The temporary solidarity tax on large fortunes (Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad, created by Ley 38/2022) was born with an explicit aim: to make large fortunes pay something even where their autonomous community, as Spain's regions are called, had relieved the wealth tax. It is a state tax, it has not been handed over to the regions, and the regions cannot relieve it. That is why it changes the map: people who felt safe because in their region "there was no wealth tax" found themselves facing an almost identical tax that is collected all the same.
What exactly it is
It is a direct tax, personal in nature and complementary to the wealth tax (the Impuesto sobre Patrimonio, commonly just "Patrimonio"). It falls on the net wealth of individuals above 3,000,000 euros. It shares virtually everything with the wealth tax: the taxable event, accrual on 31 December, the exemptions, the valuation rule for each asset, the rules on ownership and the way the taxable base is determined. The cross-reference to Ley 19/1991, the Wealth Tax Act, is almost complete, so what you learn for one holds for the other.
What it does not share is what makes it different: the threshold, the rate scale, the absence of any regional power to legislate on it, and the deduction of the wealth tax already paid.
Who it reaches
| Position | What is taxed | Tax-free allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Tax resident in Spain (personal basis) | All net wealth, wherever it is | Yes, the one set by the Act itself |
| Non-resident (territorial basis) | Assets and rights located or exercisable in Spain | No |
The three-million threshold is measured on net wealth, that is, after subtracting debts and after applying the exemptions: the main home up to its limit, the family business, pension plans. It must not be confused with the two-million threshold for Modelo 714, which is counted gross and with exempt assets included. They are two different calculations for two different things, and mixing them up is the error explained in the guide to the filing obligation.
The scale and the bill
The net taxable base is subject to a scale of three bands with rising rates: a first band starting at three million, a middle band and a top band, with rates running from 1.7 % to 3.5 % depending on the step. The exact cut-off amounts for each band are in article 3 of Ley 38/2022, and it is worth checking the wording in force on the accrual date before calculating, because this rule has already been amended more than once.
From the resulting bill you deduct the wealth tax actually paid. That is the whole logic of the tax. Where the region grants no relief, the taxpayer has already paid a similar amount and the deduction leaves little or nothing to pay. Where the region grants a relief, there is no wealth tax paid to deduct and the state tax is collected in full. The money ends up with the central state instead of the region, which is precisely the intended effect.
| Scenario | Wealth tax paid | Effect on the solidarity tax |
|---|---|---|
| Region with no relief | High | It is deducted, and usually little or nothing is left to pay |
| Region with full relief | Zero | Paid in full |
| Region with its own higher tax-free allowance | Lower | The difference is paid |
Its own joint ceiling
The tax includes a ceiling modelled on article 31 of Ley 19/1991: the sum of the IRPF (Spanish income tax), the wealth tax and this tax may not exceed 60 % of the sum of the IRPF taxable bases, with the same exclusions (gains on assets held over a year left out, unproductive assets left out) and the same floor: the reduction may not exceed 80 % of the bill, so at least 20 % is always paid. The order matters, because the ceiling is applied first and the deduction of the wealth tax paid comes afterwards. The whole mechanism is set out in the guide to the joint ceiling.
Only those who pay have to file
Here there are not two doors. The only taxpayers who have to file are those whose bill, after applying whatever deductions or reliefs apply, comes out payable. Someone with four million of net wealth whose bill falls to zero once the wealth tax paid is deducted files nothing for this tax, although they still have to file Modelo 714. It is the exact reverse of Modelo 714, where you file even without paying.
The return is filed on its own form, electronically, in July of the year after the accrual date, within the window set each year by the ministerial order approving the form. It is worth keeping an eye on, because the window does not coincide with the income tax campaign and slips past quietly.
Non-residents with property in Spain, take note
The same Act that created this tax amended Ley 19/1991 to bring within the territorial basis the ownership of shares in companies, resident or not, whose assets consist, directly or indirectly, of at least 50 % Spanish real estate. Until then, putting a foreign company in between kept the property out of reach of Spanish tax for a non-resident. Not any more.
Some double taxation treaties give the country of residence the right to tax wealth, and a treaty takes precedence over domestic law. If you are non-resident and hold Spanish property through a company structure, the analysis starts with your country's treaty, not with Spanish law. It is a review that has to be done document by document; we cannot anticipate the outcome without seeing the applicable treaty and what the company's assets really consist of.
The mistakes we see most
- Deducting wealth tax that was not paid. The law requires the tax actually paid. A bill deferred and not yet settled, or a bill reduced by a relief, is not deducted.
- Forgetting that the exemptions are the same. Anyone applying the family business exemption in Modelo 714 must apply it here too, and anyone who did not apply it in one cannot apply it in the other without correcting both.
- Counting the threshold gross. The three million are net wealth, after debts and exemptions. Confusing it with the gross calculation of Modelo 714 leads people to file with no obligation or, worse, not to file in the belief that they fall short.
- Filing late. Being a July form, it is easily missed. If that happens, what applies is the article 27 surcharge (the recargo for late filing without a prior request), explained in its own guide.
A move in the middle of the year
Since the tax accrues on 31 December, what matters is where you are tax resident that year, and tax residence in Spain is decided on the whole calendar year, not on the date of the move. Someone who arrives in September and does not exceed one hundred and eighty-three days is not resident that year: if taxed at all, it would be on the territorial basis and without the tax-free allowance. Someone who leaves in October having spent more than half the year here is still resident and declares all their worldwide wealth as at 31 December, even though by then they live abroad. It is an awkward asymmetry that is worth working out before fixing the date of a move, together with the other effects that come with it.
"Temporary" needs reading carefully
The tax was approved as a measure limited in time and was later extended, so that it stays in force for as long as the system for financing the regions is not reformed. That drawn-out provisional status has a concrete effect on regional wealth tax reliefs: regions such as Murcia, La Rioja or Madrid have framed theirs as transitional, linked precisely to the life of the state tax, so that it would stop applying if the state tax disappeared. In other words, the map can move in either direction, and planning ten years ahead on today's snapshot is unwise.
Two taxes, one inventory
Since the valuation rules and the exemptions are the same, the efficient approach is to prepare a single inventory at the year end and use it for both forms. That inventory should record, asset by asset, the value under the Ley 19/1991 test, the exemption that applies if any, the associated debt and the supporting documents. Doing it twice, on two separate spreadsheets, is the surest way of ending up with two returns that do not match, and an inconsistency between Modelo 714 and the solidarity tax return is spotted effortlessly because both start from the same figure.
What to review every autumn
- The valuation of every asset under the rules of Ley 19/1991, which are the ones that also apply here.
- Whether the exemptions, the main home and the family business, still hold, because they lower net wealth and may leave you below three million. The review is set out in the family business guide.
- The joint ceiling calculation with the IRPF bases expected for the year.
- The regional rules in force on 31 December, which decide how much wealth tax there will be to deduct.
If you are in that bracket or close to it, send us the inventory through the wealth tax form and we will work it out under the rules in force for your case. We will tell you what comes out, what real room there is and what risks each option carries; what we will not do is guarantee you a figure before seeing the documents.