Spain: from gross salary to net

What gross and net are

The gross is everything the company pays you before deductions, and it is the number in the contract: normally a gross annual salary. The net, the payslip’s “líquido a percibir” (net pay), is what reaches your account. From one to the other come off the Social Security contributions and the IRPF withholding.

The company must give you an individual pay slip every time you are paid, with the payments and deductions clearly separated (Workers’ Statute, art. 29). There you can see each deduction.

Social Security contributions, in 2026

They are calculated on the contribution base, which is your monthly salary with the extra payments spread over twelve months. In 2026, on a permanent contract, the employee pays:

• 4.70% for common contingencies (retirement, ordinary illness, etc.);
• 1.55% for unemployment;
• 0.10% for vocational training;
• 0.15% for the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI).

IRPF withholding: the part that depends on you

The company withholds part of your salary and pays it to the Tax Agency as an advance of your IRPF. The percentage is not fixed: it calculates it with the Tax Agency’s general procedure, from what you earn and the personal and family details you give it with form 145.

That is why it matters to fill it in correctly and to say if your situation changes. The withholding is not the final tax: the real IRPF is calculated in the tax return, and there you may owe or get a refund. The Tax Agency offers a withholding calculation service to check the percentage, and in 2026 the algorithm has two versions, one until September 9 and another from the 10th.

Twelve payments or fourteen

You are entitled to two extra payments a year, one at Christmas and another in the month the agreement sets, and the agreement can spread them over the twelve monthly payments (Workers’ Statute, art. 31). With fourteen payments you get more in each extra month and less the rest of the months; with twelve, the same each month. The year’s net is the same: only how it reaches you changes.

An example: €24,000 gross a year

• The monthly contribution base is 24,000 ÷ 12 = €2,000 (with the extra payments spread).
• The employee contributes 6.50% of that base: €130 a month, €1,560 a year.
• Before IRPF, 24,000 − 1,560 = €22,440 a year is left. The IRPF withholding comes out of that and depends on your case: the net salary calculator works it out with the Tax Agency’s algorithm, and the Agency’s withholding calculation service is for checking it.
• It costs the company more than the gross: it pays 30.45% of the base in contributions (23.60% common contingencies, 5.50% unemployment, 0.60% vocational training and 0.75% MEI), that is, €609 a month, plus the work accident and FOGASA contributions.

How to check your payslip

Compare the gross and category on the payslip with your contract, check that the base and the contribution percentages make sense, check that the IRPF withholding matches your family situation and look at the net pay. If something does not add up, ask the personnel department first. To go over everything, there is the first-day-at-work checklist.