Corporate Income Tax is a personal and direct tax, with a single tax rate, which is levied on income obtained by companies and other legal entities resident in Spanish territory, as opposed to Personal Income Tax, which is levied on income obtained by individuals.

Companies are obliged to keep accounts which are to be filed annually with the Commercial Registry. Corporate income tax is determined on the basis of the company’s accounting profit. It may be necessary to make a series of off-balance sheet adjustments to this accounting profit due to the differences between the criteria for calculating accounting profit and those for calculating the taxable income for corporate income tax purposes, as defined by the tax authorities.

The following tax rates will be applied to the taxable income determined, the “balance” of the accounting profit with adjustments minus the deductions permitted by law:

  • General rate: 25%, in force since 1 January 2016.

  • Reduced rates of 15% for entrepreneurs: since 2015 the preferential rate applicable for two years to incorporated companies is 15%. Asset-holding companies are excluded. The company must be considered to be the start of an economic activity. It will be applied in the first tax period in which the taxable base is positive (and therefore obliges us to pay corporation tax) and in the following one.
    Reduced rate of 20% for cooperatives

    Generally applicable to tax-sheltered cooperatives, with the exception of extra-cooperative results, which are taxed at the general rate of 25%.


  • Reduced rate of 10% for associations and foundations:

    applicable to those associations declared to be of public utility and foundations registered in the corresponding register.

  • Reduced rate of 1% for SICAVs (open-end investment companies), financial investment funds and real estate investment companies (real estate investment funds), in all cases with the requirement of having a minimum of 100 shareholders.