Mattias Keller lives in Zurich and holds shares in three companies of the Ibex, the main Spanish stock index, in a securities account opened with a Spanish bank. In 2026 he will receive 12,000 € of gross dividends. Going through his statements he sees that 19 % has been taken off each payment, and that 2,280 € has been withheld in total. A friend tells him that with the residence certificate "they withhold less". Mattias asks his own administration for one, sends it to the bank in November, and on the December dividend they withhold the same amount again.
The certificate can indeed help. But it does not act on its own, it does not act retrospectively, and not every payer accepts it in any format.
What Spain withholds from a non-resident
Article 25.1.f) of the consolidated text of the Non-Resident Income Tax Act (IRNR) taxes at 19 % the dividends obtained by a non-resident without a permanent establishment, whatever their country. Article 31.2 obliges the payer to withhold an amount equivalent to what results from the law or from the rules of an applicable double taxation treaty.
That last phrase is the key. If there is a treaty between Spain and your country of residence and that treaty limits the tax Spain may charge on dividends, the payer may withhold only up to that limit. But to do so it needs to know that you are resident of that country within the meaning of the treaty, and only a document proves that.
For individuals, dividends have no general exemption for residents of the European Union. The exemption in article 14.1.c) of the same Act refers to interest and to certain gains from movable property, not to dividends. That is why, for dividends, the certificate works through the treaty.
Mattias's case in figures
For the example we shall assume that the applicable treaty limited the Spanish tax to 1,200 € on those 12,000 € of dividends. It is an illustrative figure: the real limit has to be read in each country's treaty.
- Gross dividends: 12,000 €.
- Withholding applied at 19 %: 12,000 × 0.19 = 2,280 €.
- Tax Spain could charge under the treaty in the example: 1,200 €.
- Excess withheld: 2,280 − 1,200 = 1,080 €.
That excess can be avoided or recovered, but by two very different routes.
| Route | When | What is needed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| At source | Before each payment | A valid treaty certificate held by the payer or the custodian, in the format it requires | Only the treaty limit is withheld from the outset |
| By refund | After the payment | A refund claim on Modelo 210 with the treaty certificate or the appropriate form | Hacienda refunds the excess, if it accepts the claim, after checking it |
Why November's certificate did not work in December
Every institution that pays or holds securities has its own internal procedures for applying a treaty at source: deadlines for receiving documentation before the payment date, forms to register the client as a non-resident, checks on the certificate's validity. Mattias sent the document without asking about the procedure, without identifying the securities account and with only a few days to spare. The bank did not manage to process it before the payment.
What works is to ask the institution, in writing and in good time, which documents it needs, in what format and how far in advance, and to keep the reply. That email also helps afterwards to justify the refund if relief at source does not arrive in time.
The right paper: treaty wording or a special form
Article 7 of Order EHA/3316/2010, which regulates Modelo 210 (the Spanish non-resident return), requires that, when a treaty is applied, the residence certificate state expressly that the taxpayer is resident "within the meaning defined in the Convention". A generic residence certificate is not enough. We explain this in the difference between the ordinary and the treaty certificate.
The same Order provides for an important exception: when a limit on taxation set by a treaty is applied, and that treaty has been developed by an order establishing a specific form, that form is provided instead of the certificate. In other words, for some countries the documentation is not a residence certificate but a dedicated form on which the administration of the country of residence certifies the details. Before asking your administration for anything, it is worth checking whether your treaty is one of those.
And the certificate is valid for one year from issue. If you receive dividends several times a year, you need it to be in force on each payment date; we look at this in how long the certificate is valid.
Claiming back the excess withheld opens a procedure in which the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency, checks residence and ownership of the securities. It may ask for further documents and it may take time. The right to claim refunds becomes time-barred after four years under article 66 of the Ley General Tributaria (the General Tax Act). Being entitled to the treaty limit does not guarantee that the refund will come or when: it depends on what is proved.
What happens on the other side
Mattias also declares those dividends in Switzerland. Whether the Spanish tax he bears entitles him to any credit or deduction there, and to what extent, depends on Swiss rules and on the treaty as applied from that side. That is confirmed by his adviser in Switzerland; we prepare the Spanish documentation that adviser needs to see: withholding certificates, the 210 filed and the refund decision, if one arrives.
The same applies the other way round: if you are resident in Spain and receive dividends from foreign companies, the certificate you need is the Spanish one and the procedure is the other country's. We explain that case in foreign dividends and excess withholding.
A note on interest in the same account
Mattias's account also produces some interest on the cash balance. Here the position changes depending on where you live. Article 14.1.c) of the IRNR Act exempts interest obtained by residents of another member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area, in the latter case where there is an effective exchange of information. Switzerland belongs to neither area, so that exemption does not reach Mattias and his interest is subject to 19 %, save as the treaty provides. For a resident of France or Portugal, on the other hand, the certificate would mean the bank withheld nothing on interest. It is another example of the same document producing different effects depending on the type of income.
What to gather before the next dividend arrives
- The residence certificate from your country expressly mentioning the treaty with Spain, or the specific form if your treaty provides for one.
- Written confirmation of the custodian's procedure and its internal deadline.
- A list of securities, payment dates and withholdings for the last four years, in case refunds are outstanding.
- Your Spanish tax identification number, if you have one, and your home country's number.
If you would like us to work out how much has been over-withheld in recent years and what documentation would be needed to claim it, you can send us the statements through the certificate form. The non-resident page explains the other obligations of anyone investing in Spain from abroad.
The Salama Tax page explains how the certificate is used with different payers. The treaty sets a ceiling; reaching it depends on having the right paper before each payment.