Working out what you will actually take home each month should not be a mystery. Between the gross salary written in your contract and the net amount that reaches your account sit two big deductions: Social Security contributions and the IRPF (personal income tax) withholding. This guide explains how both work in 2026, including the new earned income deduction that leaves anyone on the minimum wage paying no IRPF.
Gross salary and net salary: what sets them apart
Gross salary is the total amount the company pays before any deduction. Net salary is what you receive after subtracting Social Security contributions and the IRPF withholding on account. If your contract says 30,000 euros gross a year, that is your gross salary. What you bank each month is quite a bit lower, and the gap depends above all on your family situation, the number of pay instalments, and the autonomous community where you are taxed.
Social Security contributions in 2026
The employee’s contribution for common contingencies and related items is 6.50% of gross salary in 2026. The usual breakdown for a permanent contract is:
- Common contingencies: 4.70%
- Unemployment: 1.55%
- Vocational training: 0.10%
- Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI): 0.15%
The MEI rises by one tenth of a point compared with 2025, part of the planned schedule of increases to shore up the pension system. The company pays a much higher contribution on its side, but that does not appear on your payslip as a deduction. Contribution bases have an annual minimum and maximum. For 2026 the maximum monthly base was set at 5,101.20 euros, under Order PJC/297/2026 published in the Official State Gazette. Above roughly 61,214 euros a year you no longer pay more into Social Security, although IRPF is still calculated on the full amount.
IRPF income tax bands in 2026
The IRPF is progressive. The more you earn, the higher the rate applied to the top slice of your income, not to the whole salary. The combined state plus regional bands, in a mid-range scenario, hold for 2026 as follows:
- Up to 12,450 euros: 19%
- From 12,450 to 20,200 euros: 24%
- From 20,200 to 35,200 euros: 30%
- From 35,200 to 60,000 euros: 37%
- From 60,000 to 300,000 euros: 45%
- Over 300,000 euros: 47%
Each autonomous community approves its own half of the scale, so the final rate does not shift by a few tenths but by several points. The state part is shared by everyone, but each region sets the regional part, and the gap in the combined top marginal rate is wide: it is around 45 percent, or a little below, in the Community of Madrid, which taxes least, and reaches close to 54 percent in the Valencian Community, the highest, with Catalonia also among the heaviest. The Basque Country and Navarre sit outside this scheme entirely, running their own foral (self-governing) tax systems with their own scales. You can check the current official scale on the e-office of the Tax Agency.
Personal and family allowance
Before applying the bands, the tax authority subtracts a personal and family allowance that is not taxed. The general amount is 5,550 euros, with increases for age (over 65 or over 75), dependent descendants, and ascendants who live with you. On top of this come the earned income reduction under article 20 and a general expense of 2,000 euros. This set of reductions is the reason two people on the same gross salary can have a different withholding.
The 2026 earned income deduction
The new feature this year is the earned income deduction introduced by Royal Decree-law 5/2026 (additional provision 61 of the IRPF Law). It is worth up to 590.89 euros and applies in full to anyone earning up to the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (the statutory minimum wage), set at 17,094 euros a year for 2026. From there it tapers by 20 cents for every extra euro, until it disappears at around 20,048 euros gross.
In practice, this deduction leaves anyone on the full-time minimum wage paying no IRPF. It is settled in the annual income tax return, not in the monthly withholding, so it can show up more clearly when you file than on your payslip. The detail is in the Official State Gazette.
A worked example on 30,000 euros
Take a salary of 30,000 euros gross in 2026, for a single person with no children on a permanent contract. Social Security takes 1,950 euros (6.50% of 30,000). The IRPF, once the general expense, the earned income reduction, and the personal allowance are applied, comes to around 4,926 euros. The annual net works out at about 23,124 euros, an effective deduction rate close to 23%. At this income level neither the earned income reduction nor the new 2026 deduction comes into play, because both are concentrated on the lowest salaries.
Net salary table for 2026
To see how the figures shift with pay, this table lists several gross salaries worked out with the 2026 tables for a single person with no children on a permanent contract. The monthly net is spread over 14 instalments, the most common setup in Spain.
| Gross a year | Social Security | IRPF | Net a year | Net a month (14) | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 € | 1,300 € | 2,035 € | 16,665 € | 1,190 € | 16.7% |
| 25,000 € | 1,625 € | 3,524 € | 19,852 € | 1,418 € | 20.6% |
| 30,000 € | 1,950 € | 4,926 € | 23,124 € | 1,652 € | 22.9% |
| 35,000 € | 2,275 € | 6,329 € | 26,397 € | 1,885 € | 24.6% |
| 45,000 € | 2,925 € | 9,475 € | 32,600 € | 2,329 € | 27.6% |
| 60,000 € | 3,900 € | 14,664 € | 41,436 € | 2,960 € | 30.9% |
The effective rate climbs gently because the IRPF is progressive: at 20,000 euros the combined contributions and IRPF sit near 17%, while at 60,000 they reach about 31%. Social Security, by contrast, stays flat at 6.50% until gross pay passes the maximum base (around 61,214 euros a year), after which it stops growing and only the IRPF keeps rising.
How to estimate your net salary
The quick way is to use a calculator that applies the current tables. National Calculators has two tools built for this:
- The net salary calculator estimates your monthly payslip starting from the annual gross, the number of pay instalments, and your family situation.
- The IRPF calculator shows you the breakdown by band and the average rate you will end up paying.
If you work with clients or suppliers outside the euro area, the currency converter gives you the amount in euros based on the European Central Bank reference rates. It is worth comparing the result with your latest actual payslip. If the withholding your company applies differs a lot, it is usually because you have extra pay instalments spread across the year, a variable productivity bonus, or because your family circumstances changed mid-year.
Frequently asked questions
How many pay instalments go into a Spanish payslip?
The most common setup is 14 instalments (12 monthly plus two extras, in summer and at Christmas), although some collective agreements spread the extras out and pay 12 higher monthly amounts. The annual gross is the same, but the net you see each month changes.
Why does my withholding go up when I get a pay rise?
Because the IRPF uses marginal rates. Only the part of income above each threshold pays the higher rate, but the monthly withholding is adjusted so that it balances against the annual total by year-end. A rise can push part of the salary into the next band.
Is there a cap on Social Security contributions?
Yes. There are annual maximum and minimum bases. In 2026 the maximum monthly base is 5,101.20 euros. Above that limit you no longer pay more into Social Security, although IRPF is still calculated on the total salary received.
Who benefits from the 2026 earned income deduction?
Low salaries above all. The deduction of up to 590.89 euros is full up to the minimum wage of 17,094 euros and tapers from there, so it stops applying at around 20,048 euros gross a year.