International taxation as applied in Spain combines domestic law (PIT, CIT, IRNR, General Tax Act), bilateral double tax treaties and EU law: Treaty freedoms, the Parent-Subsidiary, Interest-Royalties and Mergers Directives, ATAD I and II, DAC6, DAC7 and, now, Pillar 2.
EU fundamental freedoms — particularly the free movement of capital, which is enforceable even against third States — generate recurring litigation when Spanish rules discriminate against or restrict cross-border operations. The CJEU has handed down structural judgments on exit tax, intra-EU mergers, dividends, gifts and the Spanish foreign-asset reporting obligation itself (Form 720, CJEU C-788/19).
The Spanish CFC rules (Art. 100 CIT Act) attribute to the Spanish-resident shareholder the passive income earned by foreign entities taxed below 75% of the Spanish rate, where a qualifying participation exists.
Pillar 2 (GloBE) introduces a top-up tax for multinationals with consolidated revenues above €750 million, ensuring a 15% effective tax rate by jurisdiction. Its transposition in Spain has been in force since 2024.
DAC6 obliges intermediaries — and, subsidiarily, taxpayers — to report cross-border arrangements bearing aggressive-planning hallmarks.
This section covers regulatory and case-law developments relevant to cross-border tax planning from and into Spain.