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IRNR: non-residents' income tax

IRNR (Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes) is the income tax that people who are not resident in Spain pay on Spanish income, including the income a home they own is deemed to produce.

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How IRNR applies to the owner of a Spanish home

If you own a home in Spain and are not tax-resident here, IRNR (RDLeg 5/2004) reaches you in three situations. Each type of income is taxed separately and cannot be offset against the others:

  • imputed income, even if the home stands empty or you only use it on holiday: the law assumes an income of 1.1% of the cadastral value if the municipality revised its values in that year or the ten before it, or 2% otherwise, pro rata to the days you owned it and it was not let; the IRNR rate is then applied to that income;
  • rental income: 19% for residents of the EU or EEA, who may deduct expenses such as repairs or IBI; 24% for everyone else, on the gross income with no expenses;
  • sale: 19% of the gain; the buyer withholds 3% of the price on account of that tax.

The return is modelo 210. Deadlines under Orden HAC/623/2026, for 2026 income onwards: imputed income, 1 April to 31 December of the following year; rental income with tax to pay, 1 to 20 April of the following year; a sale, within the three months after the month the buyer has to pay in the withholding.

If you live outside the EU and EEA, the tax office may require you to appoint a representative resident in Spain because you own property here (art. 10). Double tax treaties take precedence over the law (art. 4): the treaty with your country decides how you avoid paying twice. Work out your figure with the non-resident tax calculator; the other yearly taxes are in the owner's tax guide.

How to file IRNR on your Spanish home, step by step

  1. Get your NIE: you need it to file modelo 210 and to pay.
  2. Look up the home's cadastral value on the Catastro's online office and check whether your municipality had a cadastral revision in the previous ten years: the percentage depends on it.
  3. Count the days of the year you owned the home and it was not let; if you bought mid-year, imputed income starts on the day of the escritura, the deed.
  4. Work out the income and the tax; if there are two owners, each files their own modelo 210 for their share.
  5. If you sell, the buyer will withhold 3%; then file your own modelo 210 for the sale, even if it shows a refund.

Common IRNR mistakes

  • Thinking no letting means no tax: imputed income is filed every year, even if the home stays shut.
  • Applying the EU rate or deducting expenses while living outside the EU and EEA.
  • Applying the Spanish income tax reductions for letting a home: IRNR does not allow them (art. 24.1).
  • Buying from a non-resident seller without withholding 3%: if it is not paid in, the home is charged with the debt and the land registrar records it in a marginal note on the entry.
  • Forgetting the municipal plusvalía: if the seller is a non-resident individual, the buyer pays it.

IRNR on a new build and on a resale home

When you buy a new build from a Spanish-resident developer there is no 3% withholding: it only applies when the seller is a non-resident. No income is imputed while the home is under construction; imputation starts on the day of the deed, pro rata to the days left in the year.

In the first year a new home may not yet have a cadastral value, or it may not have been notified to you. In that case imputed income is 1.1% of half the higher of two values: the purchase price or the value checked by the tax office.

On a resale, check before signing whether the seller is tax-resident in Spain: if not, you withhold 3% of the price and pay it in with modelo 211 within one month of the sale. Brand-new homes are in the new-build catalogue.

Sources and legal basis

Glossary of buying property in Spain

Find out about new builds in Spain
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