Tax-free per diems for aircrew in Spain (2026): what pilots and cabin crew can claim

By Arnthor Birgisson, business aviation captain and founder of Galley. Facts checked on 17 October 2026 against the official texts listed under Sources.

This explains the rules; it is not tax advice. Your gestor or payroll has the last word on your own case.

Esta guía en español

Spain has a special per diem rule for flight crew, and it is one of the least understood lines in the income tax regulation. Get it wrong one way and you pay tax on money that could have been tax-free. Get it wrong the other way and an inspection can turn your per diems into salary. Here is what the text says, how the tax authority reads it, and where business aviation is still a grey area.

Who this applies to

These are the limits up to which per diems (dietas) that an employer pays an employee are exempt from Spanish income tax (IRPF). They matter if you are taxed in Spain as an employee and your operator pays you per diems. If you are self-employed (autónomo), skip to Freelance crew: the rule works differently.

The rule in the regulation

Everything comes from article 9.A.3.a of the IRPF Regulation (Real Decreto 439/2007). It sets the exempt amounts for meals and lodging on trips to a municipality other than your usual workplace and your home.

1. With an overnight stay away (point 1.º):

• meals: €53.34 a day in Spain, €91.35 a day abroad;
• lodging: “los importes que se justifiquen”, the hotel as shown on the bill.

2. Without an overnight stay away (point 2.º): €26.67 a day in Spain, €48.08 abroad.

3. Flight crew. Straight after point 2.º, the regulation adds:

“En el caso del personal de vuelo de las compañías aéreas, se considerarán como asignaciones para gastos normales de manutención las cuantías que no excedan de 36,06 euros diarios, si corresponden a desplazamiento dentro del territorio español, o 66,11 euros diarios si corresponden a desplazamiento a territorio extranjero. Si en un mismo día se produjeran ambas circunstancias, la cuantía aplicable será la que corresponda según el mayor número de vuelos realizados.”

In short: for the flight crew of air carriers, €36.06 a day in Spain and €66.11 a day abroad. When a day has both, the greater number of flights decides.

Three conditions apply to all of it:

• Nine months. There is no exemption for a stay in the same place “por un período continuado superior a nueve meses”.
• Proof of the trip. “El pagador deberá acreditar el día y lugar del desplazamiento, así como su razón o motivo.” Your employer must be able to show the day, the place and the reason for each trip. Up to the limits, the amount itself needs no receipts (DGT V1737-20), but the trip does, by any means of proof the law accepts.
• Above the limit is salary. Under article 9.A.6, amounts above these limits “estarán sujetas a gravamen”: they are taxed.

How the tax authority reads the crew rule

The regulation puts the crew amounts right after the “no overnight stay” paragraph, and that position matters.

• The Agencia Tributaria’s manual introduces the crew amounts with “Cuando no se haya pernoctado en municipio distinto del lugar de trabajo habitual y del que constituya la residencia del perceptor”, that is, for days without an overnight stay away (IRPF 2025 manual, “Personal de vuelo de las compañías aéreas”, page updated 16 March 2026).
• DGT 0270-00 (18 February 2000), on flight crew, applies the general amounts to days with an overnight stay and the crew amounts to days without one.

So in practice:

The last row comes from DGT 0774-04 (25 March 2004), which limits the crew rule to crew “en actividad de vuelo”, because the text decides by “el mayor número de vuelos realizados”. Whether positioning as a passenger counts as flight activity isn’t settled; ask before you rely on it.

Mixed days. The regulation says the greater number of flights decides. The same ruling adds the tie-break: “en los supuestos de igualdad de número será la mayor duración de los vuelos la que determine la cuantía exceptuada de gravamen aplicable”. With as many flights in Spain as abroad, the longer flying time decides. (DGT 0774-04 answered under the previous regulation, Real Decreto 214/1999, whose crew paragraph had the same wording.)

Where you “stayed overnight”. DGT V0830-10 (26 April 2010), for a pilot, reads pernoctar as the place where you spent the night as a rest period. For the hours, it takes the night-work band of the Workers’ Statute (22:00 to 06:00), or the collective agreement for the sector, as a guide, without setting one rule.

Spain or abroad. DGT V1737-20 (2 June 2020) answered a pilot who flew Barcelona to the Canary Islands and back in a day, over Africa: the flights are within Spain, so €36.06.

Cabin crew too. Personal de vuelo is not only pilots. DGT 0145-00 (1 February 2000) answered an airline cabin crew member (auxiliar de vuelo) with the crew amounts. The Spanish Air Navigation Law defines flight crew as those assigned to “el mando o pilotaje de la aeronave, así como a la realización de funciones para la operación a bordo de esta” (Ley 48/1960, art. 56, as amended by Ley 8/2025).

Three days, worked through

Crew based in Madrid, employed by an operator with an air carrier’s operating licence (the next section explains why that matters):

1. Madrid–Palma–Madrid, home the same night. No night away, two flights in Spain: €36.06.
2. Madrid–Nice, night in Nice. A night away abroad: €91.35 for meals, plus the hotel as justified.
3. Palma–Madrid, then Madrid–Lisbon and Lisbon–Madrid, home that night. No night away. One flight within Spain and two to or from abroad: the greater number of flights decides, so €66.11.

If your operator pays more than these amounts, the difference is taxed as salary (art. 9.A.6). If it pays less, only what it paid is exempt.

The open question for business aviation: is your operator a “compañía aérea”?

The crew amounts are for “personal de vuelo de las compañías aéreas”, and the DGT rulings we read don’t apply the term to business aviation. The closest definition is in EU law: in the Spanish text of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, article 2(10), a compañía aérea (air carrier) is an “empresa con una licencia de explotación válida o equivalente”, and article 3(1) requires that licence for any undertaking that carries passengers “a cambio de remuneración o pago de alquiler” (for remuneration and/or hire).

Our reading, which is a reading and not a ruling:

• Airlines and charter (air taxi) operators carry passengers for hire under an operating licence, so their crews probably qualify for €36.06 / €66.11.
• Corporate flight departments, private owners and aerial work don’t carry passengers for hire under an operating licence, so their crews probably fall under the general rule (€26.67 / €48.08 on days without a night away).
• Helicopter operators are unsettled: DGT V3621-15 (19 November 2015) answered a helicopter airline’s question about days without a night away with the general amounts.

If your operator is in the second group, ask payroll which rule it applies before you file. If you’re unsure, the general rule is the safe side.

Freelance crew

The article 9 exemption covers amounts an employer pays an employee. If you invoice your days as an autónomo, your per diems are part of your fee and are taxed as income. What you can deduct are your own meal costs on working trips, under the Personal Income Tax Act (Ley 35/2006, art. 30.2, rule 5.ª c)), “siempre que se produzcan en establecimientos de restauración y hostelería y se abonen utilizando cualquier medio electrónico de pago”, up to the per diem limits the regulation sets for employees. So keep the receipts and pay by card.

Your invoices raise two more questions, and the answers depend on the activity you are registered under. IRPF withholding: a company that pays you for a professional activity withholds 15 %, or 7 % in the year you start and the two after, if you had no professional activity the year before (RD 439/2007, art. 95.1). VAT: services to a business established in Spain carry Spanish VAT, in principle at 21 % (Ley 37/1992, arts. 69.Uno.1.º and 90.Uno); article 22 exempts some services for the aircraft of companies that fly mainly international routes. Check both points with your gestor before you send your first invoice.

What to check on your payslip

1. Days with a night away are exempt up to €53.34 / €91.35 for meals, plus the hotel as justified.
2. Days without a night away use the crew amounts only if your operator is an air carrier, and only on days with flights.
3. Mixed days follow the number of flights, then flying time.
4. Your employer keeps the day, place and reason of each trip. Ask for the statement if your per diems are a flat monthly figure: DGT V2522-14 (26 September 2014) says the amounts “tienen que corresponderse ineludiblemente con los desplazamientos”.
5. Anything above the limits shows up as taxed income.

Let your roster do the counting

Counting this by hand for a month of rotations is slow, and the mixed days are where mistakes happen. Galley works out your per diems from your roster, day by day. It decides Spain or abroad from your flights, applies the crew rule or the general rule (you choose, with the reasoning above in the settings), and shows why each day gets its amount. You get a PDF or CSV statement for payroll or your gestor. Galley also has the official schemes of nine other countries, including Sweden, Germany, France and the UK, or your contract rate.

Per diems are part of Galley Pro, and new accounts get their first month of Pro free.

See your per diems from your roster

Related

• EASA FTL for business aviation
• Business jet jobs in Spain

Sources

1. Real Decreto 439/2007 (Reglamento del IRPF), art. 9: A.3.a and A.6; BOE consolidated text, last update published 07/10/2026. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a9
2. Agencia Tributaria, Manual IRPF 2025: “Personal de vuelo de las compañías aéreas”: page updated 16/03/2026. https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-ayuda-presentacion/irpf-2025/7-cumplimentacion-irpf/7_1-rendimientos-trabajo-personal/7_1_1-rendimientos-integros/7_1_1_2-dietas-gastos-viaje/reglas-especiales/personal-vuelo-companias-aereas.html
3. Dirección General de Tributos rulings (PETETE): 0145-00 (01/02/2000), 0270-00 (18/02/2000), 0774-04 (25/03/2004), V0830-10 (26/04/2010), V2522-14 (26/09/2014), V3621-15 (19/11/2015), V1737-20 (02/06/2020). https://petete.tributos.hacienda.gob.es/consultas/
4. Ley 35/2006 del IRPF, art. 30.2, rule 5.ª c). https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2006-20764#a30
5. Real Decreto 439/2007 (Reglamento del IRPF), art. 95.1: withholding on professional activities. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6820#a95
6. Ley 37/1992 del IVA, arts. 22, 69.Uno.1.º and 90.Uno: BOE consolidated text, last update published 07/10/2026. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1992-28740
7. Ley 48/1960 sobre Navegación Aérea, art. 56: as amended by Ley 8/2025, in force since 20/10/2025. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1960-10905#acincuentayseis
8. Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, articles 2(10) and 3(1), Spanish text. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008R1008

Changes

• 17 October 2026: Facts checked against the texts above. Added IRPF withholding and VAT on freelance invoices.