Investing from Spain: savings tax, modelo 720, the new CAI

• Savings tax: 19% up to EUR 6,000, 21% up to EUR 50,000, 23% up to EUR 200,000, 27% up to EUR 300,000 and 30% above (state and region together, since 2025).
• Withholding: Spanish payers withhold 19% on dividends and interest and on gains from fund redemptions.
• Modelo 720: report securities abroad worth more than EUR 50,000 in total, then again only after an increase of more than EUR 20,000. Crypto-assets abroad: modelo 721.
• Transaction tax: 0.2% on purchases of shares of Spanish companies worth more than EUR 1 billion.
• New account: the Cuenta de Ahorro e Inversión has existed in law since 8 October 2026 but may not be offered yet.
• US dividends: 15% under the treaty. Protection: FOGAIN or FGD, each up to EUR 100,000.

The tax on savings income has a state part (art. 66 LIRPF) and a regional part (art. 76 LIRPF) with the same scale: 9.5% up to EUR 6,000, 10.5% up to EUR 50,000, 11.5% up to EUR 200,000, 13.5% up to EUR 300,000 and 15% above. Together that makes 19%, 21%, 23%, 27% and 30%. The scale has applied since 1 January 2025 (Ley 7/2024) and is unchanged in 2026.

An example with no other savings income: a capital gain of EUR 10,000 is taxed at 19% on the first EUR 6,000 (EUR 1,140) and 21% on the remaining EUR 4,000 (EUR 840), EUR 1,980 in total.

Spanish payers withhold 19% on investment income such as dividends and interest (art. 101.4 LIRPF), and likewise on gains from redeeming or selling fund units (art. 101.6). The final tax is settled with the return.

Switching from one investment fund to another (traspaso) does not trigger tax on the gain; the new units keep the value and date of the old ones (art. 94.1.a LIRPF). This does not apply to exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Modelo 720 reports assets abroad. For securities: if they total EUR 50,000 or less, no return is needed; above that, all of them must be reported. In later years a new return is required only if the value has risen by more than EUR 20,000 since the last one. The filing period runs from 1 January to 31 March of the following year. According to the tax agency, crypto-assets are not reported on modelo 720 but on modelo 721, with the same thresholds and period.

Since 11 March 2022 (Ley 5/2022), additional provision 18 of the General Tax Law (LGT) contains only the reporting duty, no longer the special penalties for modelo 720. Which general penalties apply today we have not checked.

Reporting portfolio investments to the foreign-investment register was abolished on 1 September 2023 (RD 571/2023). According to the trade ministry's guide, which itself has no legal force, residents report a stake in a foreign company only from 10% of its capital or voting rights.

What the brokers in our comparison say

Spanish providers we do not compare or rate (yet): Self Bank (Banco de España register no. 1490) states that securities held with it need not go on modelo 720; Indexa Capital (CNMV no. 257) says the same for 720 and D-6, because the fund units are held at a Spanish custodian bank. Also MyInvestor (supervised by the Banco de España and the CNMV, by its own account) and Renta 4 Banco (CNMV 234, Banco de España 0083).

The financial transactions tax (Ley 5/2020) is 0.2% on purchases of shares of Spanish companies whose market capitalisation exceeded EUR 1 billion on 1 December of the previous year. The taxpayer is the intermediary, wherever it is established. A purchase of EUR 5,000 thus costs EUR 10.

Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, in force since 8 October 2026, creates the Cuenta de Ahorro e Inversión Financia Europa (CAI) (art. 95 ter LIRPF):

• one account per taxpayer, cash contributions only, at most EUR 150,000 of contributions not yet withdrawn;
• eligible are EU or EEA shares on regulated markets or MTFs and certain funds including ETFs; SICAVs and derivatives are excluded;
• gains are taxed only on withdrawal; dividends and interest, by contrast, are taxed as they arise, outside the account;
• on the part of a gain linked to contributions held for more than 5 years, the first EUR 10,000 (in total per person) is fully exempt, and 20% of the rest.

Example: of a EUR 30,000 gain from such contributions, EUR 10,000 plus 20% of the remaining EUR 20,000, i.e. EUR 4,000, are exempt; EUR 16,000 are taxed.

Status on 25 October 2026: the account may be offered and opened only once a ministerial order on its reporting obligations is in force. Funds and ETFs can be added only once the register of eligible funds is running. Congress repealed the identical predecessor, RDL 26/2026 (resolution of 2 October 2026); for RDL 29/2026 the BOE listed no confirmation by Congress on that day.

Existing savings forms: the Plan de Ahorro a Largo Plazo (SIALP with an insurer, CIALP with a bank) allows EUR 5,000 a year; the provider guarantees at least 85% of contributions at maturity, and returns are tax-free if nothing is withdrawn within five years of opening; the new SIALP Financia Europa, with EUR 10,000 a year, may not be offered yet either. Contributions to a personal pension plan reduce taxable income up to the lower of 30% of net employment and business income or EUR 1,500 a year; the limit rises by EUR 8,500 a year where the increase comes from employer contributions or matching employee contributions.

US dividends: 15% withholding under the treaty, 5% for qualifying direct holdings (IRS Table 1, rev. May 2023).

The CNMV supervises securities markets and investment firms; banks offering brokerage are also supervised by the Banco de España. Clients of investment firms (sociedades and agencias de valores, portfolio managers) are compensated by FOGAIN up to EUR 100,000 if the firm becomes insolvent. Securities held at a bank are covered instead by the deposit guarantee fund FGD, up to EUR 100,000 per depositor and institution, on top of the EUR 100,000 for cash; it covers failure to return the securities, not a fall in their value.

Official Mexican pages (CNBV, the income tax law) were not reachable for us. The tax details therefore come from a secondary source, PwC's country summary (last reviewed 6 August 2026):

• Tax residents are taxed on worldwide capital gains. Gains on securities sold through the Mexican Stock Exchange are taxed at 10% of the year's net gain; the same applies to Mexican shares on authorised foreign exchanges if the finance ministry determines they are placed among the general public.
• On dividends from profits earned after 2013, the Mexican company withholds an additional 10%. Dividends from foreign companies are fully taxable in the annual return; in addition, the individual pays 10% on the net dividend by the 17th of the following month.
• The top marginal rate for 2026 is 35%.
• Contributions to certain private retirement accounts and voluntary contributions to the social security retirement accounts are deductible within their own limits, outside the general limit (the lesser of 15% of yearly income or five annual UMA, at most MXN 213,973); withdrawals are taxable.

US dividends: 10% under the treaty, 5% for qualifying direct holdings. The platform Actinver Trade (formerly Bursanet) names the CNBV, the finance ministry (SHCP) and Banxico as its regulators and says the linked bank account is protected by the IPAB deposit insurance. Which protection applies to securities at a casa de bolsa we could not establish. GBM, according to its own page, offers shares, ETFs and funds on the Mexican and US markets and calls itself an "empresa regulada" without naming the authority. We do not compare or rate either. More on the page brokers for investors in Mexico.

• Spanish tax reports from Scalable, Revolut, Trading 212, Freedom24, Lightyear, Bitpanda and eToro;
• which general penalties apply today to a missing modelo 720;
• whether any provider will offer the new CAI;
• for Mexico: official tax and supervisory texts, the protection of securities at a casa de bolsa, whether brokers withhold the 10%, and what duties a broker abroad triggers.

Compare by country of residence: stock brokers for investors in Spain and ETF brokers for investors in Spain.

• BOE, consolidated texts: LIRPF (Ley 35/2006); RD 1065/2007 (modelo 720 and 721); Ley 6/2023 (CAI); Ley 5/2020 (transaction tax); LGT (Ley 58/2003); RDL 29/2026
• Agencia Tributaria, modelo 720; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, foreign investment guide
• CNMV; FOGAIN; FGD, securities, cover
• IRS, Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023)
• Providers: XTB, taxes, XTB; DEGIRO, annual report; Trade Republic, tax report; Interactive Brokers; eToro; Self Bank; Indexa Capital; MyInvestor; Renta 4, legal notice
• Mexico: PwC, income determination (reviewed 6 August 2026), deductions; Actinver Trade; GBM

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice.