Spain Salary Calculator
Spain has the lowest employee social-security burden of any large European economy — just 6.5% of gross — and one of the highest employer ones, 30.65% on top. That asymmetry is the single most useful thing to know about a Spanish offer: your deduction is small, but you cost your employer far more than the gross suggests. IRPF itself runs from 19% to 47%, and it is not applied to a personal allowance the way most countries are — Spain instead computes the tax twice and subtracts the tax on a personal and family minimum, which is why a naive allowance model gets Spanish net pay wrong.
Example: €30,000 gross in Spain
A 14-payment employee salary, 2026 rates — computed by the Saldora API.
Net annual
€23,124
Net monthly
€1,652
Income tax
€4,926
Effective rate
22.9%
How salary tax works in Spain
- IRPF 19% to 47%: 19%, 24%, 30%, 37%, 45% from €60,000 and 47% above €300,000
- Social security only 6.5% employee — 4.70% common contingencies, 1.55% unemployment, 0.10% training and 0.15% MEI
- Employer pays 30.65% on top, one of the highest in the EU
- Contributions stop at €5,101.20 of monthly base, raised from €4,909.50 for 2026
- Personal minimum €5,550, plus €2,400, €2,700, €4,000 and €4,500 for the first four children
- Employment income under about €14,852 is effectively untaxed by a reduction of up to €7,302, phasing out at €19,747.50
- Beckham Law: a flat 24% up to €600,000 for qualifying new residents, 47% above
- Usually paid in 14 instalments under most collective agreements
The Beckham Law taxes qualifying new residents at a flat 24% on Spanish employment income up to €600,000, and 47% above it, instead of the progressive scale. It is worth most to high earners: at €30,000 the ordinary scale with its personal minimum and work reduction usually wins, while at €120,000 the flat rate is far cheaper. Autónomos are on a different footing again — new self-employed people pay the tarifa plana, which is advertised as €80 a month but actually costs €88.64 in 2026 once the MEI levy is added on top.
Spain salary tax — frequently asked questions
Is Spanish social security really only 6.5%?
Yes, on the employee side — 6.5% of gross for 2026, made up of 4.70% common contingencies, 1.55% unemployment, 0.10% training and the 0.15% MEI pension levy. It is among the lowest employee rates in Europe. The cost has not disappeared, it has moved: the employer pays 30.65% on top of your gross salary.
What is the MEI and why did my contribution go up?
The mecanismo de equidad intergeneracional, an extra pension levy in force since 2023 and rising every year — 0.90% in total for 2026, split 0.15% employee and 0.75% employer, on the way to 1.2% by 2029. It is small, but it is charged on top of the familiar rates, so a calculator built before 2023 understates both the deduction and the employer cost.
Does the Spanish top rate reach 49%?
No, and this site said so for a while. The scale is the state rate plus the supletory autonomic one, and while the state top band rises to 24.5% the autonomic band stays at 22.5% — so the combined top is 47%, not 49%. Real liability does vary by community, from roughly 45% in Madrid to about 54% in Valencia; we use the national reference scale, which is what a cross-country comparison should use and what withholding is based on.
How does the personal minimum work?
Not as a tax-free allowance. Spain computes the tax on your full base, then computes the tax on the personal and family minimum — €5,550 for yourself, plus €2,400 for a first child, €2,700 for a second, €4,000 for a third and €4,500 for each after — and subtracts the second from the first. The effect is close to an allowance at the bottom of the scale but not identical, and it is why modelling it as a deduction gives the wrong answer.
What is the Beckham Law and is it worth taking?
A regime for qualifying new residents that replaces the progressive scale with a flat 24% on Spanish employment income up to €600,000. Whether it pays depends entirely on salary: below roughly €60,000 the ordinary scale is usually better, because the personal minimum and the work-income reduction are worth more than the flat rate saves. Above that the flat rate pulls ahead quickly. Select it in the calculator and compare your own number rather than assuming.
Can it calculate autónomo (self-employed) tax?
Yes. Freelancer mode models the monthly social-security quota under the income-based tranche system, income tax and VAT. If you have recently registered, the tarifa plana applies — €88.64 a month in 2026, not the €80 usually quoted, because the MEI is charged on top of the headline figure.
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Estimates based on publicly available 2026 tax rules for Spain. For informational purposes only — not tax advice. Consult a qualified tax advisor for your specific situation.