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A bit of panic has been sweeping across Spanish social media and WhatsApp groups in recent days, with users convinced that from 2026 the tax office will be keeping tabs on every Bizum payment they make. People have been worrying about splitting restaurant bills, chipping in for shared household costs, going halves on birthday presents or paying back a mate for a coffee.

 

The good news? It's complete nonsense. Both the Tax Agency and Bizum itself have stepped in to set the record straight. The changes coming into effect on January 1 only affect self-employed workers, professionals and companies. Your everyday personal payments are completely unaffected.

 

 

The confusion stems from a regulatory tweak designed to improve tax oversight of professional and business income. From February 2026, banks will need to inform the Tax Agency about the monthly earnings that self-employed workers, businesses and companies receive through any payment method, whether that's card, bank transfer, card machine or Bizum.

 

This doesn't mean the tax office will be scrutinising every single transaction. There won't be any record kept of payments between private individuals. Instead, it's an aggregate report that only concerns people carrying out economic activities.

 

The Tax Agency has been very clear on this point: Bizum payments between friends don't need to be declared and aren't subject to any changes whatsoever. What matters for tax purposes isn't how you pay for something, but what the payment is actually for. If income comes from a business activity, it needs to be taxed regardless of whether it arrives via Bizum, card or cold hard cash. If it's not part of any business activity, like when two people send each other money for personal reasons, there's absolutely no reporting obligation.

 

Bizum has also released its own statement shooting down the rumours circulating online. The platform has confirmed that the Tax Agency isn't requesting information about payments between individuals and won't be doing so in 2026.

 

There's also no amount threshold that triggers a declaration requirement for personal Bizum transfers. The only thing changing relates to companies and the self-employed, who already have tax obligations and will simply see their banks reporting their income in a more systematic way from 2026.

 

 

It's worth mentioning that there are other banking obligations already in place that often get muddled up in these conversations, even though they've got nothing to do with Bizum.

 

Banks must inform the Treasury about card payments exceeding €25,000 per year and cash withdrawals over €3,000. These are established financial control measures and have absolutely nothing to do with instant payments between everyday users.

 

The bottom line from both the Tax Agency and Bizum couldn't be clearer: how you use Bizum day-to-day isn't changing one bit in 2026. Money transfers between private individuals will remain private and won't be reported to the Tax Agency. The new obligations focus purely on income connected to business activities, with the aim of improving traceability and tackling tax fraud.

 

For the average person using Bizum to split costs with friends and family, absolutely nothing will be different. Carry on as normal.

 

Image: Freepik