The use of Bizum and other instant payment systems has skyrocketed in Spain in recent years, becoming a common payment method for both individuals and small businesses. This growth has led the Spanish Tax Agency to take a further step and strengthen tax controls on digital payments starting in 2026.
While this change won't be revolutionary for most users, it will represent a watershed moment for freelancers, SMEs, and those who regularly receive income through digital channels . Banks and payment platforms will send regular reports to the tax authorities, and small payments will no longer go unnoticed.
What will change in 2026 with Bizum and digital payments
The new framework is based on Royal Decree 253/2025 , which modifies the tax management and inspection regulations and strengthens reporting obligations for banks, card issuers, and electronic money institutions. From January 1, 2026 , these entities will be required to submit monthly reports to the Tax Agency detailing all payments and receipts related to economic activity made through Bizum, cards, and other similar methods.
Until now, financial institutions were only required to report transactions exceeding certain amounts, such as €3.000 for card transactions . With the new regulations, this minimum threshold is eliminated : all professional or commercial transactions will be monitored , regardless of the amount.
These reports will detail who receives the payment (individual, self-employed or company), the associated account or means of collection , the amount of each transaction, the payment system used (Bizum, POS, physical or virtual card, etc.) and, where applicable, the details of the merchant or terminal.
The first batch of information will cover transactions from January 2026 and will be sent to the Tax Agency in February. From then on, payments that previously went unrecorded will be subject to regular monitoring by the Tax Agency.
Bizum and card transactions that the Treasury will monitor
In the specific case of Bizum, the following will be monitored:
- All professional or commercial charges received through Bizum, even when they are small or one-off amounts.
- Payments to suppliers or collaborators that are made through Bizum and are linked to a business or economic activity.
- Payments by credit, debit or prepaid card associated with accounts of self-employed individuals or companies, both in physical POS terminals and in online payment gateways.
- Transactions through other payment platforms associated with the phone number or electronic walletprovided they are of a professional nature.
For individual users who use Bizum sporadically—for example, to split a dinner or repay a small loan to friends —the regulation does not aim for detailed monitoring. However, if high and recurring deposits are detected in the same account, even if the individual amounts are modest, the Tax Agency may consider that there is underlying economic activity or regular donations that must be declared.
Card payments exceeding €25.000 per year per taxpayer will also be taken into account , as the regulations introduce a specific reporting obligation when annual card transactions exceed this overall threshold, allowing for the detection of significant spending levels.
Objective: more traceability and less underground economy
The underlying reason for this reform is clear: the Tax Agency wants to reduce the "gray areas" of digital money and curb the underground economy that thrives on payments that previously left little trace. The rise of Bizum and other instant payment systems has changed how people receive and make payments, and the Administration is now seeking to adapt its oversight capabilities to this new reality.
With a constant flow of data on electronic payments and receipts, the Tax Agency can cross-reference this information with VAT, personal income tax, and corporate tax returns , accounting records, and issued invoices. If the numbers don't add up—for example, if a self-employed individual receives a lot of Bizum payments and declares very little income—the likelihood of receiving a request for information or an audit increases significantly.
This approach aligns with other measures already adopted in Spain and the European Union, such as limiting the use of cash in commercial transactions and strengthening anti-money laundering regulations. The official objective is to achieve greater tax transparency without criminalizing the everyday use of these payment methods.
In parallel, the regulation also introduces annual reporting obligations linked to cards and other means of payment, with exceptions for those instruments whose volume of charges and credits in the year is relatively low (below 25.000 euros), which allows focusing on profiles with a higher volume of transactions.
Bizum and its limits: what the terms of use say
Although the focus of the reform is fiscal, it's important to remember that Bizum already has its own technical and operational restrictions . The platform sets, among other things, a minimum amount of €0,50 and a maximum of €1.000 per transaction , with a daily limit of €2.000 and an approximate limit of €5.000 per month per user, in addition to a maximum of 60 transactions per month.
These conditions aim to maintain agile and secure use between individuals , preventing Bizum from becoming a tool for moving large sums of money opaquely. However, practical experience shows that many small businesses, private tutors, and professionals providing everyday services have adopted Bizum as a regular payment method.
It is precisely in this middle ground—small but frequent payments—that the Spanish Tax Agency wants to gain visibility. By receiving detailed monthly information from banks and platforms, it will be able to detect activity patterns that were previously lost among thousands of daily microtransactions.
On a personal level, the Tax Agency has made it clear that it does not intend to monitor every refund between friends , but it is interested in money flows that, due to their frequency or aggregate amount, may fit better as donations, hidden income or payments for undeclared services.
Donations, family support, and regular shipments
One of the points that generates the most questions is that of family donations made through Bizum or bank transfers . Very common situations, such as parents sending around 300 euros each month to a child to help with rent or other expenses, could become tax-related with the new, strengthened controls.
If these transfers are repeated consistently and without return, the Tax Agency may consider them donations subject to Inheritance and Gift Tax , rather than merely anecdotal. Until now, many of these transactions could go unnoticed; with the new monthly reporting requirement, the frequency and pattern of these transfers will be much more readily apparent.
To avoid surprises, experts recommend regularizing these family donations through the established channels: declaring the donation in the corresponding autonomous community —where in many cases there are significant bonuses— or formalizing a loan between individuals without interest, with its repayment schedule and notification to the Tax Agency.
The problem, therefore, is not in providing financial support to a child or relative, but in failing to properly document or declare these transfers when they become frequent or substantial. The new regulations will make it easier for the Tax Agency to distinguish between small, occasional remittances and more structured money flows.
The daily life of the self-employed: invoices, books and Bizum
The change is most noticeable among the self-employed and small businesses . For the Spanish Tax Agency (Hacienda), a payment received via Bizum is, from a tax perspective, equivalent to a card payment or a bank transfer : it forms part of the business's invoicing and must appear in its accounting records and periodic tax returns.
Looking ahead to 2026, several basic obligations are emphasized :
- Issue an invoice for each service or sale charged via Bizum., including customer details where applicable, NIF, concept, taxable base, VAT and IRPF if required.
- Record these payments in the accounting books just like any other income, without considering them as something "separate" simply because they arrive via mobile.
- Include the amounts in the tax forms quarterly and annual (VAT, quarterly payments of personal income tax, annual summaries, etc.), respecting the tax regime of each professional.
- Differentiate between personal and professional accountsso that customer payments are not mixed with household expenses or private transactions.
This separation is especially important now that banks will be submitting monthly reports to the tax authorities detailing professional payments . Having Bizum linked to a business account or an account clearly designated for business activity greatly simplifies the task of proving the purpose of each transaction.
Furthermore, the cross-referencing of declared income with reports from financial institutions will be almost automatic. If a self-employed individual declares significantly lower income than their accumulated payments via Bizum, credit card, and point-of-sale terminals , they will likely receive a request to clarify the situation or, in clearer cases, a formal audit.
Risk of penalties: what happens if you don't declare
The increased controls don't come alone; they also entail a greater risk of penalties when accounting records don't accurately reflect payments received. The legislation distinguishes between different levels of infraction based on severity and intent.
In less serious cases, when the amounts omitted are small and there is no clear intent to conceal income, the offenses are considered minor , which can carry fines of up to several thousand euros . If the Tax Agency determines that there has been significant concealment or undeclared regular activity, the offenses are classified as serious , with penalties that generally range between 50% and 100% of the evaded tax.
In the most extreme cases—systematically concealed income, repeated use of off-the-books payments via Bizum or credit card, or a high volume of fraud—the infractions are considered very serious . In these scenarios, the penalty can be up to 1,5 times the amount not paid , in addition to surcharges, interest, and potential criminal consequences if certain thresholds are exceeded.
Beyond the financial penalty, an inspection resulting from discrepancies between bank data and tax returns can lead to adjustments for several years , demands for additional documentation, and a significant reputational impact for small businesses and professionals.
A change in the way we look at digital payments
The context in which this reform is being approved is one of massive digitization of payments in Spain . Bizum already has over 30 million users, representing around 60% of the population, and penetration is even higher among young people. Millions of transactions are carried out every day, many of them for small amounts and everyday use.
This volume made an adjustment to the regulatory framework practically inevitable . The Spanish Tax Agency and the European Union are thus aligning themselves with a trend that seeks to ensure that more and more money movements are documented, easily traceable, and that inconsistencies between standard of living and declared income can be detected.
For the average person who uses Bizum to pay for dinner, share expenses, or give an occasional gift, the practical impact should be limited. However, for those who use these systems as a recurring payment method for their work , or for families who regularly use bank transfers and Bizum to help each other financially, the new situation requires greater caution.
In the coming years, the combination of detailed monthly reports, annual limits for cards, and greater data matching capabilities will make it increasingly difficult to keep digital income off the tax authorities' radar, and it will be more advisable to adapt tax management than to try to evade control.
With this new monitoring system for Bizum, cards and other mobile payments, the Tax Agency is taking a definitive step towards a much finer audit of the digital economy , in which the key will no longer be so much the isolated amount of each payment as the sum, frequency and consistency of all of them with what is officially declared.
