On April 8, the deadline opens to submit the 2026 Income Tax Return, a campaign that will last for three months, until June 30, a period in which millions of taxpayers must settle accounts with Hacienda. From the first day, the Tax Agency (AEAT) makes available to citizens the draft declaration, which can be consulted online through the Renta Web service.
As explained by the financial product comparator HelpMyCash.com in its free guide on the 2026 Income Tax Return, taxpayers can download the draft in just a few minutes by following a few simple steps. The guide also details the key dates of the campaign, the main novelties and the procedure to obtain the document step by step.
How to consult the draft of the Declaration online
Accessing the tax draft is a simple process. HelpMyCash explains that you just need to follow three basic steps:
First, it is necessary to access the electronic headquarters of the Tax Agency. Next, you must look for the section “Draft / declaration processing service”. Finally, the taxpayer must identify themselves in the system.
Once this process is completed, the user can consult the draft, modify it, submit it or even prepare a Declaration from scratch. From the electronic headquarters of the AEAT it is also possible to review tax data and carry out other procedures related to the Income Campaign.
The identification, the main obstacle for some taxpayers
Although access to the draft is simple, the identification system can become the main obstacle for some taxpayers. The Tax Agency allows identity to be validated through four different systems:
- Cl@ve Móvil.
- Digital certificate or electronic DNI.
- Reference number.
- eIDAS, a system that allows authentication using the electronic identification of another country.
At HelpMyCash they highlight that the simplest ways to identify oneself are the electronic DNI or the Cl@ve system, which allows validating identity in a few seconds using a mobile phone.
Other systems of identification
However, not all taxpayers have a digital certificate or electronic ID, nor are all registered in the Cl@ve system, an essential requirement to use this method.
For those who do not have these systems, there is an alternative: request a reference number through the option “Get your reference number”, available on the Tax Agency's website.
To obtain it, it is necessary to provide the DNI and its expiration or issue date and the value of box 505 of the Income Tax Return filed the previous year, corresponding to the 2024 tax year.
This box corresponds to the general taxable base subject to tax, and should not be confused with the final result of the declaration. It can be found in the Income Tax Return filed last year or in the income or refund document.
There is, however, an exception: people who did not file a declaration the previous year do not need to indicate the value of any box. Instead, they must provide the IBAN code of one of their bank accounts.
What to do if the value of box 505 is unknown
The value of box 505 is indispensable to obtain the reference number when one does not have a digital certificate nor is registered in the Cl@ve system.
If the taxpayer cannot retrieve that data, they can request a prior appointment to go to a Tax Agency office, where staff can help them prepare the declaration.
Another option is to obtain a digital certificate or electronic DNI or register by videoconference in the Cl@ve system, an alternative that allows completing the identification process without the need to travel, as indicated by HelpMyCash.