Hiring a Domestic Worker in Spain as a Non-Resident

Imagine you own a home in Spain but spend most of the year in another country. You are not considered a tax resident here, yet you need to hire someone to look after your house, support a relative or help you around the home. And then the big question arises:

Can a non-tax-resident legally register a worker in Spain?

The answer is: yes, you can, but under very specific conditions.

What does it mean to be a non-tax-resident?

Tax residence determines which country you have to pay tax in.

In Spain, you are considered a tax resident if:

• You spend more than 183 days in the calendar year on Spanish territory.
• Or the core of your economic activities or interests is in Spain (and you are presumed resident, unless you prove otherwise, if your spouse and dependent minor children live here).

If you do not meet those criteria, you become a non-tax-resident. In that case, you are taxed in Spain only on the income or activities you have in the country (for example, a rented property, or a job here).

It is worth separating two things that are often confused: where you pay tax (your tax residence) is one matter; being able to act as an employer before Social Security (Seguridad Social) is quite another. Not being a tax resident in Spain does not stop you from hiring or registering a domestic worker; it simply adds a few extra formalities, as we will see below.

Can a non-resident be an employer in Spain?

Spanish law does allow a non-resident to act as the employer of a domestic or similar worker, provided certain requirements are met:

• Hold a valid NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero, the foreigner's identity number) or, if you are a Spanish national living abroad, your DNI.
• Register as an employer with Social Security (Seguridad Social).
• Have an address in Spain: the home where the worker will be employed is your address with Social Security, and official notifications are sent there unless you give another address.
• Set up a direct debit for the contributions from an account at a bank authorised by Social Security to collect them. Every bank on the official list of the Social Security Treasury (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, TGSS) is established in Spain (Spanish banks and the Spanish branches of foreign banks), so in practice you need a Spanish IBAN. If you cannot open one, the direct debit may be set up on another person's account with the holder's authorisation.

One tax point is worth clarifying. A private employer resident in Spain does not withhold income tax (IRPF) from a domestic worker's pay or report the payroll to the tax authorities (Hacienda): the duty to withhold falls on companies and on those who pay in the course of a business activity (Article 99.2 of the IRPF Act; Article 76.1 of the IRPF Regulations). For a non-resident the position is less clear-cut: the IRPF rules list non-residents without a permanent establishment among those who must withhold on the employment income they pay, and there is no ruling on the domestic-worker case. Before the first payslip, ask a tax adviser whether you must register as a withholder and file forms 111 and 190, even if the amount to withhold is nil. Separately, as a non-resident you pay Non-Residents Income Tax (IRNR, form 210) on any income you have in Spain, including the imputed income on a home you keep for your own use; obtaining the NIE/NIF is essential in every case.

As for a fiscal representative, the Non-Residents Income Tax Act only requires one in specific cases: for example, if you operate through a permanent establishment, if the tax authorities require it because of the amount of your income or because you own property in Spain, or if you live in a non-cooperative jurisdiction and own assets here. Residents of the EU, and of EEA countries with mutual-assistance arrangements, are outside that obligation. Employing a domestic worker does not by itself oblige you to appoint one, but you may authorise an adviser or representative to deal with the tax authorities (Hacienda) and Social Security on your behalf.

The NIE and the bank account, step by step

• Apply for the NIE at a Spanish consulate in your country of residence or, if you are in Spain, at an immigration office or police station. A representative with power of attorney can also handle it on your behalf.
• Designate the account for the direct debit of contributions: it must be held at an authorised bank (in practice, a Spanish IBAN). EU rules forbid refusing an account because of the country of its IBAN, but Social Security has published no rule accepting foreign SEPA accounts for contributions, so do not count on it: check with the TGSS first.
• Register the worker in the Special System for Domestic Employees within the General Social Security Scheme (Sistema Especial para Empleados de Hogar del Régimen General) before they start work (up to 60 days in advance), stating the salary, hours and the direct-debit account. You can do it on the Import@ss portal with Cl@ve or a digital certificate, or authorise a representative to do it for you.

Registration with Social Security (Seguridad Social) is compulsory from the very first hour worked: there is no minimum number of hours or days below which you can do without it and, since 1 January 2023, it is always the employer who registers and pays, however few hours are worked. Since October 2022 contributions also cover unemployment and the Wage Guarantee Fund (FOGASA), so the person hired is entitled to unemployment benefit.

How much does it cost to register a domestic worker in 2026?

The cost depends on the agreed salary, which can never be lower than the Spanish minimum wage (SMI). Royal Decree 126/2026 set the 2026 SMI at 1,221 €/month over 14 payments (17,094 €/year) or, equivalently, 1,424.50 €/month if prorated over 12 payments. For hourly work under the external regime, the minimum rate is 9.55 € per hour actually worked, an amount that already includes the proportional share of extra payments and holiday.

Let's look at an example. If you hire a full-time worker on the SMI, you pay 1,221 € in each of the 14 payments (1,424.50 € a month if you prorate the extra payments) plus the employer's Social Security (Seguridad Social) contributions on a base of 1,424.50 €: about 317 € a month once the general 20% reduction in common contingencies and the 80% rebate on the employer's unemployment and FOGASA contributions are applied. Averaged over twelve months, the total cost is therefore around 1,742 €/month. That contribution includes the employer's share of the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (Mecanismo de Equidad Intergeneracional, MEI), 0.75% of the base in 2026 (0.90% in total with the worker's share). Whether income tax (IRPF) must be deducted from the payslip is the point to confirm with your adviser (Article 76.1.d of the IRPF Regulations). The Social Security deduction is the worker's own share (6.40% of the base, about 91 € a month), which you pay to the TGSS together with your own contribution.

If you only need help for a few hours, the calculation is proportional. For example, 15 hours a week at 9.55 € comes to around 620 €/month in salary, to which the proportional contribution is added. Cutting the hours lowers the cost, but the duty to register does not disappear: contributions must be paid for short working weeks too.

The worker must also be authorised

Registering someone takes more than just meeting the requirements yourself: the person hired must be able to work legally in Spain. Here their nationality is decisive.

Workers from the European Union

Citizens of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland do not need a work permit. If they are going to live in Spain for more than three months, they must register in the Central Register of Foreigners (the certificate, issued on the spot, carries their NIE) and obtain a Social Security number; with those two things you can register them.

Non-EU workers

If the person comes from outside the EU, they must hold an authorisation that allows them to work. The usual route in domestic employment is the residence permit through the arraigo sociolaboral route under the Spanish Immigration Regulation (Royal Decree 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025): it requires two years' continuous stay in Spain and one or more contracts adding up to at least 20 hours a week, paid at no less than the SMI pro rata, with no prior complaint against an employer being necessary.

To start the process, a pre-contract with a suspensive clause is signed: 20 hours a week or more, a salary equal to or above the SMI pro rata and a start date conditional on the authorisation being granted. The extraordinary regularisation under Royal Decree 316/2026 closed on 30 June 2026 (1,174,978 applications were filed); only applications submitted by that date are still being processed, so it is no longer a route for a new hire.

An important nuance: in these procedures the employer is the family (the person doing the hiring), not the agency. Even if you delegate the administration to a third party, your name appears on the contract and on the registration as the party responsible in employment terms.

What if you don't meet those requirements?

If you cannot register as a direct employer, it does not mean you cannot hire help legally. There are alternatives:

• Buy the service from a company with its own staff. You pay for the service and the company takes on the employment and tax obligations. A placement agency such as Maids & Co is not the employer: the contract is between you and the worker.
• Authorise a representative (an adviser or gestor) to handle the whole process for you; you remain the employer.
• Use specialist domestic-employee management services, which handle the Social Security registration, payroll and contributions.

And it is best not to improvise: having a worker on the job without Social Security (Seguridad Social) registration is a serious infringement. The Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order (Ley de Infracciones y Sanciones en el Orden Social, LISOS) provides for fines of between 3,750 € and 12,000 € for each unregistered worker, on top of payment of the back contributions plus a surcharge.

Employment and tax rules are strict. Hiring without meeting the requirements can lead to financial penalties and legal problems. So if you are in this situation, the most sensible thing is to seek specialist advice before taking the step.

And what if you have to end the contract?

It is worth knowing in advance how the relationship ends, because that has a cost too. Since 2022 the employer can no longer withdraw from the contract without giving a reason (the former desistimiento): termination must rest on a justified cause, be notified in writing and comes with compensation of 12 days' salary per year worked, up to a maximum of 6 months' pay. If the dismissal were ruled unfair, the compensation rises to 33 days per year, up to a maximum of 24 months' pay. In any case, on termination you must settle the final payment (finiquito), which includes the extra payments prorated by half-year and any holiday not taken.

In short, being a non-tax-resident is no obstacle to having a domestic worker fully in order: you simply add the NIE, a bank account the TGSS can debit and, only in specific cases, a fiscal representative; the withholding question is worth confirming with a tax adviser. If you would rather not deal with the formalities, delegating to a specialist agency takes the registration, payroll and contributions off your hands from day one.