The Basque Country does not have a regional scale. It has its own tax.
Every previous article in this series added a regional scale to a state one. That arithmetic does not exist here. Under the Concierto Economico the three Basque provinces write their own income tax, collect it themselves, and never touch the state scale at all — which is why a top rate of 49 per cent is not comparable to the numbers you have read so far.
The Concierto Economico, Ley 12/2002, gives the three Basque historical territories the power to regulate and collect income tax themselves. There is no Agencia Tributaria involvement, no state scale, and no "regional half". Each province passes its own Norma Foral, runs its own filing campaign and answers its own queries.
In theory that means three different tax systems. In practice the three coordinate deliberately, and for 2026 they agreed a joint 2 per cent deflation and published identical scales. The differences that remain are real but small, and they are not where you would expect.
The Basque figure is the entire income tax: the scale applied to the base, less a flat credit of 1,615 euro. Madrid and Catalonia are shown as state plus regional, with their own personal minimums. A single taxpayer with no children. Enter the base liquidable general, not gross salary.
The foral scale.
Eight brackets, identical in all three territories for 2026 after a jointly agreed 2 per cent deflation. This is the complete income tax on general income — nothing is added to it.
| Taxable base | Rate | Cumulative quota at the floor |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 18,080 | 23% | 0 |
| 18,080 – 36,160 | 28% | 4,158 |
| 36,160 – 54,240 | 35% | 9,221 |
| 54,240 – 77,450 | 40% | 15,549 |
| 77,450 – 107,260 | 45% | 24,833 |
| 107,260 – 142,960 | 46% | 38,247 |
| 142,960 – 208,390 | 47% | 54,669 |
| Above 208,390 | 49% | 85,421 |
A 23 per cent entry rate that costs less than a 19 per cent one.
Read the two scales side by side and the foral system looks brutal at the bottom: 23 per cent from the first euro against 18 to 19 combined in common-regime Spain. Then run the numbers. The flat credit of 1,615 euro means a Basque taxpayer owes nothing until about 7,050 euro of taxable base, where a Madrid taxpayer starts paying at about 5,600. Below roughly 11,000 euro the Basque Country is the cheaper of the two. This is the clearest example in the whole series of why comparing marginal rates is not the same as comparing tax.
Different machinery, almost the same bill.
The foral system shares no mechanism with the common regime: one scale instead of two, a flat credit instead of a minimum run through the scale, eight brackets with completely different thresholds. Run the two against each other and the result is the least likely thing about this page.
| Taxable base | Basque Country | Madrid | Difference | Catalonia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,000 | 455 | 586 | 131 cheaper | 656 |
| 25,000 | 4,481 | 4,306 | 175 dearer | 4,633 |
| 50,000 | 12,450 | 12,445 | 5 dearer | 13,411 |
| 80,000 | 24,365 | 24,718 | 353 cheaper | 26,136 |
| 120,000 | 42,493 | 41,918 | 575 dearer | 44,336 |
| 300,000 | 128,695 | 119,318 | 9,377 dearer | 130,186 |
Below roughly 110,000 euro, the foral bill tracks Madrid within a few hundred euro.
It crosses over several times — cheaper at the bottom, slightly dearer in the twenties, level around fifty thousand, cheaper again in the eighties. Two systems built on entirely different principles arrive at nearly the same number for most working people. The gap only becomes material above about 110,000 euro, and it is only large at the very top. Against Catalonia the foral system is cheaper almost everywhere.
The personal minimum works differently, and it is cleaner.
Across this series we have explained the common-regime mechanism: the personal and family minimum is run through both scales and the result subtracted from the tax. The foral system reaches the same idea by a simpler route.
An amount, taxed and then subtracted
5,550 euro plus family amounts, put through the state scale and the regional scale separately, and both results deducted. The cash value depends on the bottom rates of two different scales.
A flat credit of 1,615 euro
Deducted directly from the quota, per self-assessment, identical in all three territories. No computation, no dependence on which bracket you are in, and the same cash value to everybody.
It is worth noticing that the two systems agree on principle and differ only on presentation. Both give the taxpayer a flat cash benefit rather than a deduction worth more to high earners. The foral version simply says so directly.
Savings income: a new scale, and a date that has caught people out.
Interest, dividends and capital gains are taxed on a separate foral scale. The three territories replaced the old five-bracket tariff with a nine-bracket progressive one running from 19 to 28 per cent.
| Savings base | Rate | Savings base | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 7,500 | 19% | 90,000 – 120,000 | 26% |
| 7,500 – 15,000 | 20% | 120,000 – 240,000 | 26.5% |
| 15,000 – 30,000 | 22% | 240,000 – 300,000 | 27% |
| 30,000 – 50,000 | 24% | Above 300,000 | 28% |
| 50,000 – 90,000 | 25.5% |
The nine-bracket scale does not apply to the 2025 return.
All three Normas Forales open with a general formula of "effects from 1 January 2025", and several professional summaries took that at face value. They should not have. Each of the three carries a final provision that delays this specific article to 1 January 2026 — in Bizkaia, the third final provision of Norma Foral 2/2025 says so in terms, and Alava and Gipuzkoa use the same technique. The new scale therefore first applies to the 2026 tax year, filed in 2027. The return being filed now still uses the old tariff.
Three administrations, one set of numbers.
The headline figures are identical, which surprises people who expect three provinces with full legislative power to compete with each other. The coordination is deliberate: Norma Foral 7/2025 in Bizkaia, 6/2025 in Gipuzkoa and 21/2025 in Alava all land on the same first threshold of 18,080 euro and the same 49 per cent above 208,390.
Which authority taxes you.
Income tax here attaches to the person, not to the place the income arises. Article 43 of the Concierto sets the test, and it runs in order.
Working in Bilbao does not make you a Bizkaia taxpayer.
Commute daily to Bilbao from Santander and you file with the state agency, not the Diputacion Foral. Live in Vitoria and work in Logrono and you are taxed by Alava on your worldwide income. There are anti-avoidance rules for moves into the Basque Country, which require genuine permanence, and a joint commission resolves residence disputes between administrations.
Is the Basque Country a low-tax region?
Can I choose which of the three provinces taxes me?
Do the common-regime articles in this series apply here at all?
What about wealth tax?
Does the Beckham regime exist here?
Why is invoicing different here too?
No state half to add. A different tax, not a different rate.
Talk through your position ↗Alexander Baranov
Seventeen years designing and delivering cross-border corporate structures — incorporation, tax, holding, banking and market entry — for founders and companies expanding into Spain and the EU. Author of professional books on entering the Spanish market.
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