Bizkaia · 2025 Tax Year · Filed April–June 2026
Declaración de la Renta — Complete Guide
Everything you need to file your Spanish income tax return — for both employees and the self-employed (autónomos), with specific focus on the Basque Country foral system.
Critical: If you are a resident of Bizkaia
Most guides describe the national system managed by the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT). That does not apply to you. As a resident of Bizkaia, you file with the Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia) — a completely separate institution with its own website, its own rules, its own rates, its own deductions, and its own portal. The national AEAT website will tell you it has no data for you. This is normal and correct.
Part 1 — What is the Renta?
The Declaración de la Renta is Spain’s annual personal income tax return — officially called IRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas). It covers all income you earned in the previous calendar year (January 1 – December 31, 2025) and is filed in spring 2026.
Think of it as a yearly reconciliation: the tax authority already has some of your financial data (from your employer, banks, etc.). The Renta is where you review that data, add anything they don’t know about, claim deductions you’re entitled to, and either receive a refund or pay the difference.
For employees, withholding tax is taken from your paycheck all year, so the Renta often results in a small refund. For autónomos, you make quarterly advance payments (Modelo 130), and the Renta reconciles those against your actual liability.
The Basque system (Concierto Económico)
The Basque Country has a constitutionally protected fiscal autonomy called the Concierto Económico. Each of the three provinces — Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Álava/Araba — manages and collects its own IRPF independently. As a resident of Bilbao (Bizkaia), your tax authority is:
Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia — bizkaia.eus
Portal: ebizkaia.eus (for online filings and Bak key access)
The national AEAT (agenciatributaria.gob.es) has no jurisdiction over your income tax.
Bizkaia’s IRPF has somewhat different tax brackets, different minimum filing thresholds, different deductions, and a different portal from the rest of Spain. The borrador (draft return) comes from the Hacienda Foral, not AEAT.
Part 2 — Key Dates (2025 income, filed 2026)
Note: These are the national-level dates confirmed by AEAT. The Hacienda Foral de Bizkaia typically runs its own campaign on a similar schedule — verify the exact Bizkaia dates at ebizkaia.eus closer to April.
Part 3 — Who must file?
Not everyone is legally required to file, but filing is often worth it even if you don’t have to — especially if you had excess withholding, which means you may be owed a refund.
Employees (trabajadores por cuenta ajena)
Even if you’re below the threshold: If your employer withheld too much tax from your paycheck — which is common — filing a return is the only way to get that money back. It’s almost always worth filing if you had a regular job.
Autónomos (self-employed)
If you are registered as autónoma and operated your activity in 2025, you are always required to file regardless of income level. There is no minimum threshold exemption for the self-employed. You file even if you had a loss or very low income.
Part 4 — What to gather before you start
Both employees and autónomos need to collect documents before sitting down to file. Most of this information will pre-populate in your borrador (draft), but you should always verify it.
Everyone
Employees (additionally)
Autónomos (additionally)
Getting access: Bak key (Bizkaia)
To access the ebizkaia.eus portal, you need a Clave Bak — Bizkaia’s digital identity system. This is separate from the national Cl@ve PIN. You can request and activate it online at ebizkaia.eus, or in person at a Hacienda Foral office. You’ll need your NIE/DNI and a mobile phone.
Alternatively, a certificado digital (issued by FNMT or another accredited body) also works on the portal.
Part 5 — For employees: step-by-step guide
This section is for anyone who worked as an employee (trabajadora por cuenta ajena) in 2025, especially with multiple employers. It does not cover self-employment income.
Check whether you need to file
First, determine if you’re legally required to file (see Part 3). If your income was from a single employer and fell below ~€22,000, you may not be obligated. But check: if too much tax was withheld, filing gets you a refund. It’s often worth filing regardless.
Get your Bak key or digital certificate
Go to ebizkaia.eus and request a Clave Bak. You’ll get an activation code by SMS. This is your digital identity for all Bizkaia tax filings.
Collect your certificado de retenciones
Ask your employer (or each employer, if you worked multiple jobs) for your annual withholding certificate — certificado de retenciones e ingresos a cuenta. This document shows how much you were paid and how much tax was withheld on your behalf. Your employer is legally required to provide this. It may also be available in your ebizkaia.eus account under datos fiscales.
Access your borrador (draft return)
From 8 April 2026, log in to ebizkaia.eus using your Bak key. Navigate to Renta / IRPF and open the borrador. This is a draft return that the Hacienda Foral has pre-filled using data it already has from your employer, banks, and other sources.
Do not just accept the borrador blindly. Review every line. Common missing items include: rental deductions, donations, union dues, EPSV contributions, and certain family deductions.
Verify and amend the borrador
Check that all your income is correctly listed. Then add any deductions you’re entitled to (see Part 7). The portal guides you through each section. Key things to look for:
— Income from all employers is included
— Bank interest is listed
— Rental deductions are added if you pay rent as your primary residence
— EPSV or pension contributions are entered
Check the result: a devolver o a pagar
The return will calculate one of three outcomes: a devolver (the Hacienda owes you a refund), a pagar (you owe tax), or cuota cero (zero balance). For most employees with a single employer, the result is a small refund because withholding is calibrated conservatively.
Submit the return
Once satisfied, confirm and submit electronically via ebizkaia.eus. You’ll receive a confirmation number — save it. If you’re owed a refund, provide your IBAN and the money will be transferred within weeks. If you owe tax, you can pay directly via direct debit (before 25 June) or bank transfer.
If you owe a larger amount, you can often split it into two payments — the portal will show you this option during submission.
Part 6 — For autónomos: step-by-step guide
This section covers filing as a self-employed person (autónoma) in Bizkaia. As an autónoma, you must file regardless of income level, and your return will be more complex than an employee’s.
The autónoma annual picture
Throughout 2025, you made quarterly advance payments via Modelo 130 (or 131 for module-based activity). These are prepayments against your IRPF liability. The annual Renta reconciles those advance payments against your actual tax bill. If you overpaid quarterly → refund. If you underpaid → you pay the difference.
Separately, your cuotas de autónomos (Social Security contributions) are a deductible expense, which reduces your taxable income.
Compile your annual income and expenses
Add up all invoices you issued in 2025 (your ingresos). Then compile all deductible business expenses (gastos deducibles). The difference is your rendimiento neto — net self-employment income — which is what gets taxed.
Know your deductible expenses
As an autónoma, you can deduct expenses that are directly related to your economic activity. Common deductible expenses include:
— Cuotas de autónomos (Social Security contributions — fully deductible)
— Studio rent (if used exclusively for professional activity)
— Professional materials
— Professional liability insurance
— Phone/internet (proportional to professional use)
— Accounting software, professional subscriptions
— Professional training and books
— Bank fees on your business account
— Transportation costs related to professional activities
Home office deduction: Only deductible if the space is exclusively used for professional activity, which is difficult to prove and rarely accepted. Studio rent is cleaner.
Gather your Modelo 130 payment records
Collect receipts or copies of all four quarterly Modelo 130 payments you made in 2025 (Q1: April, Q2: July, Q3: October, Q4: January 2026). These amounts will be deducted from your final IRPF liability. They should already appear in your ebizkaia.eus account.
Check for retenciones applied to your invoices
If any of your clients applied a withholding (retención) to your invoices — typically 7% for newly registered autónomos or 15% standard — those amounts were paid directly to the Hacienda on your behalf. They function like prepaid tax. Check your invoices and add up the total. This amount will appear as a credit against your final liability.
Note: as an educator providing IVA-exempt services (Art. 20.Uno.9º), retenciones may or may not have applied depending on your clients and invoice type.
Log in and open the borrador
From 8 April 2026, access ebizkaia.eus with your Bak key and navigate to the IRPF/Renta section. Open the pre-filled draft and navigate to the rendimientos de actividades económicas section — this is where your autónoma income and expenses live.
The portal should have some data pre-loaded (e.g. what clients reported paying you, any retenciones declared by payers). Verify all of it against your own records.
Enter income and expenses in the return
Navigate to the actividades económicas en estimación directa simplificada section. Enter your total professional income (ingresos) and your total deductible expenses (gastos) for 2025. The system will calculate your rendimiento neto. You’ll also declare your epígrafe (IAE activity code).
Then verify that your Modelo 130 payments are correctly credited, along with any retenciones from clients.
Add personal deductions
Even as an autónoma, you can benefit from personal and family deductions (EPSV contributions, rental deduction if applicable, donations, etc.) — see Part 7. Add all relevant deductions before finalizing the return.
Review the result and submit
The system calculates your total tax liability, subtracts all prepayments (Modelo 130 + retenciones), and shows the final result. If you owe tax, you can pay by direct debit (deadline: 25 June) or bank transfer. Submit before 30 June 2026.
Part 7 — Key deductions in Bizkaia
Bizkaia’s deductions are different from — and often more generous than — the national regime. Always review what you’re entitled to. The portal shows them in Spanish; here’s a guide:
Important: The borrador will NOT automatically include deductions for rent, EPSV contributions, or donations. You must add these manually. This is the single most common reason people leave money on the table. Always review carefully before confirming.
Part 8 — Tax brackets in Bizkaia (reference)
Bizkaia uses its own IRPF scale, distinct from the national one. These are the approximate general income (base general) brackets. Savings income (interest, dividends, capital gains) is taxed on a separate, lower scale.
| Taxable income (base general) | Approximate rate |
|---|---|
| Up to ~€17,000 | 23% |
| ~€17,000 – €33,000 | 28% |
| ~€33,000 – €53,000 | 35% |
| ~€53,000 – €72,000 | 40% |
| ~€72,000 – €180,000 | 45% |
| Over €180,000 | 49% |
These are marginal rates — only the income within each bracket is taxed at that rate. Your effective rate (what you actually pay as a percentage of total income) will be considerably lower. Rates are approximate; verify current Norma Foral figures at ebizkaia.eus.
Part 9 — After filing
If you get a refund (a devolver)
The Hacienda Foral will transfer the refund to the IBAN you provide. This usually takes 4–8 weeks after submission, though it can arrive faster. You can track the status on ebizkaia.eus. The legal maximum is 6 months from the campaign end (31 December 2026).
If you owe tax (a pagar)
You can pay by direct debit (submit by 25 June), online bank transfer, or in person at a bank. If the amount is significant, ask the portal about splitting into two payments — this option is often available. Pay before 30 June to avoid late penalties.
If you make a mistake
You can file a complementaria (complementary return) if you forgot to include income. If you claimed too much or paid too much, you can request a rectification. Don’t panic — errors happen and are correctable, as long as you address them voluntarily before the Hacienda contacts you.
Penalties for late or non-filing
If you miss the deadline and owe tax, late surcharges start at 1% and increase by 1% per month, escalating to formal penalties after 12 months or a Hacienda inspection. If you were owed a refund, late filing simply delays it. Either way, file on time.
Part 10 — Glossary
Part 11 — Key links (Bizkaia)
When in doubt, use a gestor. For autónomos especially, a gestor (licensed tax/accounting professional) who knows the Bizkaia foral system is worth the fee — typically €80–200 for the annual declaration. They can identify deductions you’d miss, handle the filing, and give you peace of mind.