How to declare investments held with a foreign broker
If you invest with a broker such as Trade Republic, DEGIRO or Interactive Brokers, the tax return is on you. The draft from the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) starts from what payers report to it, and a foreign broker does not report to the AEAT. Your purchases, sales, dividends and interest do not show up. You have to work them out and add them yourself.
Why the draft does not include this data
A foreign firm does not file the Spanish information returns. For the tax agency, that income does not exist until you declare it.
Trade Republic is a mixed case. Since 2025 it operates through a Spanish branch with a Spanish IBAN, withholds 19% and reports with forms 187, 189, 193 and 196. What happened after that change may already be in the draft. What came before is not. Check what the draft contains before adding anything, so you do not declare the same income twice.
Gains and losses on sales
- The method is FIFO per homogeneous security, across all your brokers (art. 37.2 LIRPF). If you bought the same ETF at two brokers, the oldest purchases go first, wherever they are.
- Fees raise the acquisition value and lower the transfer value (art. 35).
The detail, with examples, is in capital gains when selling.
Shares in another currency
If the security trades in dollars or another currency, there are two calculations:
- The gain is computed in that currency and converted to euros at the rate of the sale date (binding rulings of the DGT V0152-26, V2422-20 and V0706-22).
- The exchange difference on the currency is a separate gain or loss.
The official rates are the ECB reference rates.
Dividends and interest
They are capital income and are taxed in the savings base. Declare the gross amount, before withholdings.
A foreign dividend can carry two withholdings:
- The one from the country of origin, deducted by the payer.
- The Spanish one, if the custodian is Spanish. It is 19% of what you receive after the origin withholding, as the AEAT explains for Spanish custodians.
Account interest, and Trade Republic saveback, go with interest.
International double taxation deduction
What you already paid abroad is deducted in Spain (art. 80 LIRPF), with two limits:
- What the tax treaty with that country allows for dividends.
- The average tax rate of your return applied to that income.
Anything withheld above the treaty rate is not deducted. You claim it back in the source country. Common examples: Switzerland withholds 35% and the treaty allows 15%. Germany withholds 26.375% against the same 15%.
Treaties change. With Japan the cap has been 5% since 2021 (BOE-A-2021-2977), although Japan withholds 15.315%. Denmark has had no treaty with Spain since 2009, so you deduct what you paid, capped by the average rate. For each country, see the AEAT leaflets "Residentes con rentas extranjeras".
Offsetting in the savings base
There are two groups: gains and losses on transfers, and capital income (dividends and interest). A negative balance in one group offsets up to 25% of the positive balance of the other (art. 49 LIRPF). What does not fit is carried forward four years.
The two-month rule
If you sell at a loss and rebuy homogeneous securities in the two months before or after, you cannot count that loss until you sell the rebought ones (art. 33.5.f LIRPF). It counts across all your brokers.
Modelo 100 boxes for 2025
According to the form in Order HAC/277/2026 (BOE-A-2026-7041):
| What | Box |
|---|---|
| Interest | 0027 |
| Dividends | 0029 |
| Administration and custody fees | 0037 |
| Capital income withholdings | 0597 |
| Shares admitted to trading (per entity) | 0326-0340 |
| Transfer and acquisition value of each entity | 0328 and 0331 |
| Foreign funds and ETFs without withholding | 2224-2236 |
| Pending negative balances, gains and losses | 0439-0442 |
| Pending negative balances, capital income | 0449-0452 |
| International double taxation deduction | 0588 |
The numbers change every year. Check those for your tax year in the AEAT "Manual práctico de Renta" (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es, IRPF practical manuals).
Modelo 720
If your assets abroad exceed EUR 50,000 in any block (accounts, securities, real estate), you must report them with modelo 720. The 2022 CJEU ruling (C-788/19) and Law 5/2022 removed the disproportionate penalties, but the obligation remains.
For Trade Republic, the DGT (V2475-25) says a cash account with a Spanish IBAN, assigned to the Spanish branch, is not "abroad". The ruling covers that account and warns that money ending up in an omnibus account at a foreign bank does count. If you are unsure about securities or another broker, ask an adviser.
How Sextante helps
If you record or import your trades from Trade Republic, the portfolio prepares these pieces:
- Capital gains in euros, with FIFO per security and ECB rates.
- Payouts (dividends, interest, saveback), separating what is already in the draft from what you have to add.
- Savings base with offsetting and double taxation.
Each figure shows where it comes from: the broker, derived, market data, an estimate or manual. An estimate is never presented as exact.
Educational information, not tax advice. Rules change; check your case with the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) or an adviser before filing.