Italy vs Spain taxes (2026): income, wealth tax and capital gains

Italy vs Spain tax rates at a glance

Tax	🇮🇹 Italy	🇪🇸 Spain
Income tax	Personal income tax: 23% - 43% Regional surtax: 1.23% - 3.33% Municipal surtax: 0% - 0.9% Employee social security: around 10% Tax on wages: withholding applies	Personal income tax: 19% - 54% Reference employment scale: 19% - 47% Top marginal rate: About 54% Savings income: 19% - 30% Impatriate regime: 24% to EUR 600,000 Employee social security: About 6.5%+
Corporate tax	Corporate income tax: 24% IRAP: 3.9% Financial sector IRAP: higher Digital services tax: 3%	Corporate tax: 25% 2026 micro-enterprise first EUR 50,000: 19% 2026 micro-enterprise remainder: 21% 2026 small entities: 23% New companies and start-ups: 15% Credit institutions and certain hydrocarbons: 30% Canary Islands ZEC regime: 4% Pillar Two minimum: 15%
Capital gains tax	Capital gains tax: 26% Government bonds: 12.5% Real estate gains: 0% / 26% Crypto gains: 33%	Individual capital gains: 19% - 30% Crypto gains: 19% - 30% Property gains: 19% - 30% Non-resident asset-transfer gains: 19% Non-resident property-sale withholding: 3% Exit-tax ownership threshold: >25% and EUR 1m
Dividend tax	Dividend withholding tax: 26% Foreign dividends: 26% Corporate participation exemption: 95%	Resident dividend tax: 19% - 30% Dividend WHT: 19% Corporate participation exemption: 95% of qualifying dividend Non-resident domestic withholding: 19% Standard corporate tax before distribution: 25%
Wealth tax	Net wealth tax: 0% IVIE: 1.06% IVAFE: 0.2% IVAFE on privileged regimes: 0.4%	Wealth tax: 0.2% - 3.5% State minimum exemption: EUR 700,000 Principal residence exemption: Up to EUR 300,000 Large-fortune solidarity tax: 0% / 1.7% / 2.1% / 3.5% Wealth Tax filing threshold: Gross assets over EUR 2m
Inheritance / estate tax	Spouse and direct descendants: 4% Brothers and sisters: 6% Other relatives up to 4th degree: 6% Other beneficiaries: 8%	Inheritance tax: 7.65% - 34% Gift tax: 7.65% - 34% Group I state allowance: EUR 15,956.87+ Group II state allowance: EUR 15,956.87 Group III state allowance: EUR 7,993.46 Group IV state allowance: None State fallback effective ceiling: Up to 81.6%
VAT / GST / sales tax	VAT: 22%	VAT: 21% / 10% / 4%
Other key taxes	None listed on country overview	Reference employment scale: 19% - 47%

Who wins on each tax

Personal income taxItaly

Italy's 43% national top IRPEF rate is below Spain's potential combined regional top rate of about 54%.

Corporate taxSpain

Spain's general corporate rate is 25%; Italy generally combines 24% IRES with 3.9% IRAP.

Capital gains taxItaly

Italy generally taxes share and investment gains at 26%, government bonds at 12.5% and crypto gains at 33% from 2026; Spain taxes savings-base gains at 19% to 30%, and property sales can also trigger municipal land-value tax.

Wealth taxItaly

Spain levies annual wealth tax under regional rules and a solidarity tax on large fortunes; Italy has no broad domestic net wealth tax but residents can owe IVIE on foreign real estate and IVAFE on foreign financial assets.

Inheritance taxItaly

Italy's 4% to 8% inheritance rates are generally lighter than Spain's variable regional regime.

The verdict

Italy is usually the better fit for a private investor: its standard 26% dividend and capital-gains rate sits below Spain's savings-base range of 19% to 30%.

Spain's 25% corporate rate is slightly lower than Italy's combined IRES and typical IRAP burden, but wealth tax changes the equation for high-net-worth residents.

Choose Italy for private wealth and investment income; choose Spain when the business and location case is stronger than the wealth-tax cost.

How to read this comparison

Italy and Spain share Mediterranean appeal, but Spain's wealth-tax system makes the private-investor comparison materially different.

Frequently asked questions

Is Italy or Spain better for wealthy residents?

Italy is often more attractive because Spain has annual wealth-tax exposure, but foreign-asset taxes, regional rules and special regimes need to be modelled.