Kit Digital Canarias Las Palmas, Tenerife and tax advantages.

Canarias holds a singular position in the Spanish business digitalization landscape. On the one hand, its productive fabric has doubled its digitalization level in three years, going from 22 to 47 points out of 100. On the other, Canarian micro-enterprises, which account for 95.2% of the business base, still score below pass in digital maturity, with an average of 31 points. This gap, combined with the unique tax advantages of the archipelago (IGIC, ZEC, REF) and a growing ecosystem of regional grants, makes Canarias one of the territories with the greatest growth potential in business digitalization.

Kit Digital in Canarias: more than 12,000 applications

The impact of Kit Digital (Spain digitalization grant) in Canarias has been remarkable. More than 12,000 applications submitted, with 6,500 companies already receiving the grant. More than 40% of Canarian SMEs with 10 to 50 employees applied, one of the highest adoption rates in the country. Canarian micro-enterprises also lead digitalization compared with the national average, according to data from the Gobierno de Canarias.

That said, the room for improvement remains enormous. Only 11% of Canarian micro-enterprises sell online, and barely 2% have specialist ICT staff. Kit Digital has been an essential first step, but the digital transformation of the archipelago requires continuity in grants and specialized advisory.

IGIC: a direct cost differential

Canarian companies pay IGIC (Canary Indirect General Tax) instead of VAT. The standard IGIC rate is 7% compared with the 21% standard VAT rate. This has a direct implication: when a Canarian company contracts services from a peninsular digitalization agent, the operation can benefit from the reverse-charge mechanism, avoiding the upfront payment of the indirect tax. This mechanism represents significant cash flow savings, especially for micro-enterprises and self-employed professionals with limited resources.

The Canary Special Zone (ZEC): 4% corporate income tax

The ZEC applies a reduced 4% corporate income tax rate (versus the 25% general rate) until 2032. With 824 registered entities and approximately 11,000 jobs, the ZEC is one of the most attractive tax regimes in Europe. ICT companies established in the ZEC can operate as digitalization agents with a competitive advantage on structural costs.

The ZEC + Kit Digital combination is especially powerful: the Kit Digital grant funds the technology investment, and the ZEC reduces the tax burden on profits generated by the productivity improvement that follows digitalization.

The Canarian REF

The Economic and Fiscal Regime of Canarias offers additional incentives such as the Reserve for Investments in Canarias (RIC), which allows up to 90% of the taxable base to be reduced through productive investments, and the Deduction for Investments in Canarias (DIC), which offers deductions higher than those in the general regime.

Digiempresas 2026: the new bet of the Gobierno de Canarias

The Digiempresas 2026 program, called in March 2026 by ACIISI (Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society), is the main novelty in digitalization grants for Canarian companies.

Funded with €700,000, the program offers vouchers from €5,000 to €25,000 per company on a non-competitive concurrent basis (which means applications are processed in order of arrival until the budget is exhausted). Eligible items include ERP, CRM and management system rollouts, Business Intelligence and analytics tools, cybersecurity solutions, artificial intelligence projects, and process optimization and automation.

Digiempresas 2026 is compatible with Kit Digital if it funds different items, which opens the possibility of combining both grants to cover a full digitalization project.

Other grants available in Canarias

The Innobonos from the Gobierno de Canarias offer up to €20,000 co-financed at 70% by FEDER for innovation projects that can include digitalization components.

The Impulso Industria 4.0 program, funded with €3 million, finances industrial digitalization projects including IoT, automation, sensorics and digital twin.

RIS3 Ampliada 2026 allocates €5 million to business innovation projects, with specific lines for digital transformation.

The Aporta PYMEs Islas no Capitalinas program reserves €400,000 exclusively for companies on La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, compensating for double insularity.

At island level, the Cabildo de Tenerife offers industrial reconversion grants of up to €40,000 (total budget €1.2 million) that include business digitalization. The Cabildo de Gran Canaria runs the Gran Canaria Isla Inteligente program with 23 projects and €21 million in investment.

Chambers of Commerce and support offices

The Cámara de Comercio de Gran Canaria and the Cámara de Comercio de Santa Cruz de Tenerife operate as Oficinas Acelera Pyme, offering free advice on Kit Digital, Kit Consulting (Spain advisory grant) and digitalization grants. Both chambers organize thematic webinars, awareness sessions and events such as DigiON Canarias, the reference digital transformation event in the archipelago.

Why choose a digitalization agent with presence in Canarias?

Insularity generates specific needs that an agent without presence in Canarias is unlikely to understand. The double insularity of non-capital islands, the tax particularities (IGIC, ZEC, REF), the predominant sectors (tourism, foreign trade, services), the island schedules and logistics, and knowledge of the local grants ecosystem are factors that a digitalization agent with real presence on the islands can manage with much greater effectiveness.

In addition, an agent with simultaneous presence in Canarias and in the Peninsula can bring a broader perspective, combining local knowledge with the best practices of the national market.

Need a digitalization agent in Canarias that understands the particularities of the archipelago? With an office on the islands and accreditation across all Kit Digital and Kit Consulting categories, I can advise you on the best digitalization strategy combining every available Canarian grant. Get in touch with no obligation.

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Authorship: Ángel Ortega Castro · independent consultant in strategy, quality and digitalization for SMEs.

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for Kit Digital in Canarias?

SMEs, micro-enterprises and self-employed professionals with tax residency in Spain (including Canarias) that meet size, seniority and eligibility requirements. The Canarian particularity is the access to IGIC and the ZEC regime, which improves the net economics of the project.

Can Kit Digital be combined with Digiempresas 2026?

Yes, provided each grant funds different items. The typical combination is Kit Digital for standardized solutions (web, e-commerce, CRM) and Digiempresas 2026 for ERP rollouts, BI and AI projects that do not fit Kit Digital's catalog.

What are the deadlines?

Each call publishes specific deadlines in the BOE; generally 6 months to formalize the agreement with the agent and 12 months to complete the engagement. Digiempresas 2026 operates on a first-come, first-served basis until the budget is exhausted.