The General Directorate of Taxes (DGT), an organization dependent on the Ministry of Finance, has clarified that including a child as a joint owner of a bank account does not necessarily imply a donation. This is stated in the binding consultation V1514-25, of August 19, 2025, in which it analyzes the case of a mother who wants to add her son to an account of its exclusive ownership.
The main question was whether this simple change could imply a transfer of money subject to the Inheritance and Donation Tax. The Treasury responds not necessarily, relying on the Tax Law which establishes in its article 3 that only free acquisitions of goods are taxed.
Furthermore, the DGT recalls that in its consultation that for there to be a donation, requirements must be met such as the intention to give a gift, the enrichment of the recipient and the acceptance of the donee, as stated in article 618 of the Civil Code. If these elements do not exist, there is no donation, even if the child appears on the account.
Being a co-owner does not mean that there is a transfer of assets.
In its analysis, the DGT distinguishes between being able to use the money and being its owner. To justify this, it relies on civil regulations and the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, which has established that joint ownership of a bank account only grants powers of disposal vis-à-vis the bank, but does not in itself determine the ownership of the money.
This criterion is also based on article 7 of the Wealth Tax Law, which indicates that assets are attributed to whoever is their true legal owner, not to whoever formally appears in an account.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court has indicated that opening an account with several owners does not imply that the money becomes everyone’s, but rather that ownership depends on the origin of the funds and the internal relationships between the owners.
Therefore, adding a child as a co-owner does not in itself imply a free transfer of money, since it does not in itself prove an enrichment of the child or an impoverishment of the owner.
There will only be a donation if the money has been given free of charge.
The DGT concludes that there would only be a donation if money is actually given to the child free of charge. That is, if the legal requirements for the donation provided for in the Civil Code are met.
Also, remember that this is a question of fact that must be analyzed in each case. That is, the Treasury can verify whether, in practice, a real transfer of money has occurred. In this sense, articles 105 and 106 of the General Tax Law establish that it is up to the taxpayer to prove the facts and justify who is the true owner of the money.
Consequently, if the Treasury detects that the child has come to use the money as his or her own without justification, it could consider that a donation did exist and require taxation.