Spain VAT (IVA) 2026 — 21% Standard, Two Reduced Rates

Spain applies a 21% standard IVA rate plus two reduced tiers — 10% and 4%. Here is every rate, threshold, invoice rule and cross-border treatment you need, with worked examples and links to free tools.

2026 IVA Rates at a Glance

Last verified: 29 October 2026. Sources: EU Commission VAT rates, ECB euro reference rates and national tax authorities. Confirm with your local authority before filing.

These are the three mainland IVA rates. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are outside Spanish IVA territory — they apply IGIC (Canary Islands) or IPSI (Ceuta/Melilla) instead. Use the VAT calculator in Custom-rate mode to compute any amount, or check a Spanish VAT number with the VAT validator.

What Each Reduced Rate Covers

4% Tipo superreducido

• Basic food — bread, pasta, rice, milk, cheese, eggs, olive oil, sugar, flour, fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Books, newspapers and magazines — printed publications including educational materials.
• Medicines — prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
• Medical equipment and aids — hearing aids, wheelchairs, prostheses, corrective glasses.

10% Tipo reducido

• Accommodation — hotels, hostales, casas rurales, tourist apartments.
• Restaurant meals and catering — food consumed on premises (note: takeaway food prepared on premises is also 10% in Spain).
• Passenger transport — train, bus, domestic flights within Spain.
• Books — physical books (digital books were temporarily reduced to 4% but reverted to 4% permanently in 2025).
• Cultural events — cinema, theatre, museum, concert admission, bullfighting.
• Water supply — drinking water and irrigation services.
• Social housing renovation — energy efficiency works on social housing.

If your business mixes standard and reduced items, split invoices per category. The invoice generator handles split-rate IVA automatically.

Regimen Simplificado — The Spanish Simplified Scheme

Spain offers a simplified VAT scheme for small businesses under the regimen simplificado:

• Eligibility: turnover in the previous year must not exceed EUR250,000 for all economic activities other than agriculture, forestry and livestock, which have their own EUR250,000 ceiling. EUR250,000 is the statutory EUR150,000 limit raised for the years 2016 to 2026. Purchases of goods and services must also stay within EUR250,000.
• Effect: you pay a fixed quarterly IVA amount based on modules for your activity instead of the general direct-estimation regime. Invoicing treatment under módulos follows special rules — confirm with the Agencia Tributaria whether and how your activity repercutes IVA before invoicing.
• Invoice impact: as a rule you have no obligation to issue invoices under this regime, but you must invoice sales of fixed assets, sales to businesses or public authorities, where the customer requires an invoice to exercise a tax right, and certain foreign-trade operations.
• Input VAT: input IVA on ordinary purchases is not deductible under this regime — the tax is computed globally from modules.
• Other conditions: every activity you carry on must be covered by the Orden that develops the regime and stay within its specific magnitudes, and you must not have waived the regime or be excluded from the IRPF objective-estimation scheme.

Recargo de Equivalencia — The Retail Surcharge

Spain unique recargo de equivalencia (surcharge of equivalence) applies to certain retail businesses:

• Who it applies to: retail businesses (venta al por menor) that do not transform goods. Your supplier charges you IVA plus the surcharge.
• Surcharge rates: 5.2% on 21% goods (total 26.2% of net paid to your supplier), 1.4% on 10% goods (11.4%), 0.5% on 4% goods (4.5%).
• Effect: you pay the IVA + surcharge to your supplier, and you do not charge IVA to your customers. You cannot reclaim input IVA.
• Invoice impact: your invoices to end consumers show the gross price including the recargo de equivalencia. Do not show a separate IVA line.

Calculate your gross quote with the VAT calculator — use Custom mode to add the surcharge percentage to the IVA rate.

IVA Registration in Spain

1. Who must register: anyone carrying on economic activity in Spain that requires IVA registration (there is no general turnover threshold for registration), plus all non-Spanish businesses making taxable supplies in Spain (except those in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla). Leaving the módulos limits moves you to the general regime rather than triggering first registration.
2. Where: register with the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT) at agenciatributaria.es using form 036 (full registration) or 037 (simplified for individuals).
3. What you receive: a NIF number (Numero de Identificacion Fiscal). Self-employed receive NIF-C, companies receive CIF (NIF-C or NIF-A). Format: letter + 8 digits or 8 digits + letter.
4. Non-EU businesses: must appoint a Spanish fiscal representative (representante fiscal) before registering for IVA.
5. Timeline: register within 30 days of commencing taxable activity. Late registration triggers retroactive IVA assessments.

Spanish Invoice Requirements

Under the Reglamento de Facturacion (Royal Decree 1619/2012), every IVA invoice must contain:

1. Supplier details — full legal name, registered address and NIF/CIF.
2. Customer details — full name, address, and for B2B their NIF/CIF.
3. Invoice number — unique, sequential, no gaps. Two separate series allowed: one for ordinary invoices, one for rectification (credit notes).
4. Invoice date — date of issue; add date of delivery or service if different.
5. Description — nature, quantity and detail of goods or services supplied.
6. Unit price excluding IVA — net price per unit, any discounts and rebates.
7. IVA rate and amount — applicable rate per line, subtotal excluding IVA per rate, total IVA, total including IVA.
8. Payment terms — due date, method of payment, and any early payment discount or late payment penalty.
9. Special references — reverse charge reference, margin scheme reference, exemption references, recargo de equivalencia or regimen simplificado notices if applicable.

Build a compliant Spanish invoice in seconds with the invoice generator — select the correct IVA rate, add your NIF, and export as PDF.

Reverse Charge in Spain

Spain has specific reverse charge rules in addition to standard EU provisions:

• B2B services from Spain to an EU customer: you invoice at 0% IVA with a reference like: Inversion del sujeto pasivo — Art. 196 de la Directiva 2006/112/CE. Both your NIF and the customer NIF must appear.
• B2B services received from abroad: if a non-Spanish supplier provides services to your Spanish business, you self-account Spanish IVA under reverse charge and report in your IVA return (modelo 303).
• Domestic scrap metal: sales of scrap metal and certain recyclable materials between businesses trigger reverse charge in Spain.
• Gold and precious metals: investment gold transactions between businesses are subject to reverse charge.
• Electronics and IT equipment: sales of mobile phones, computers, consoles and tablets over EUR10,000 to non-ES VAT-registered businesses may trigger reverse charge.
• Electricity: supplies of electricity between electricity businesses in Spain are subject to reverse charge.

Check any cross-border scenario with the reverse-charge vs OSS checker before invoicing.

OSS — Spain and the One Stop Shop

Spain participates in the EU One Stop Shop (OSS) since 1 July 2021. What this means for Spanish sellers:

• B2C distance sales of goods to other EU countries — once your pan-EU cross-border turnover passes EUR10,000 per year, you must charge the destination country IVA rate and declare it through OSS.
• Registration: register for OSS via the AEAT portal. You file one quarterly OSS return covering all destination countries, and Spain distributes the collected IVA to each member state.
• Below EUR10,000: you may charge Spanish 21% IVA on all B2C cross-border sales (domestic simplification).
• B2B: OSS does not apply to B2B — reverse charge governs those transactions.
• Non-EU distance sales: for goods imported from outside the EU to EU consumers valued at EUR150 or less, register for IOSS to collect IVA at the point of sale.

Run any scenario through the reverse-charge vs OSS checker to confirm the correct treatment.

Worked Examples

Worked Example — Adding 4% Super-Reduced IVA

A Valencia pharmacy sells basic medicines worth EUR150 net. The super-reduced 4% rate applies.

Gross = EUR150 x 1.04 = EUR156 · IVA = EUR6

Verify instantly with the VAT calculator — select Spain and set 4% in Custom-rate mode.

How to Use the Spanish VAT Calculator

1. Select Spain from the country dropdown — the standard 21% rate auto-fills.
2. Choose mode: Add IVA (net to gross), Remove IVA (gross to net), or Custom rate (use 4% or 10% for reduced items, or add recargo de equivalencia percentages).
3. Enter the amount and click Calculate. Net, IVA and gross appear instantly.
4. Copy or download the result for your records or to paste into an invoice.

🔒 100% Client-Side Privacy: All calculations execute locally in your browser. No financial data, amounts, or tax entries are ever stored on or transmitted to our servers.

Other Countries VAT Guides

See all rates in our EU VAT rates 2026 table, or use the VAT calculator to compute any amount.

Frequently Asked Questions

Informational purposes only — not tax advice. Rates and thresholds sourced from the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT), Ley del IVA (Ley 37/1992) and EUR-Lex. Always confirm with your asesor fiscal or local Administracion Tributaria.