The Renta (IRPF) income-tax return for individuals in Spain
The declaración de la Renta is the annual personal income-tax (IRPF) return for individuals: employees, pensioners and landlords. The AEAT prepares a borrador (draft), but confirming it blindly is risky — you can lose deductions or get a paralela / provisional assessment with extra tax, interest or penalty risk. Below: who must file, how to check the borrador, deductions, the Renta campaign deadlines, the result (refund or to pay) and what to do if there is an error. This is for tax residents; non-residents file Modelo 210 (IRNR).
What Renta/IRPF is
IRPF is the personal income tax; the declaración de la Renta is filed once a year for the previous year.
The AEAT builds a borrador from its data; you check it, fix it and confirm it.
The result is a devolver (a refund) or a ingresar (to pay; can be split 60/40).
Governed by Ley 35/2006 (IRPF). For tax residents; non-residents file Modelo 210.
Who must file
- Most employees and pensioners with work income above the annual threshold (it depends on the number of payers; thresholds change — check for the right year).
- Those with several payers where the second and subsequent payers exceed the set minimum.
- People with rental income, capital income, gains or other income above the limits.
- Tax residents of Spain (>183 days a year or centre of interests); non-residents file Modelo 210.
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Borrador & deductions
- The right to check the borrador and fix the data before confirming — do not confirm blindly.
- Deductions: maternity, rent (regional), donations, pension plans, disability, mortgage (old contracts).
- Regional (autonómicas) deductions vary a lot by comunidad — check yours.
- Joint or individual return (tributación conjunta/individual) — pick the better one.
- The right to a refund of overpaid tax and to split a payment 60/40.
- Living on La Palma: for 2026 there is a 60% deduction on the tax due on income earned on the island — only for tax residents who really live there. It is settled in your return, and from September 2026 it already lowers withholding on salaries and pensions and the self-employed quarterly advance payment (pago fraccionado). See La Palma aid in 2026.
Deadlines
- The Renta 2025 campaign runs online from 8 April to 30 June 2026; the AEAT sets each campaign calendar.
- For a return resulting in tax due with domiciliación (direct debit), the deadline is shorter: in Renta 2025, 25 June 2026.
- If you file late with tax due before any Hacienda request, the LGT recargo applies; after a request, penalties and interest can apply.
- For refunds, the AEAT generally has 6 months from the end of the filing deadline (or from a late filing date); after delay, interest accrues.
What to prepare
- Access to the AEAT: Cl@ve, certificado digital or a número de referencia.
- Withholding certificates (work, unemployment, pension) and income data.
- Deduction documents: rent, donations, pension plans, disability, mortgage.
- Data on property, bank accounts and capital gains for the year.
How to file
- Log in to Renta Web (AEAT) with Cl@ve, a certificate or a número de referencia.
- Open the borrador and check all the data and payers.
- Add deductions, especially regional ones — they may be missing from the borrador.
- Compare joint vs individual and pick the better one.
- Confirm and file; keep the justificante and the return number.
A real case: can everyone be forced to file the Renta online only?
The ministerial order for the Renta 2018 campaign (Orden HAC/277/2019) dropped the paper option and required everyone to file the IRPF return electronically over the internet. The Asociación Española de Asesores Fiscales took it to court. On 8 June 2021 the Audiencia Nacional rejected that part of the challenge. The Supreme Court overturned its judgment. It held that art. 96.2 of the Ley General Tributaria gives citizens a right to deal with the tax authority electronically, not a duty. The Minister may impose that duty only on specific groups — by economic or technical capacity, professional activity and similar grounds (art. 14.3 of Ley 39/2015) — and must define those groups. The order instead imposed it on every IRPF taxpayer. The court annulled arts. 9.1, 15.1 and 15.4 and final provision one, paragraph one, of that order.
What was not obvious. The “online only” rule was written into an official order, and the Audiencia Nacional first upheld it. But an order cannot turn a right into a duty for everyone: a person without digital skills or internet access must keep a lawful way to file.
Outcome: the association’s appeal was upheld and the listed articles of the 2019 order were declared void; each party bears its own costs.
How it works now (checked in the BOE on 17.09.2026). The judgment concerned the order for the 2018 campaign; each campaign is governed by a new order. For Renta 2025 it is Orden HAC/277/2026: the borrador can be modified, confirmed and filed online, by telephone with an appointment, and at AEAT offices with an appointment or at offices set up by the regions and local councils (art. 6.2). The telephone and office channels are open to taxpayers who meet the requirements published on the AEAT website. The campaign deadlines are the same whichever channel you use.
Above is how to file through Renta Web. This case shows that the internet is not the only lawful way to file your return.
Review my RentaCommon mistakes
- Confirming the borrador blindly and losing deductions.
- Not accounting for a second payer — a common cause of a paralela.
- Forgetting regional (autonómicas) deductions.
- Missing the deadline when tax is due — recargo or penalty/interest, depending on whether Hacienda has already requested it.
- Not checking whether you even have to file this year.
Error, paralela & fixing it
- If you find an error in a filed return — in your favour or against you — correct it by filing an autoliquidación rectificativa; if the result is more tax to pay or a smaller refund, the complementaria rules apply.
- A paralela / requerimiento from Hacienda: respond within the deadline with documents.
- If you disagree — alegaciones, then a recurso de reposición or a reclamación económico-administrativa.
- Keep every justificante and file on time — missing the deadline is critical.
Get help with your Renta
Tell us your situation (income, payers, rent, deductions, the borrador): NAVI tells you whether you must file, which deductions apply, how to check the borrador and what to do about a paralela or an error.
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Related guides
Key terms in this guide
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to file the Renta?
It depends on your income and the number of payers; thresholds change by year. Check for the right year — when in doubt, filing is safer.
What is the borrador?
A draft return from the AEAT based on its data; you check it, fix it and confirm it — not blindly.
When is the Renta campaign?
For Renta 2025, online filing runs from 8 April to 30 June 2026; direct debit for a result to pay ends on 25 June 2026.
How do I log in to Renta Web?
With Cl@ve, a certificado digital or a número de referencia.
What are regional deductions?
Deductions of your comunidad (housing, family, rent, etc.); they may be missing from the borrador — add them.
A result to pay — can I split it?
Yes, usually 60/40; check the conditions when filing.
I got a paralela — what now?
Respond on time with documents; if you disagree, alegaciones and a recurso. NAVI helps you read it.
I am a non-resident — do I file the Renta?
No, non-residents file Modelo 210 (IRNR); the Renta is for tax residents.
Official sources
- AEAT — Renta campaign
- AEAT — Renta 2025 campaign calendar
- Ley 35/2006 on IRPF
- Ley 58/2003 General Tributaria
Thresholds, deductions and dates change by year and comunidad — check yours with NAVI or the AEAT.
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