What this pilot’s court battle means for expats who travel for work

Expatriates and international workers living in Spain may be in for a stark reality check following a recent ruling by the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country. The court has dismissed the appeal filed by a Ryanair pilot in Biscay, after he claimed tax exemption for work performed abroad, arguing that most of his flight time was spent outside of Spain. This ruling may shatter a belief common among cross-border professionals, digital nomads, and airline crew members about income taxes while physically working outside of Spain.

The argument: Ryanair pilot spent most of his daily life outside Spain in 2022

The pilot, according to local outlet El Diario Vasco, had aimed to reduce his personal income tax settlement for the 2022 fiscal year by €20,940. The Ryanair pilot is a tax resident in Biscay, and argued that since most of his work was carried out beyond the country’s borders and directly benefited the Irish airline, he met the requirements for the tax exemption outlined in the region’s legislation.

To talk numbers, the pilot received a gross salary of €124,382 in the 2022 fiscal year, and had €43,360 withheld for personal income tax (IRPF, as it is known in Spain). He had applied for the exemption to reduce his taxes by €20,940.

The pilot also cited a Supreme Court ruling from April 2025, regarding crew members of Spanish Navy warships operating in international waters.

Basque court rejects appeal

However, the ruling issued by the Basque court rejected the claim, ruling that the pilot’s workplace was located at the Barcelona-El Prat airport in Catalonia, from where he started and ended his workday on a daily basis. The court found that all the flights piloted by the Ryanair employee departed from and returned to Barcelona on the same day, and the payments of income tax were made and declared for tax purposes by Ryanair’s representative office in Spain.

According to the ruling, as El Diario Vasco reports, pilots and other workers linked to commercial airlines are all assigned a “base” from which they operate, and this is the determining factor to establish where their work activity is carried out daily.

The Basque Country High Court of Justice also rejected the comparison to the crew members of the Spanish Navy warships, stating that the situation was “completely different” and that, to qualify for this exemption, it is not enough merely to travel outside of Spanish territory, but the workplace must also be located, even temporarily, abroad.

What this means for expats who travel for work: Tax exemptions may not apply, even if you spend most of your time outside Spain

For many expatriates working in Spain (especially those who are high-earning, consultants, or regional remote workers), this case highlights the distinction between travelling for work and displacing the workplace. People who live in Spain but travel, even frequently, to other countries for meetings, client pitches, or other obligations, cannot automatically assume that income is exempt from taxes.

That is to say, if your contract is with a Spanish subsidiary, you get paid into a Spanish bank account, and you return home to your Spanish residence at the end of the day or week, Hacienda will still review your tax obligations as if you had never left the country; if your ‘home base’ is here, so are your tax obligations.