If you are a tax resident in Spain and hold accounts, investments or property outside the country, you may have to file Modelo 720. The obligation is still in force. What changed in 2022 was the fines, not the duty to report. The tool below tells you whether it applies to you, based on what you hold.
Check whether you have to file Modelo 720
Enter the value of what you held outside Spain on 31 December, category by category. If you already filed Modelo 720 in an earlier year, tick the box and enter the last value you reported. Everything runs in your browser: no data is sent anywhere.
The higher of these two: the 31 December balance, or the average balance of the last quarter, adding up all your accounts outside Spain.
Shares, funds, holdings, life or disability insurance and annuities deposited or taken out abroad.
Homes, premises or land you own outside Spain, at their acquisition value.
What Modelo 720 is
Modelo 720 is the return that tax residents in Spain use to tell the Spanish tax agency about the assets and rights they hold abroad. It is informational only: it settles no tax and you pay nothing to file it. Its point is that the tax office knows what you hold outside the country.
Informational does not mean it does not matter. What those assets earn (interest on an account, dividends on shares, rent from a property abroad) is taxed on your IRPF return, and that is where our team helps you keep everything in order.
Who has to file
Tax residents in Spain file it when the value of any one of the three categories goes over 50,000 euros. What counts is tax residence, not nationality: an American or a British citizen living in Spain with money back home can be obliged just like a Spaniard. You also report what you do not own outright but control or benefit from, such as accounts where you are an authorised signatory or assets of which you are the real owner.
What you report: three categories
Modelo 720 groups foreign assets into three blocks, and each one works on its own:
Accounts
Current, savings and deposit accounts and credit accounts held at financial institutions outside Spain.
Securities, insurance and income
Shares, investment funds, holdings, bonds, life or disability insurance and annuities taken out abroad.
Property
Homes, premises, land and rights over property located outside Spain, at acquisition value.
The 50,000 euro threshold
The obligation starts when a category as a whole goes over 50,000 euros. The point people get wrong most often: you check the threshold category by category, not on the total. You can hold 45,000 euros in accounts and 45,000 euros in shares (90,000 in total) and still have nothing to file, because neither category reaches 50,000 on its own.
Crypto does not go here: virtual currencies have their own return, Modelo 721, with its own rules.
When to file again in later years
Once you have filed Modelo 720, you do not simply repeat it every year. You only report a category again when one of these happens:
- The combined value of that category has risen by more than 20,000 euros since the last time you reported it.
- You have stopped being the holder, signatory or beneficiary of an account or asset you already declared (for example, you sold the property or closed the account).
That is why the tool above asks whether you had already reported it and what the last value was: so it can work out whether the rise is over that 20,000.
Deadline and how to file
Modelo 720 is filed from 1 January to 31 March of the year after the one the data refers to. Assets held on 31 December are declared before 31 March of the following year. It can only be filed online, on the Spanish tax agency site, with a digital certificate, electronic ID or Cl@ve. If you would rather not wrestle with the process, we prepare and file it for you.
What happens if you do not file
For years, failing to file Modelo 720 or filing late brought enormous fines and the risk that the tax office would treat your assets as an unjustified gain with no time limit. The Court of Justice of the European Union, in its judgment of 27 January 2022, ruled that regime contrary to EU law for being disproportionate. Since then the general penalty rules of the Spanish General Tax Law apply, which are far milder and come with the normal time limits.
In practice: the duty to report is still alive, but the consequences of a mistake or a delay are no longer what they were. If you missed a year, the sensible thing is to put it right voluntarily, as soon as possible. Our tax specialist tells you how to do that at the lowest cost.
Questions about Modelo 720
Do I pay any tax for filing Modelo 720?
No. Modelo 720 is an informational return: you tell the Spanish tax office what you hold abroad, but you pay nothing for filing it. It is separate from your income tax. The income those assets produce (interest, dividends, rent) does go on your IRPF return, but that is a different filing.
What is the Modelo 720 threshold?
It is 50,000 euros for each of the three categories: accounts; securities, insurance and income; and property. You check category by category, not the combined total. If you hold 40,000 euros in accounts and 40,000 euros in shares, you reach neither 50,000 limit and you are not obliged to file, even though together they add up to 80,000.
When do I have to file Modelo 720 again?
Once you have filed it, you only report a category again if its combined value rises by more than 20,000 euros over the last declaration, or if you stop being the holder of an account or asset you already declared. Otherwise you do not repeat it every year.
What is the Modelo 720 deadline?
From 1 January to 31 March of the year after the one the data refers to. Assets you held on 31 December are declared before 31 March of the following year. It is filed online only, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve.
What if I file Modelo 720 late?
Since the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment of January 2022, the old fixed, disproportionate fines no longer apply. A late filing is now handled under the general penalty rules of the Spanish General Tax Law, which are far milder. If you missed the deadline, the sensible move is to file as soon as you can, voluntarily.
I am a new resident in Spain. Does Modelo 720 affect me?
If you are a tax resident in Spain, yes, even if you arrived recently and your assets are in your home country. What matters is tax residence, not nationality. Our tax specialist reviews your case and tells you what you have to report and when.
Does crypto go on Modelo 720?
No. Virtual currencies held abroad have their own return, Modelo 721, with its own rules and threshold. Modelo 720 is for accounts, securities, insurance, income and property.