Spanish equivalence surcharge — what to add to a retailer's invoice
The surcharge is charged on the same base as VAT, and its rate follows the VAT rate of the sale: 5.2 % with the standard rate, 1.4 % with 10 %, 0.5 % with 4 %, and 1.75 % for tobacco.
2026 rules — verified on September 26, 2026Free, no account
This content is part of the path: Managing VAT as a self-employed worker in Spain· Step 4 of 7· Next step: Modelo 036: registering as a business or professional in Spain
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Sources and assumptions
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 del IVA — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « 1.º Con carácter general, el 5,2 por ciento. »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « 2.º Para las entregas de bienes a las que resulte aplicable el tipo impositivo establecido en el artículo 91, apartado uno de esta Ley, el 1,4 por ciento. »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « 3.º Para las entregas de bienes a las que sea aplicable el tipo impositivo previsto en el artículo 91, apartado dos de esta Ley, el 0,50 por ciento. »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « 4.º Para las entregas de bienes objeto del Impuesto Especial sobre las Labores del Tabaco, el 1,75 por ciento. »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 del Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « Uno. El Impuesto se exigirá al tipo del 21 por ciento, salvo lo dispuesto en el artículo siguiente. »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « Uno. Se aplicará el tipo del 10 por ciento a las operaciones siguientes: »
- BOE — Ley 37/1992 — tax year 2026, verified on September 26, 2026
Excerpt from the source : « Dos. Se aplicará el tipo del 4 por ciento a las operaciones siguientes: »
Calculation assumptions
- The buyer is a retailer covered by the equivalence surcharge scheme. This tool does not check the conditions of articles 148 and 149 of Law 37/1992 and article 59 of the VAT Regulation (an individual or a pass-through entity, with sales to final consumers above 80 % of the previous year's sales, save the exceptions in article 149), nor that the buyer is not a commercial company (article 156).
- The surcharge base is the VAT base (article 160). Intra-EU acquisitions and imports, where the retailer pays the surcharge themselves, are not covered.
- You choose the VAT rate of the sale; the surcharge rate follows from it under article 161. Tobacco is charged VAT at the standard rate.
- Whether the goods sold fall within the scheme is not checked. Article 148.Tres of Law 37/1992 leaves the list to the Regulation, whose article 59.2 excludes, among others, motor vehicles and their spare parts, boats and aircraft, jewellery and gold or platinum items, luxury furs, works of art and antiques, second-hand goods, oil products subject to excise duties, industrial machinery, building materials and investment gold. No surcharge is charged on their sale (article 157, 4.º of the Law).
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This result is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Check your situation with the tax authorities or a professional.