About El Sueldo Neto
El Sueldo Neto exists to answer one straightforward question: how much will I actually take home after taxes in Spain? Whether you are a Spanish national, an expat negotiating a relocation package, or a freelancer weighing your options, our calculators give you a clear, reliable answer in seconds.
Who Is Behind This Project
Mottalib Radif
Founder of El Sueldo Neto
MBA — INSEAD
Mottalib founded El Sueldo Neto after realising that most workers in Spain lacked access to trustworthy, transparent, and free tools for understanding their payslips. With a background in business and finance from INSEAD, one of the world's leading business schools, he set out to build tax calculators that combine official data with a user experience anyone can follow.
His goal is simple: pair the precision of data published by the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) and Social Security with a fast, intuitive interface that respects your privacy.
Our Mission
We believe every worker has the right to know exactly how much they will earn before accepting a job offer, negotiating a raise, or planning their household budget. Spanish payroll taxes are notoriously complex — national IRPF brackets, regional tax rates that vary across 17 autonomous communities, Social Security contributions, the Beckham Law for inbound workers — and the official resources are almost entirely in Spanish.
That is why we built a suite of more than 27 free calculators, updated every fiscal year, covering everything from a basic gross-to-net salary calculation to specialised tools like the autonomous community comparison, the Beckham Law simulator, the severance pay calculator, the mortgage estimator, and the retirement planner. And because we know Spain attracts talent from all over the world, we offer the site in both Spanish and English.
How We Ensure Accuracy
Every calculator follows a rigorous development process:
- Official data sourcing: We extract IRPF tax brackets, Social Security contribution rates, the minimum wage (SMI), and regional scales directly from legislation published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) and the AEAT.
- Algorithm implementation: Our calculation engine follows the rules set out in Law 35/2006 (IRPF), Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015 (Social Security), and all current regional regulations.
- Cross-verification: We compare our results against the AEAT's official withholding simulator, targeting a maximum deviation of 5 EUR per month in most scenarios.
- Annual updates: At the start of each fiscal year, we review every parameter: national and regional IRPF brackets, contribution bases and ceilings, SMI, MEI rates, and self-employed (RETA) quotas.
Official Sources We Rely On
Our calculators draw exclusively from current Spanish tax and employment law. Here are the primary sources:
Withholding tables, tax forms, binding rulings, and the official IRPF withholding simulator.
Contribution bases and rates, minimum and maximum thresholds, and self-employed (RETA) quotas.
Laws and royal decrees: IRPF Law 35/2006, Workers' Statute RDL 2/2015, General Social Security Law.
Regional IRPF scales, local deductions, and tax regulations for all 17 autonomous communities.
Key Legislation
- Law 35/2006 (IRPF) — comprehensive income tax regulation, national brackets, and allowable deductions.
- Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015 (Workers' Statute) — bonus pay rules, salary structure, and contract termination.
- Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015 (General Social Security Law) — general regime, contributions, unemployment and retirement benefits.
- Royal Decree-Law 13/2022 — new self-employed contribution system based on actual income.
- AEAT — Special Regime for Displaced Workers (Art. 93 LIRPF) — the Beckham Law for inbound workers.
Built for Privacy
Every calculation runs entirely in your browser. We never send your salary data, personal details, or financial information to any server. We do not use third-party advertising trackers or sell data to anyone. Your privacy is not a footnote — it is a core design principle.
For Everyone in Spain
Spain is home to millions of foreign residents, digital nomads, and international professionals. Many of them face the same challenge: making sense of a tax system documented almost exclusively in Spanish. El Sueldo Neto bridges that gap by providing full English-language coverage of the same tools and guides available to Spanish speakers, so no one has to guess what their net pay will be.
Fiscal Year 2026
This version of the site is fully updated for fiscal year 2026, incorporating the latest national and regional IRPF brackets (all 17 autonomous communities plus the Basque Country and Navarre foral regimes), Social Security contribution rates, the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI), self-employed RETA quotas by income, and the current minimum interprofessional wage (SMI).
Our Methodology: How Each Calculator Is Built
Transparency is at the heart of what we do. Here is a closer look at the methodology behind our calculators and the steps we take to ensure reliability:
Data collection and verification
At the start of each fiscal year, our team reviews every relevant regulatory publication from the BOE, the AEAT, and each of the 17 autonomous community tax agencies. We extract the exact IRPF brackets (both state and regional portions), Social Security contribution rates and ceilings, the MEI rate, the SMI, and all applicable deductions. Each data point is cross-referenced against at least two official sources to eliminate transcription errors.
Algorithm development
Our calculation engine implements the full IRPF withholding algorithm as defined in the Reglamento del IRPF (Royal Decree 439/2007), including personal minimums, family deductions, pension contributions, disability allowances, and the complexity of handling 12 versus 14 pay periods. For Social Security, we model the contribution groups, the minimum and maximum bases, and the specific rates for general contingencies, unemployment, vocational training, and the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism.
Testing and validation
Every calculator undergoes rigorous testing before publication. We run hundreds of test cases covering a range of salary levels (from SMI to over 200,000 EUR), family configurations (single, married with various numbers of children), contract types (indefinite, temporary), and all 17 autonomous communities plus the three Basque provinces and Navarre. Results are compared against the AEAT's official withholding simulator, and we target a maximum deviation of 5 EUR per month for the standard net salary calculator.
Technology Stack
El Sueldo Neto is built with a modern, performance-oriented technology stack designed for speed, accessibility, and privacy:
- Astro: Our site is built with Astro, a modern static site generator that delivers lightning-fast page loads by shipping minimal JavaScript to the browser. Pages are pre-rendered at build time, ensuring instant load times and excellent SEO performance.
- React: Interactive calculator components are built with React for a responsive, dynamic user experience. These components hydrate on the client side only when needed, keeping initial page loads fast.
- TypeScript: All calculation logic is written in TypeScript, providing type safety and reducing the risk of bugs in our tax computation algorithms.
- Tailwind CSS: Our responsive design is powered by Tailwind CSS, ensuring the site looks great and works perfectly on devices of all sizes, from mobile phones to desktop monitors.
- Client-side computation: Every calculation runs entirely in your browser. No salary data, personal information, or calculation results are ever transmitted to our servers or any third party. This architecture guarantees complete privacy by design.
Designed for the Expat Community
The English version of El Sueldo Neto was specifically designed to serve the needs of the growing expat community in Spain. We recognised that while there are many Spanish-language tax resources available, English speakers face a significant information gap when trying to understand their payslips, evaluate job offers, or plan their finances in Spain.
What makes our English version different
Rather than simply translating the Spanish site word for word, we adapted the content for an international audience. This means including explanations of concepts that Spanish workers take for granted (such as pagas extra, the convenio colectivo system, and how the padron works), providing comparisons with tax systems in other countries, and using clear terminology that avoids untranslated jargon wherever possible. Where Spanish terms are unavoidable (such as IRPF, autonomo, or finiquito), we always provide the English equivalent on first use.
Our guides cover topics that are especially relevant to expats, including the Beckham Law for inbound workers, the process of obtaining an NIE and registering with Social Security, understanding your first Spanish payslip, and navigating the annual tax return (declaracion de la renta) as a foreign resident.
Future Plans
We are continuously working to improve El Sueldo Neto and expand its capabilities. Here is what we have planned:
- More specialised calculators: We plan to add tools for capital gains tax on property sales, rental income tax for non-residents, and a comprehensive Beckham Law vs. general regime comparison tool.
- Payslip analyser: An upcoming feature that will allow you to input the values from your payslip and verify that each deduction (Social Security, IRPF, and any salary in kind) has been correctly calculated by your employer.
- Historical comparison: A tool to compare your net salary across different fiscal years, showing how changes in tax brackets, contribution rates, and the SMI have affected your take-home pay over time.
- Community-driven improvements: We welcome feedback from our users. If you notice a discrepancy, have a suggestion for a new calculator, or want to report an issue, you can reach out to us through the contact channels on the site. Every piece of feedback is reviewed and helps us improve.
Important Disclaimer
The results provided by our calculators are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional tax, legal, or financial advice. For complex tax matters such as filing your annual return, wealth planning, or choosing a self-employment regime, we strongly recommend consulting a qualified tax advisor (asesor fiscal).