VAT in Spain in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

4 minutos de lectura

In Spain, VAT has three rates: the standard rate of 21%, the reduced rate of 10%, and the super-reduced rate of 4%. They are set by Articles 90 and 91 of Law 37/1992. That much appears in any table. What almost never appears, and what really breaks stores, is that part of Spanish territory is outside VAT.

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (art. 90.Uno)	21%	Default regime for goods and services
Reduced (art. 91.Uno)	10%	Food in general, water, housing, hospitality, passenger transport, glasses and contact lenses, agricultural and livestock products
Super-reduced (art. 91.Dos)	4%	Bread, milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables, greens, cereals and cheese; books, newspapers and magazines; medicines for human use; vehicles and prostheses for people with disabilities

Rates verified on September 8, 2026 against the document «Tipos impositivos en el IVA 2026» from the Tax Agency (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es).

Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla do not have VAT

This is neither an exemption nor a zero rate: those three territories are outside the VAT territory. VAT does not apply there; instead, IGIC applies in the Canary Islands and IPSI in Ceuta and Melilla, which are different taxes with their own rates and returns.

For an online store, this has an immediate and very unintuitive consequence: a shipment from mainland Spain to the Canary Islands is an export. It goes without Spanish VAT, with its DUA, and the customer pays IGIC and the import formalities at destination. If your store charges 21% to a customer in Las Palmas, you are charging them a tax they should not pay, and they will also have to pay their own tax when they receive the parcel.

By far, this is the number one reason for complaints in Spanish stores that start selling to the islands without changing the tax settings.

Which VAT to apply depending on where you sell from

If your store is in Spain, you charge the Spanish rate that corresponds to each product — 21%, 10% or 4% — to your mainland and Balearic Islands customers. To the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, no VAT: these are exports. And to customers in other EU countries, the Spanish rate applies up to €10,000 in annual distance sales, and the destination country’s rate after that.

If your store is outside Spain and you sell to Spanish consumers, you apply your own country’s VAT as long as you do not exceed that €10,000 threshold in distance sales to the EU as a whole. Once you exceed it, you must charge Spanish VAT and report it through the one-stop shop, without needing to register in Spain.

And if you sell to a Spanish company with a valid VAT number, the transaction goes without VAT under reverse charge: you must validate that number in VIES and keep proof of the validation.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes tax rates by country, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class, nor does it monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT number validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so VAT is not charged when the transaction is subject to reverse charge.
A control for the €10,000 threshold, because the day it is exceeded the rates change at once across all countries.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points that break stores selling to the rest of the European Union.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Spain in 2026?

21%. Alongside it, the reduced rate of 10% and the super-reduced rate of 4% apply only in the cases established by Law 37/1992.

What VAT is paid in the Canary Islands?

None: the Canary Islands are outside the VAT territory. IGIC applies there, a different Canary Islands tax with its own rates. The same happens in Ceuta and Melilla with IPSI.

I am a store outside Spain, what VAT do I apply to a Spanish customer?

The Spanish one — 21%, 10% or 4% depending on the product — once you exceed €10,000 in annual distance sales to the EU as a whole. Below that, your own country’s VAT.

Is there still 0% VAT on food?

No. The temporary reduction applied to certain basic foods was an exceptional measure and is no longer in force: those products have returned to their ordinary 4% and 10% rates.