Spain: A review of the main tax measures introduced by the royal decree-law in response to the crisis in the Middle East

On March 21, 2026, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, of March 20, 2026, approving the Comprehensive Plan to Respond to the Crisis in the Middle East, which entered into force on March 22, 2026 and has been approved by the lower house of the Spanish parliament. The legislation contains tax measures, some of which were introduced in royal decree-laws 2/2026, of February 3, 2026 and 16/2025, of December 23, 2025, which were not ultimately approved. 

In our publication of March 23, 2026 (which, in turn, refers to the prior publications that covered the repealed royal decree-laws, as regards the provisions contained in all of them), we summarized all of these tax measures, including most notably the following:

1. Measures relating to personal income tax (tax credits) and to corporate income tax (accelerated depreciation), as applicable, to promote improvements in the energy efficiency of residential properties, the acquisition of plug‑in electric and fuel‑cell vehicles and charging points, and the installation of renewable self‑consumption systems.
2. A temporary reduction in the VAT rate (to 10%) applicable to (i) certain supplies of electricity; (ii) supplies, imports and intra‑Community acquisitions of natural gas, briquettes, biomass pellets and firewood; and (iii) supplies of gasoline, diesel and biofuels intended for use as fuel; as well as a reduction in the rate of the tax on oil and gas applicable to diesel, unleaded gasoline, fuel oil, LPG, natural gas, kerosene for uses other than as fuel, biodiesel and bioethanol, and a reduction in the electricity tax rate.
                  
   In principle, this reduction in rates applies from March 22 to June 30, 2026, unless in April 2026 the change in the CPI for each category of goods (electricity, gas and fuels in the case of VAT; fuels in the case of the tax on oil and gas; and electricity in the case of the electricity tax) does not exceed the CPI for the same month in the previous year by more than 15%, in which case it will cease to apply in June 2026. 
              
   Several reductions in the tax base of the tax on the value of electricity output and in the amount of its prepayments are also established with effect for all of fiscal year 2026.
3. A transfer and stamp tax exemption for transfers of energy savings under the Energy Saving Certificate System; and several changes in the area of local taxes, allowing, among others, tax ordinances to regulate reductions in the real estate tax (IBI) and in the tax on construction, installation projects and works (ICIO) for the installation of systems for the thermal or electrical use of ambient energy. 

Furthermore, also with effect in the tax sphere (e.g., in the tax group regime), the new legislation re-establishes the accounting moratorium relating to the ground for winding-up due to losses regulated in article 363.1.e) of the Revised Capital Companies Law, which allows companies not to compute (for these purposes) losses from 2020 and 2021 until the close of the fiscal year that commences in 2026; and requires that the directors or shareholders call or request the holding of a shareholders’ meeting (within two months following the close) to approve the winding-up in the event that, excluding such losses from 2020 and 2021, the result for fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 consists of losses that reduce the net worth below one half of the share capital.

Lastly, it should be borne in mind that the State Tax Agency has posted on its website the Note on the effects, in the tax sphere, of Royal Decree-Law 16/2025, of December 23, 2025 and of Royal Decree-Law 2/2026, of February 3, 2026. 

According to the State Tax Agency, the date on which the 2025 personal income tax fell due, the changes introduced by Royal Decree-Law 16/2025 were in force and fully effective from a legal standpoint. Therefore, the measures of this law apply in 2025 in relation to: (i) the imputation of income from real property, (ii) the extension of the tax credits for work to increase energy efficiency in residential properties regulated in sections 1 and 2 of additional provision fifty of the Personal Income Tax Law; (iii) the period for waiving and revoking the personal income tax objective assessment method (waivers and revocations submitted during the term of Royal Decree-Law 16/2025 and Royal Decree-Law 2/2026 being valid), and (iv) the exemptions for personal injury in forest fires and the aid approved by the Valencia Autonomous Community Government in Decree 172/2024, of November 26, 2024 and in Decree 176/2024, of December 3, 2024. Regarding fiscal year 2026, the limits for applying the objective assessment method in force in fiscal years 2016 to 2024 remain in place.

As relates to 2026 VAT, the limits for applying the simplified and special VAT schemes for agriculture, livestock and fishing in force in fiscal years 2016 to 2024 are maintained.