How your US retirement income is taxed here.
These come straight from the same country data the Glidepath engine uses to calculate your tax. Not a marketing summary.
Income tax (IRPF): Spain taxes your worldwide income on a general scale that tops out around 47% (about 45% in Madrid, over 50% in higher-tax regions). Gains and dividends use a separate savings scale of 19-30%.
IRA, 401(k), and Social Security: Spain taxes traditional accounts and US Social Security on its general scale. It does not recognize traditional IRA basis, so your full withdrawal is taxed. Binding rulings from the Spanish tax authority (V1535-14, following V2412-05) confirm US Social Security is taxable in Spain, with a US credit.
Wealth tax: Patrimonio applies above a personal allowance of about €700,000 (plus €300,000 for a main home), on a state scale of 0.2-3.5%. Madrid and Andalucía rebate it to near zero. But the national ISGF claws that rebate back above an effective ~€3.7M. At about $2.3M net, you sit below the ISGF threshold, so the drag is the regular Patrimonio scale (or near zero in a rebate region).
Roth accounts are not tax-free in Spain. A binding ruling (V1291-22) taxes Roth withdrawals as savings income at 19-30%, on the amount received minus your contributions. Glidepath does not track your Roth contribution basis, so it conservatively taxes the full withdrawal on the savings scale; a toggle models the fully basis-covered case instead. Your region (autonomous community) materially changes both the IRPF top rate and the wealth tax, so confirm yours.
The plan models Spain's mínimo del contribuyente (personal allowance) - €5,550, plus €1,150 at 65 and a further €1,400 at 75 - taxed at zero via Spain's tax-the-minimum mechanic (income-tax law arts. 56/63). A couple is modeled as filing jointly, which is why the €5,550 is not doubled (Spanish law holds it flat for a joint return) and why a €3,400 joint-filing reduction is applied instead. The plan does not model allowances for dependents or disability, regional (CCAA) top-ups, or a spouse's own age increase, so your real Spanish bill can be somewhat lower than shown. An accountant can size the remaining gap for your situation.
What could change this.
Your US Social Security is likely taxed in Spain today; a court fight could change that, so the plan models it as taxed.
When: Official position now; could shift with litigation
How much wealth tax you owe depends on your region and could change; Madrid and Andalucía rebate it today, but a future government might not.
When: Policy-dependent; ISGF is now permanent
Compliance traps that catch US retirees here.
Investment products that look ordinary to locals can be tax traps for US citizens. These are the ones specific to Spain.
The Beckham Law flat tax is not available to retirees
The headline 24% flat tax is not open to retirees; Non-Lucrative Visa holders cannot use it and pay the full progressive income tax instead.
Spanish insurance-investment products and local funds are usually US tax traps
Spanish and EU pooled investments are usually US tax traps: to the IRS they count as PFICs or foreign trusts, taxed heavily whatever their Spanish tax break. Many US retirees keep their investments US-based for this reason.
Modelo 720 adds a Spanish foreign-asset report on top of US filings
Spain's Modelo 720 reports your foreign assets on top of your US filings, and Spain ignores US trusts for wealth tax.
US Social Security is usually taxed in Spain, not exempt (contested)
Spain's tax authority generally taxes your US Social Security as income, offset by a US credit, though a minority read the treaty as exempting it.
Roth withdrawals are taxed as savings income, not tax-free
Spain taxes Roth withdrawals at 19-30% savings rates on the growth portion; only your documented contributions come out untaxed.
Wealth tax and ISGF reach your worldwide assets and vary sharply by region
Spanish wealth tax reaches your whole portfolio; your bill depends heavily on your region, from near zero in Madrid or Andalucía to the full scale elsewhere.
Healthcare as a retiree.
Retirees reach the public system through the Convenio Especial. After 12 months on the local padrón (the town-hall residents' roll), a legal resident who is not covered through work can buy in. The fixed cost is about €60/month under 65, or about €157/month at 65+, and it excludes the prescription-drug subsidy. The Non-Lucrative Visa itself requires comprehensive private insurance (often international) with no copays or waiting periods. Many retirees keep private cover anyway, for shorter waits.
At 65+, the €157/month Convenio Especial is about $2,000/year. Comprehensive private or expat insurance for an older retiree runs about $2,500-4,000+/year per person, rising steeply over 70-75, so the model uses a $3,000 midpoint. US Medicare does not cover care in Spain.
These display figures show the non-EU private-insurance path at about age 65; premiums rise toward 350-500 EUR/month by age 75, and most insurers refuse new clients past about 65-75. The projection itself models the Convenio Especial buy-in (60 EUR/month under 65, 157 EUR/month at 65+, with medications paid at full price) as the long-run floor, with any private policy entered as your own scheme premium.
The retirement visa route.
The Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) is Spain's long-stay permit for retirees who can live on savings and pension income without working. The initial authorization runs one year; a renewal is valid for two years (Royal Decree 1155/2024, arts. 61 and 64), until you qualify for long-term residence.
- Passive income of at least 400% of the IPREM benchmark: about €28,800/year (about €2,400/month in 2026).
- Add about 100% of the IPREM benchmark for each dependent: about €7,200/year (about €600/month).
- Private health insurance from a Spain-authorized insurer, with full coverage and no copays or waiting periods.
- No work is allowed in Spain. The first authorization lasts one year; each renewal after that is valid for two years.
What could this cost you?
A fast, illustrative estimate for Spain - no login, nothing stored. Every country page carries its own, tuned to that country's tax treatment.
Your monthly spending power in Spain on about $1M
These odds are about a withdrawal this size holding up over time - not about how far that amount goes here.
A lean lifestyle in Spain
Day to day, that looks like a small apartment in a lower-cost town, transit or one older economy car, cooking at home with the odd cheap meal out. For health, the public health system, with out-of-pocket costs a real worry.
As a US citizen, you keep filing US taxes wherever you live.
Spain: US treaty: foreign tax credit (pay the higher of US or Spain tax, never both)
This is a fast estimate, not the full simulation, and not financial advice. It only flags the tax question. The full plan works out what you'd actually owe on each side of the border. It also models real balances, every account type, and healthcare, year by year.
The terms you'll run into.
- IRPF
- IRPF is Spain's personal income tax on your worldwide income. Pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, and US Social Security use a progressive scale of about 19-47% (state plus regional); interest, dividends and gains use a separate savings scale (19/21/23/27/30%).
- Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio (Wealth Tax)
- Spain's yearly tax on your worldwide net worth above a personal allowance of about €700,000 (plus up to €300,000 for your main home). The regional scale runs about 0.2-3.5%, but Madrid and Andalucía rebate it to near zero.
- ISGF/ITSGF (Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes)
- A national tax on large fortunes, made permanent in 2024, that copies the top wealth-tax brackets. It hits net worth of €3M or more (about €4M once your main home is counted) and claws back the regional wealth-tax rebate.
- Visado de Residencia No Lucrativa (NLV)
- Spain's standard long-stay permit for retirees who live on savings and pensions. It requires proof of passive income, private health insurance, and no work in Spain.
- Convenio Especial
- A paid buy-in that lets legal residents join the regional public health system after a year on the padrón (the local town-hall register). It costs about €60/month under 65 or €157/month at 65+, and does not include the prescription-drug subsidy.
- Modelo 720
- Spain's yearly report of foreign assets (accounts, securities, and real estate), required when any one category tops €50,000. It is separate from and on top of the US FBAR and FATCA filings; the EU struck down the old penalties in 2022, but you still must file.
- AEAT (Spanish Tax Agency)
- Spain's national tax authority, which collects income tax and wealth tax and issues binding rulings that decide how the US-Spain treaty is applied.
- IPREM (public income benchmark)
- A public income figure the Spanish government updates each year and uses to set thresholds. The Non-Lucrative Visa sets its income floor as a multiple of the IPREM.
US terms that follow you to every country
- PFIC
- Passive Foreign Investment Company - the IRS label for almost any non-US fund, ETF, or pooled investment. Owning one triggers punitive US tax rates and Form 8621 paperwork. The single most common trap for Americans investing abroad.
- FBAR
- Foreign Bank Account Report (FinCEN Form 114). A yearly online filing that lists your non-US accounts once they total over $10,000. Not a tax - just a report - but penalties for skipping it are severe.
- FATCA
- A US law that makes foreign banks report American customers to the IRS. It is why some foreign banks refuse US clients, and why you may also file Form 8938 with your return.
- Form 8621
- The IRS form you must file for each PFIC you own. Complex enough that most preparers charge per form, per year.
- Form 8938
- The FATCA companion form filed with your US return, listing foreign financial assets above a threshold. Overlaps with, but does not replace, the FBAR.
- Forms 3520/3520-A
- US reporting forms for foreign trusts. Some foreign retirement and insurance wrappers count as trusts, dragging their owners into this heavy annual paperwork.
- UCITS
- The standard European fund format (an EU regulatory label). Fine for Europeans - but to the IRS, a UCITS fund is a PFIC.
- Totalization agreement
- A US bilateral deal that stops you paying Social Security tax to two countries on the same work, and lets work credits in each country count toward one benefit.
- Foreign tax credit
- The US mechanism that stops double taxation: tax you pay to your residence country offsets your US bill on the same income, dollar for dollar. You effectively pay the higher of the two totals - not both.
- Saving clause
- The clause in every US tax treaty that lets the US keep taxing its own citizens as if the treaty did not exist. It is why moving abroad never ends US filing.
- Foreign grantor trust
- The IRS classification some foreign pension and insurance wrappers fall into. It means the owner reports the trust personally, on Forms 3520/3520-A, every year.
Nothing on this page is invented.
Confidence: verified. Last verified July 17, 2026. Every figure above comes from one of the sources below - the same country data the full plan uses to compute your projection.
- petete.tributos.hacienda.gob.es
- taxsummaries.pwc.com
- taxsummaries.pwc.com
- irs.gov
- sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es
- sanidad.gob.es
- irs.gov
See the full country-by-country build sheet on the coverage page.