Treaty detail
United States - Spain tax treaty
A practical treaty page built around the official treaty text, key withholding categories, permanent-establishment rules, and article-level summaries.
Signed
1990-02-22
Effective
1990-12-27
Articles seeded
6
Withholding snapshot
Dividends
Individual rate: 15% · Corporate rate: 5%
The 5 percent corporate rate generally requires direct ownership of at least 10 percent of the voting stock under the 2013 protocol framework. Zero-rate parent-subsidiary results may apply at 80 percent ownership, subject to limitation-on-benefits and holding-period conditions.
Interest
Rate: 0%
Under the 2013 protocol, the general interest withholding result moved to zero percent in many qualifying cases, but contingent interest and certain back-to-back arrangements still require article-level review.
Royalties
Rate: 0%
The 2013 protocol generally eliminates source-country withholding on qualifying royalties across the major copyright, patent, and know-how categories.
Permanent establishment
Construction threshold: more than 12 months
Dependent-agent analysis remains important where a person habitually concludes contracts on behalf of the enterprise under the treaty wording.
Other treaty flags
The 2013 protocol updated several pension-related provisions. Private pensions generally follow the residence state, but social-security and government-pension rules follow distinct article paths and deserve article-level review.
Seeded article summaries
Article 4
Residence
Defines treaty residence and controls access to reduced withholding and business-profit protections.
Residence is the gateway article for the Spain treaty. Because the 2013 protocol introduced a robust limitation-on-benefits regime, residence alone is not sufficient and the LOB tests should be reviewed alongside Article 4.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
Sets the business-presence threshold for source-country taxation of business profits.
The Spain treaty follows the standard rule under which a building site, construction or installation project, or drilling rig becomes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than twelve months. Preparatory-and-auxiliary carve-outs still require article-level review.
Article 7
Business Profits
Generally reserves business profits to the residence state absent a permanent establishment in the other state.
This is the operating-rule article for founders and consultants. It keeps business profits from being taxed in the other state when the PE threshold has not been met, subject to the limitation-on-benefits framework.
Article 10
Dividends
Provides reduced source-country withholding rates for qualifying dividends, with zero-rate eligibility added by the 2013 protocol.
The Spain dividend article was significantly improved by the 2013 protocol, which added zero-rate eligibility for qualifying parent-subsidiary cases at high ownership thresholds. The headline 15 percent and 5 percent rates remain useful but do not capture the full picture.
Article 11
Interest
The 2013 protocol generally moves source-country interest withholding toward a zero-percent result.
Interest withholding under the protocol-updated Spain treaty is one of the clearest examples of why treaty tables alone are insufficient. The general result is zero percent, but contingent interest and certain related-party arrangements remain subject to article-level review.
Article 12
Royalties
Generally removes source-country withholding on qualifying royalties under the 2013 protocol.
The royalty article is especially valuable for software, licensing, and IP structures because the protocol-updated treaty generally produces a zero percent result across the major royalty categories.
Official text
Other treaties involving these jurisdictions
Computed from the cross-reference graph. Links open the related entity on this site.
This entry cites
- TreatyUS–GB treaty
- TreatyUS–CA treaty
- TreatyUS–DE treaty
- TreatyUS–FR treaty
- TreatyUS–JP treaty
- TreatyUS–NL treaty
- TreatyUS–AU treaty
- TreatyUS–KR treaty
Primary sources
- Spain treaty documents pageVerified 2026-05-20
- Official U.S.-Spain treaty PDFVerified 2026-05-20
- IRS Tax Treaty Table 1Verified 2026-05-20
Important disclaimer
This library is for general tax education only. Always verify filing obligations, due dates, and tax consequences against the cited primary source or with a qualified tax professional.