the maximum term of 6 months from the date of the start of the activity for which the worker is registered with the Social Security in Spain or on documentation enabling, where applicable, the maintenance of the legislation for the Social Security in the country of origin.
Electronic submission of Form 149 from the web site of the Tax Administration.
For any doubt, query or to commission us to carry out the processing of Form 149, please do not hesitate in contacting us.