Opening a Bank Account in Spain as an American: What the Bank Must Ask
Published Updated Last verified
Moving from the UK? Read our guide to opening a Spanish bank account as a Briton.
Opening a bank account in Spain as an American hinges on one form where your answer differs from a Spanish customer’s: the tax self-certification. Spain and the United States signed an agreement in Madrid on May 14, 2013. Under it, a Spanish bank has to find the U.S. persons among its customers, and the rules it follows count a U.S. citizen as a U.S. tax resident, wherever that citizen lives. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial, tax or legal advice; verify current requirements with the relevant Spanish authority or a licensed professional.
Can you tell a Spanish bank you are not a U.S. taxpayer because you live in Spain?
No. Annex I of the U.S.-Spain FATCA agreement sets the due diligence rules, and they make the bank get a self-certification that tells it whether you’re resident in the United States for tax purposes. Then comes a rule that reads as if it were drafted with Americans abroad in mind: for that purpose, a U.S. citizen counts as resident in the United States for tax purposes, even when also a tax resident of another country. Your TIE and your Spanish tax return don’t change the answer on that form.
Your word isn’t the end of it, either. The bank has to confirm the self-certification is reasonable against what it collected at opening, anti-money-laundering documents included. The agreement also forbids it to rely on a self-certification it knows, or has reason to know, is wrong. Ticking “not a U.S. person” while the file holds a copy of your U.S. passport? That’s exactly the case the rule was written for.
Once the form shows a U.S. person, the account is a U.S. reportable account, and the bank needs a self-certification with your U.S. taxpayer identification number. It can be an IRS Form W-9. Saying nothing won’t hide the account. If a change of circumstances makes the first self-certification unreliable and no valid new one comes back, the bank reports the account anyway. What it doesn’t have to do is close it. The agreement says the United States will not require a Spanish bank to withhold tax on, or close, the account of a customer who doesn’t cooperate, as long as the U.S. competent authority receives the information on it. So the agreement’s answer to staying silent is a report, not closure.
What the bank asks an American, and the rule behind each question
Every question below traces back to the same agreement. I’d read the last column first: it’s what keeps the appointment short.
| Question at the counter | What the agreement requires | What to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | The self-certification is checked against documents collected under the bank’s anti-money-laundering procedures | Your passport and the bank’s own document list, requested in advance |
| Where you are tax resident | A U.S. citizen counts as resident in the United States for tax purposes, even if also resident elsewhere | An answer consistent with your passport |
| Your U.S. taxpayer number | Required once the self-certification shows a U.S. person; it may be given on an IRS Form W-9 or a similar agreed form | Your U.S. federal taxpayer identification number |
| When the form is due on a deposit account | No review is required until the balance exceeds $50,000 at the end of a calendar year, unless the bank elects otherwise where Spanish rules allow it; the self-certification is then due within 90 days after that year ends | Your answer at opening, in case the bank applies the procedure to every account |
| What changes later | A change of circumstances makes the old self-certification unusable; the bank must obtain a new one or report the account | A prompt answer when the bank writes to you |
Dollar amounts in the agreement include their equivalent in other currencies. On a euro account, the bank converts the $50,000 line at a published spot rate from the last day of the calendar year before the one it’s testing. So the euro figure isn’t fixed; it moves from year to year.
What the bank reports, and when
For a reportable account, the agreement lists exactly what goes out: each U.S. holder’s name, address and U.S. taxpayer identification number; the account number; the bank’s name and identifying number; the balance or value at year end, or just before closure if the account was closed; and, for a deposit account, the gross interest paid or credited during the year. The bank sends that to the Spanish competent authority every year. Spain then passes it to the United States within nine months after the end of the calendar year it covers.
How the bank files on the Spanish side, and the basic payment account a legal resident can fall back on when a branch drags its feet, are both in preparing your U.S. finances before the move. None of that replaces your own filings. The bank’s report runs from the bank to Spain to the IRS; the FBAR and Form 8938 run from you. The same guide covers what your first Spanish balance sets off on both sides.
Opening as a non-resident: the police certificate
Open the account before you’ve moved, and the official proof of your status is the certificate of non-residence from the Policía Nacional. It certifies that you’re a foreigner who isn’t resident in Spain, and any foreigner can ask for it, EU citizen or not.
On paper, it’s quick. You file form EX-15, the same one used to request an NIE, with proof that you paid the fee on form 790 code 012. Under the police fee table, a certificate issued at the person’s request costs 7.31 euros. Inside Spain, you file with the Dirección General de la Policía directly, at an Oficina de Extranjería or at a police station. From abroad, the request goes to the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras through Spain’s consular offices. The police have 5 days from registering it to decide, and if no answer arrives in that window, the request counts as refused.
The certificate is good for 3 months from the day it’s issued. My pick: request it close to the bank appointment, not months ahead, because a certificate that expired before the branch saw it proves nothing. Still need the number itself? The NIE guide covers when the police assign one automatically and when you have to apply.
Where Americans get stuck
First, the account that grows. Under the agreement, a deposit account below the $50,000 line needs no FATCA review. The year it ends above that line, though, the bank has 90 days after the year end to get your self-certification. So a request for the form in the months after a year end isn’t an audit. It’s the deadline at work.
Second, the small local institution. The agreement lets certain small Spanish financial institutions with a local client base skip FATCA reporting, on conditions that cut both ways for Americans. Such an institution can’t have policies or practices that discriminate against opening or keeping accounts for U.S. persons resident in Spain. It also can’t provide accounts to U.S. persons who aren’t resident in Spain. A local cooperative that turns down an American living in Texas may be following the agreement, not breaking it.
Third, accounts held through a company or a trust. When a passive non-financial entity opens a new account, the bank identifies the natural persons who control it, and the account is reportable if any of them is a U.S. citizen or resident. A Spanish account for your U.S. LLC or family trust is a different file entirely from one in your own name.
Before your bank appointment
Here’s the short version. Get the bank’s document list in writing. Bring your passport and your U.S. taxpayer identification number, and answer the tax residence question as a U.S. citizen. If you open as a non-resident, time the police certificate so its 3 months cover the appointment. One small extra: a euro debit card from the new account spares you the offer to charge your U.S. card in dollars at Spanish terminals, which the guide to eating out in Spain explains.
Can you handle a personal account in your own name alone? Most Americans do. The self-certification is one page, and the reporting after it is the bank’s headache, not yours. I’d bring in a professional for three cases: an account held through a company or a trust, an account opened while your U.S. status is changing, and any situation where the bank’s classification and your own tax position disagree.
The bank appointment comes early in the move. It follows the documents it depends on and comes before the first transfer, covered in moving money from the U.S. to Spain, and before the rental deposit most landlords take, covered in the rental deposit guide. The Spain Navigator, the app that puts every step of your move to Spain in order, slots it into that sequence with the date each document runs out.
FAQ
My spouse is not American. What happens to our joint account?
It's still a U.S. reportable account once the bank identifies it as one. The agreement covers accounts held by one or more specified U.S. persons, so one American is enough. The report names each U.S. holder with an address and U.S. taxpayer number. For the $50,000 test on a deposit account, each joint holder is attributed the entire balance, not half.
Can I prepare any of this from the United States?
The police certificate, yes. If you're not in Spain when you apply, the Policía Nacional says the request goes to its Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras through Spain's consular offices abroad. Opening the account without walking into a branch is another matter. That's each bank's own policy, so get its document list before you plan the trip.
Does the bank have to use the IRS Form W-9?
No. The agreement accepts an IRS Form W-9 or another similar agreed form for the self-certification that carries your U.S. taxpayer identification number, so a Spanish bank can use its own. The paper matters less than what's on it: your tax residence, with a U.S. citizen counted as a U.S. resident, plus the U.S. number.
Is the certificate of non-residence the same thing as an NIE?
No, though both are requested on the same police form, EX-15. The NIE is a personal and unique identification number. The certificate proves one fact, that you're not resident in Spain, and it expires 3 months after it's issued. The police have 5 days from registering the request to decide, and silence after that counts as a refusal.
Sources
Official pages this article was checked against, with the date we last read them.
