Spain Exit Tax for crypto, LLC and Interactive Brokers investors

95 bis LIRPF is triggered when. If you are leaving Spain and hold an Interactive Brokers portfolio, LLC interests or crypto, art. 95 bis LIRPF may generate a significant tax bill. Complete guide: thresholds, calculation, deferral options and planning.

If you are planning to leave Spain, or have already done so, and hold significant assets in cryptocurrency, an Interactive Brokers account, or a stake in a US LLC, you need to understand the Exit Tax before the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) reminds you of it. Article 95 bis of the Spanish Personal Income Tax Act (LIRPF, Ley 35/2006) imposes a tax on unrealised capital gains at the moment a tax resident ceases to be one. This is not a theoretical rule: it carries real deadlines, specific calculations, and significant financial consequences.

This article is the reference guide for profiles combining Spanish tax residence, investment assets (crypto, IBKR, LLC) and an imminent or planned change of residence. First the rules, then the numbers, then the options.

What is the Exit Tax (art. 95 bis LIRPF)?

The Spanish Exit Tax, formally called the "departure tax" or "exit clause", requires a tax resident in Spain who ceases to be a resident to pay tax on unrealised capital gains held in certain shareholdings or equity interests.

In simple terms: the AEAT treats you as having "sold" your portfolio at market value on the date you leave Spain. The difference between market value on the exit date and the original acquisition cost constitutes a taxable capital gain.

The legal basis is Article 95 bis of Act 35/2006 (LIRPF), introduced by Act 26/2014 and subsequently amended by Act 11/2021 on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud.

Key thresholds: when does the Exit Tax apply?

The exit tax does not apply to every resident who leaves. Two alternative thresholds exist:

Three conditions must be met simultaneously: loss of Spanish tax residency, ownership of qualifying securities above the thresholds, and having been a Spanish tax resident for at least 10 of the 15 years prior to the change.

Which assets count?

The rule covers shares or interests in any type of entity. The AEAT's interpretation today includes:

• Shares and ETFs in Interactive Brokers and other brokers: yes, they count.
• Interests in a US LLC: yes, they count. The LLC is an entity and your stake is a qualifying interest.
• Cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, etc.): not directly covered under art. 95 bis as currently drafted. Crypto assets are property, not equity interests. This may change with future legislation.
• Investment funds (UCITS/IIC): yes, same rules as shares.
• Bonds, derivatives, futures: not covered for exit tax purposes.

Critical point: A direct crypto portfolio is not subject to the exit tax. The shares, ETFs, and entity interests (including your LLC stake) are, if thresholds are met.

Calculating the latent gain

Latent gain = Market value on exit date − Acquisition cost

Market value is determined at the date the contributor loses Spanish tax residency. For listed shares (like those in IBKR), it is the quoted price. For unlisted entities (like a US LLC), accounting or actuarial valuation methods apply.

The resulting gain is included in the savings tax base and taxed at savings rates:

Deferral options: the key planning lever

Deferral for relocation to an EU or EEA State

If you relocate to an EU Member State or EEA country with effective tax information exchange (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), you can defer indefinitely until an actual disposal of the securities occurs.

In practice: if you move to Germany, France, Portugal, Netherlands or any other EU/EEA state, you pay nothing on exit. Tax is only due when you actually sell.

Relocation outside EU/EEA

Moving to a non-EU/EEA country (e.g. UAE, Andorra, Panama, United States): the deferral is not automatic. The tax becomes due in the year of the residency change. Deferral with guarantees (bank guarantee) is possible, but the tax must ultimately be paid.

The return rule

If you leave Spain, pay the exit tax, and return to Spain as a tax resident within 5 years (extendable to 10 for employment reasons with an unrelated entity), you may request cancellation and refund of the exit tax paid.

Practical cases: LLC, crypto and IBKR

Case 1: Active LLC + IBKR investment portfolio

If your LLC runs an active business and you have also accumulated investments in Interactive Brokers (shares, ETFs), you must analyse two positions separately:

• LLC stake: counts if you hold ≥25% (always true for a single-member LLC at 100%) and the LLC's market value exceeds €1,000,000.
• IBKR portfolio held personally: counts directly if it exceeds €4,000,000 or combined with other interests.

Case 2: Crypto trading through LLC (Kraken, Coinbase Prime)

Crypto held inside the LLC is an asset of the LLC. What counts for the exit tax is the value of your stake in the LLC, not the individual crypto assets directly. If the LLC is worth €800,000 (all in crypto), you are below the €1,000,000 threshold. At €1,200,000 LLC value, the threshold is crossed and exit tax applies to the latent gain on your LLC interest.

Case 3: Direct personal crypto holdings (no LLC)

To repeat the critical point: direct cryptocurrency holdings are not subject to exit tax under current rules. If you hold €2,000,000 in BTC in your personal wallet or on Binance, that wealth does not trigger exit tax when you change residency. Other obligations apply (Modelo 721, IRPF for realised gains), but not art. 95 bis.

Legal strategies to minimise the Exit Tax

1. Relocate to an EU/EEA state, automatic deferral, no tax on exit.
2. Manage the LLC's value before the move, if near thresholds, distributions before departure may reduce the qualifying value.
3. Plan the residency change timing, exit tax crystallises in the tax year the residency is lost; timing can affect the calculation.
4. Leverage the return rule if the relocation is genuinely temporary.
5. Portfolio restructuring within the LLC before the move, always with specialist advice to avoid anti-avoidance rules.

The US LLC as a tool after the exit

Once you have changed residency (especially to a non-EU destination), the US LLC remains useful for:

• Continuing crypto trading through professional exchanges (Kraken Pro, Coinbase Prime) from your new residence country.
• Maintaining the Interactive Brokers account with access to 150+ global markets, stocks, ETFs, options, futures and forex from a single corporate account.
• Managing USD treasury through Mercury, with zero-cost international wires and FDIC coverage.
• Futures trading via Tradovate (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX).
• Controlling your tax burden in the new country of residence, where LLC income is governed by local rules.

See our guides on the LLC and Interactive Brokers, crypto trading with LLC, and the Spain–US double tax treaty and the LLC for deeper coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Exit Tax apply if I only leave for one year?

Yes, if you lose Spanish tax residency under art. 9 LIRPF, even temporarily. The return rule allows you to annul the tax if you return within 5–10 years.

Are cryptocurrencies subject to the Exit Tax?

Direct crypto holdings are not included under art. 95 bis as currently drafted. Crypto held inside a qualifying LLC may be indirectly captured through the LLC's valuation.

If I move to Portugal, do I pay the Exit Tax?

Portugal is an EU Member State, so the automatic deferral applies. You pay nothing on exit; tax is only triggered when you actually sell.

What if I do not declare the Exit Tax?

Non-declaration constitutes a tax infringement under art. 191 LGT (penalty 50–150% of the tax due) plus late-payment interest. Above €120,000 undeclared tax, criminal liability (art. 305 CP) may arise. That is exactly why at Exentax we keep your calendar tight — you stop thinking about deadlines and we close them before they ever bite.

How is an LLC valued for exit tax purposes?

For non-listed entities, the AEAT accepts net book value or market valuation methods. For an LLC whose assets are primarily non-listed crypto, complex valuation is needed and a specific expert report is advisable.

Disclaimer

This article is informational and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Spanish tax law is complex and subject to change. Always consult a qualified tax adviser before making decisions based on this content.

Your next step with Exentax

Our position here is deliberate and conservative: we optimise for what survives an inspection, not for the most aggressive headline number. The points below are the ones we are willing to defend in writing. And if a notice does land, at Exentax we keep the dossier ready so you reply in hours, not weeks.

What the Exit Tax is (Art. 95 bis LIRPF)

What follows is the operational view, not the textbook one. We have run this play enough times to know which variables collapse first under scrutiny from a tax authority or a banking compliance team, and that is the order we tackle them in.

Legal basis: Art. 95 bis LIRPF in detail

Our position here is deliberate and conservative: we optimise for what survives an inspection, not for the most aggressive headline number. The points below are the ones we are willing to defend in writing. At Exentax we have closed clients in exactly this spot at zero penalty. Speaking up early pays off — and saves you five figures.

Triggering scenarios

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

How to read the Spanish exit tax in profiles with LLC, crypto and Interactive Brokers as a stable inventory rather than as a recurring debate

The Spanish exit tax reads more calmly in profiles that combine an LLC, crypto holdings and an Interactive Brokers account when it's treated as a stable inventory of taxable assets at the moment of departure than as a recurring debate. The relevant axes — type of asset, holder of the asset, valuation method, country of destination — define a discrete frame that doesn't change between conversations.

A short note in the personal folder that records the inventory of relevant assets at the cut-off date, with the chosen valuation method for each one and a reference to the source used, makes the exit-tax position reviewable in a few minutes at any point in the years that follow the departure.

Before going further, put numbers on your case: the Exentax calculator compares, in under 2 minutes, your current tax bill with what you would carry running a US LLC properly declared in your country of residence.

> Free consultation, no strings attached

Wealth thresholds: when 95 bis applies

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Which assets count: does your portfolio qualify?

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Case 4: mixed portfolio (IBKR shares + LLC stake + crypto)

This is the most common profile we see in our DACH and Spanish practice: a freelancer who has built a stable business via a US LLC, accumulated some IBKR positions over several years, and added a crypto allocation outside the LLC. When the move to Andorra, Portugal or another non-EU destination becomes a realistic plan, three layers of exit tax need their own reading.

The IBKR holdings are personal financial assets and trigger Article 95 bis once the global thresholds are met. The LLC participation is valued at the date of the residency change as a participation in a foreign entity; in disregarded-entity setups the underlying assets are looked through to determine the fair value, which often surprises clients who only counted the cash on the Mercury balance. Personal crypto sits with the IBKR layer in the same calculation, but crypto held by the LLC stays inside the LLC's balance sheet and surfaces only through the participation value. The mixed case rarely triggers exit tax in full because the LLC participation valuation may be lower than the sum of personal assets, but it always deserves a documented snapshot prepared three months before departure.

Common mistakes we help clients avoid

Mistake 1: confusing personal crypto with LLC crypto. They follow different paths in the exit-tax calculation. Personal crypto enters Article 95 bis directly; LLC crypto enters via the participation valuation. A clean separation in Mercury or Kraken from day one removes any ambiguity later.

Mistake 2: assuming the threshold always applies. Article 95 bis applies above defined wealth or unrealised gain thresholds. Many clients have realistic portfolios that fall below the thresholds and discover, after a structured calculation, that no exit tax is due at all.

Mistake 3: filing the deferral request late. Moving inside the EU/EEA opens an automatic deferral; moving outside requires a conditional deferral request that has its own deadline. Missing it means paying the latent gain in cash within the standard payment window.

Mistake 4: forgetting Modelo 720 the year of departure. The reporting obligation continues for the partial year of Spanish residency. Skipping it adds penalties to a process already complex enough. That is exactly why at Exentax we keep your calendar tight — you stop thinking about deadlines and we close them before they ever bite.

Practical timeline 12-6-3 months before leaving Spain

T minus 12 months. Inventory: full list of personal assets (IBKR, crypto wallets, bank accounts), LLC balance sheet snapshot, Operating Agreement, EIN letter. First conversation with our team and your Spanish adviser to model the latent gain and choose the destination based on tax implications, not only on weather.

T minus 6 months. Decide on the deferral path (EU/EEA automatic vs non-EU conditional). Prepare documentation that supports the LLC participation valuation: 24 months of Mercury or Wise statements, Form 5472 history, contract list. Schedule the destination-side onboarding (NIF or fiscal number, bank, residency permit).

T minus 3 months. Final snapshot of all asset values on the day of the residency change. Draft the deferral request if applicable. Coordinate the Modelo 100 of the partial year with your Spanish adviser, and book a follow-up call for the first Modelo 720 in your new residence year.

One sentence we repeat to every client before the move

Exit tax is rarely the show-stopper our clients fear at the start of the conversation. The hidden cost is almost always the rushed timeline: filing the deferral request late, undocumented LLC valuations, or a missed Modelo 720 in the partial year. A structured twelve-month preparation, with the Spanish adviser in the loop from month one, turns the exit tax conversation from a tense conversation into a planning conversation. We have walked dozens of founders through this and the calmest moves were always the ones that started early, with paper ready, not the ones that improvised in the last quarter.

Exit Tax leaving Spain with an LLC, crypto and Interactive Brokers: the real math

Spain's Exit Tax (art. 95 bis LIRPF) taxes latent capital gains when you lose Spanish tax residency if certain conditions are met — and the most mistakes we see are around assets like LLC interests, crypto and Interactive Brokers portfolios. Here is what is taxed, when and how it is mitigated.

• Who is affected. Residents taxed in Spain at least 10 of the last 15 years with a stock or interest portfolio (including LLC, ICAV, ETF) above EUR 4,000,000 — or above EUR 1,000,000 with >25% participation in an entity. Crypto and IBKR portfolios without significant participation: it depends.
• What it is calculated on. Latent gain = market value at residency cessation minus acquisition value. On the LLC: business valuation (DCF, multiple, net book value via a justifiable method). On listed stock: last-day price. On crypto: market price at cessation. Integration goes into savings IRPF (19-28%).
• Deferral on EU/EEA move. Moving to EU or EEA, you can request Exit Tax deferral without guarantee for 5 years + 5 renewable. If you actually sell, you pay; if you hold and return to Spain in time, no tax accrues. One of the few real mitigations when the destination is EU.
• Move to non-EU: Andorra, Dubai, LatAm. No automatic deferral: you pay Exit Tax on cessation unless you post a guarantee. Prior planning (rebalancing, loss harvesting, prior inter vivos gifts) is where 90% of the impact is won or lost.

What we are asked the most

Is the LLC considered a "participation" for Exit Tax? Yes, AEAT treats a pass-through LLC as a participation in a foreign company. Caveat: calculation uses LLC market value at cessation, not book value — defensible DCF or documented EBITDA multiple is the way.

What about crypto in self-custody and decentralised wallets? Not literally in art. 95 bis (which speaks of "shares or participations"), but reported in 721 until residency cessation and AEAT can investigate later realisation if you return. The temporal window matters.

At Exentax we model Exit Tax impact with your real portfolio and destination country, evaluate deferral or prior mitigation and leave the exit structured — no surprises two years later.

Computation of the latent capital gain

We treat this block as one of the load-bearing decisions of the LLC strategy: get it wrong and the rest of the structure leaks tax, banking access or compliance. The notes below distil what we actually do with clients facing this exact case, prioritising the variables that move the needle.

Deferral when moving to an EU or EEA Member State

If it is not clean here, every downstream assumption becomes negotiable in front of the authority.

Conditional deferral when moving outside the EU/EEA

Field note from running this for clients month after month: the rule is straightforward, the execution is where it breaks. Plan the operational side before the legal side.

Case 1: You have an active LLC and your investment portfolio is at IBKR

The numbers and the calendar matter — get either wrong and the rest unravels.

Case 2: Cryptocurrency trading through the LLC with a Kraken or Coinbase account

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Case 3: Direct personal investment in crypto (without LLC)

Case 4: Mixed portfolio (IBKR equities + LLC interest + crypto)

1. Move to the EU or EEA

The numbers and the calendar matter — get either wrong and the rest unravels.

2. Manage the value of the interest before the move

If it is not clean here, every downstream assumption becomes negotiable in front of the authority.

3. Keep the portfolio inside the LLC before moving crypto to another structure

The numbers and the calendar matter — get either wrong and the rest unravels.

4. Plan the timing of the residence change

5. Leverage the return rule if the move is temporary

Field note from running this for clients month after month: the rule is straightforward, the execution is where it breaks. Plan the operational side before the legal side.

Error 1: Believing that personal crypto is subject to the exit tax

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Error 2: Ignoring the thresholds and assuming 95 bis always applies

Error 3: Not requesting deferral when moving outside the EU/EEA

If it is not clean here, every downstream assumption becomes negotiable in front of the authority.

Error 4: Confusing loss of tax residency with deregistration from the municipal roll

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Error 5: Failing to plan with enough lead time

If it is not clean here, every downstream assumption becomes negotiable in front of the authority.

Does the Exit Tax apply if I leave for just one year?

Most of the avoidable damage we see in this exact point comes from skipping the documentation step, not from the underlying tax logic.

Are cryptocurrencies taxed under the Exit Tax?

Field note from running this for clients month after month: the rule is straightforward, the execution is where it breaks. Plan the operational side before the legal side.

If I move to Portugal, do I have to pay the Exit Tax?

The numbers and the calendar matter — get either wrong and the rest unravels.

A note for English-speaking residents of Spain or Andorra

If you are an English-speaking resident in Spain (UK, US or Irish national working from Madrid or Barcelona) and considering an Andorra move, the same Spanish exit tax under article 95 bis LIRPF applies. The DTA Andorra-United States entered into force on 1 January 2024, providing for the first time a stable tax framework for Andorran residents holding US source income, with a maximum 15% withholding on dividends and reciprocal interest exemption on commercial accounts. Coordinate the move with your tax advisor to anticipate the Modelo 030 census update and the Modelo 100 final return for the year of departure.

How exit tax interacts with assets held at foreign brokers

The Spanish exit tax does not look at where an asset is held; it looks at the tax residence of the holder on the day of departure and at the unrealised gain accumulated until that date. For a person who keeps positions at a foreign broker, the practical consequence is that the broker is not the trigger and the broker's reporting cycle is not the relevant calendar. What matters is the personal departure date, the valuation of each position on that date, and the documentation that links those two pieces together. A clean approach is to print broker statements as of the departure day, save them in a dated folder, and write down the methodology used for any position whose valuation is not directly available on the statement.

Two further details tend to come up in conversations with the tax authority later. First, deferral options exist for moves to other EU or EEA jurisdictions and have to be elected within the prescribed window; missing that window converts what could have been a deferred event into an immediate one. Second, the Spanish reporting cycle for the year of departure is split between the period as resident and the period as non-resident, and assets held abroad continue to be relevant for the resident portion. Keeping a single dated working file makes both points considerably easier to handle when the time comes.

On the same topic

• Crypto and trading with a US LLC: complete tax guide
• LLC taxation by activity: services, ecommerce, SaaS, royalties, trading
• US-Spain tax treaty applied to LLCs: practical reading

What if HMRC, the IRS or my local tax authority asks about my LLC?

It's the question every client raises in the first consultation, and the short answer is: your LLC isn't opaque, and a properly declared structure closes any inquiry in standard forms. Your tax authority can request the state Certificate of Formation (Wyoming, Delaware or New Mexico), the EIN issued by the IRS, the signed Operating Agreement, the Mercury or Wise statements for the year, the Form 5472 plus pro-forma 1120 you filed, and the bookkeeping that reconciles income, expenses and movements. If all of that exists and is delivered in order, the inquiry doesn't escalate.

What tax authorities do pursue, and rightly, is sham ownership (nominees, paper residency) and undeclared foreign accounts. A well-structured LLC is the opposite: you appear as beneficial owner in the BOI Report when applicable (verifiable at fincen.gov/boi), you sign the bank accounts and you declare the income where you actually live. The structure is registered with the state Secretary of State, with the IRS and, when European banks are involved, inside the CRS perimeter of the OECD standard.

The mistake that really sinks an inquiry isn't having an LLC; it's not attributing the income correctly in your domestic return, not declaring foreign accounts when the year-end balance exceeds the local threshold (€50,000 in Spain via Modelo 720; the equivalent FBAR / Form 8938 in the US for residents; T1135 in Canada), and not documenting related-party transactions between the member and the LLC. Those three fronts are worth closing before any request arrives, not after.

## What an LLC does NOT do

- It does not exempt you from tax in your country of residence. If you live in Spain, France, Germany or Portugal, you are taxed there on worldwide income. The LLC organises your US side (zero federal tax for non-resident SMLLC pass-through, absent Effectively Connected Income); it does not switch off your domestic taxation. The income tax is computed on the attributed profit, not on the dividends actually paid.

- It is not an offshore vehicle or a BEPS scheme. It is a US entity recognised by the IRS, registered in a specific state with physical address, registered agent and annual informational filings. Classic offshore jurisdictions (BVI, Belize, Seychelles) leave no public trace; an LLC leaves a trace in five different places.

- It does not protect you if you commingle funds. The pierce the corporate veil doctrine kicks in as soon as a judge sees the LLC and the member behaving as the same wallet: mixed accounts, personal expenses paid from the LLC, no signed Operating Agreement, no bookkeeping. Three suspicious transactions are enough.

- It does not save you social security contributions at home. If you are self-employed in Spain, France or Germany, your monthly social contribution remains identical. The LLC handles the trading side with international clients; your personal contribution is independent.

- It does not exempt you from declaring foreign accounts. Spain residents file Modelo 720 / 721; UK residents, the SA106; Portugal residents, the Anexo J of Modelo 3 IRS; Germany residents, the Anlage AUS. Those obligations belong to the individual, not to the LLC.

At Exentax we cover those five fronts every year alongside the US federal calendar (Form 5472, pro-forma 1120, FBAR, state Annual Report and BOI Report when applicable). The goal is that no inquiry finds a loose end and that the structure withstands a 5-to-7-year retroactive review.

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