Taxes and yearly costs for non-resident owners in Spain

Owning a home in Spain without living here costs money every year, even if you never rent it out: the town hall's IBI and waste fee, and non-resident income tax (IRNR) on the income the law assumes the home gives you. If you let it, IRNR also taxes the rent; when you sell, it taxes the gain, part of which the buyer withholds, and the town hall charges plusvalía. Residents of the EU or EEA pay a lower rate and, on rental income, can deduct expenses; everyone else cannot.

You are non-resident if you spend 183 days or fewer a year in Spain and the centre of your economic interests is not here (Article 9.1 of the income tax law, LIRPF). You are also presumed resident if your spouse and dependent minor children live in Spain, unless you prove otherwise. Buying a home does not make you tax resident — see our visas and residency guide.

IBI and the waste fee

IBI (impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles) is the municipal property tax, charged on the home's cadastral value. Each town hall sets its own rate within the legal range (0.4% – 1.1% for urban property, Article 72 of the local finance law, TRLRHL), so two flats with the same cadastral value pay different amounts in neighbouring towns. The tax falls due on 1 January (Article 75 TRLRHL): whoever owns the home that day pays for the whole year. In a sale, buyer and seller usually agree in the contract how to split that year's bill.

Local bylaws may offer discounts (bonificaciones), for example for large families or homes with solar panels, nearly always subject to conditions and an application. Unpaid IBI does not go away when a home is sold: the property itself answers for the debt (Article 64.1 TRLRHL), so ask for the last paid receipt before you buy.

On top of that, the Waste Law 7/2022 requires every town hall to charge a specific waste collection fee (tasa de basuras) that covers the real cost of the service. Every municipality must have one, but each sets the amount and how it is worked out; sometimes it comes with the IBI bill, sometimes separately.

• 0.4% – 1.1% — RDLeg 2/2004 TRLRHL, art. 72.1 · Checked: 17/10/2026

Each municipality's IBI rate is in our IBI rate table.

Non-resident income tax (IRNR)

If you are not tax resident in Spain you do not file a Spanish income tax return (IRPF). Instead you pay non-resident income tax (impuesto sobre la renta de no residentes, IRNR, consolidated law of 2004) only on income arising in Spain. Each item of income is taxed separately, with no tax-free allowance. The general rate is 24%; residents of the EU and of EEA countries with effective exchange of tax information pay 19%. Residents outside the EU and EEA, including the UK after Brexit, pay the general rate.

The double taxation treaty between Spain and your country of residence decides what happens next: as a rule, Spain may tax income from property located here, and your home country takes it into account through a credit or an exemption. Check how to report it where you live.

• 19% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.1.a · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 24% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.1.a · Checked: 17/10/2026

Imputed income when the home is not let

If the home is not let — you use it for holidays or it stands empty — the law assumes it gives you an income and taxes it: imputed income. It is 1.1% of the cadastral value if the municipality's values were revised and came into force in that tax period or in one of the ten before it, and 2% otherwise (Article 85 LIRPF, applied to non-residents by Article 24.5 of the non-resident income tax law, TRLIRNR). The year of the last revision is shown on the IBI bill or on the Cadastre website.

The income is prorated by the days of the year the home was not let (and was yours, if you bought or sold mid-year). No expenses can be deducted — not IBI, not community fees, not mortgage interest. The IRNR rate applies to that base. You can work out your own case with the IRNR and modelo 210 calculator.

• 2% — Ley 35/2006 IRPF, art. 85.1 (redacción en vigor desde 01.01.2015) · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 1.1% — Ley 35/2006 IRPF, art. 85.1 · Checked: 17/10/2026

Tax on rental income

If you let the home, you pay tax on what you receive. This is where owners differ most:

• EU or EEA resident: tax on net income at 19%. You can deduct the expenses linked to the letting — IBI, community fees, insurance, repairs and upkeep, interest on the purchase loan, utilities you pay and depreciation of the building and furniture — in proportion to the days let.
• Resident anywhere else: tax on gross income at 24%, with no expenses deducted (Articles 24.1, 24.6 and 25.1 TRLIRNR).

The reductions that IRPF gives Spanish residents, such as the one for letting a home, do not apply to non-residents. For the days the home was not let, imputed income still applies. Holiday lets also need a registration with the regional government; the rules are in our holiday letting guide. To see what is left after costs and tax, use the rental yield calculator.

• 19% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.1.a · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 24% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.1.a · Checked: 17/10/2026

Selling, and buying from a non-resident

When you sell a home as a non-resident, the buyer must withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the tax agency with form 211 (Article 25.2 TRLIRNR). That amount is not the tax itself but a payment on account: you declare the gain — sale price minus purchase price and the costs and taxes of both transactions — on modelo 210 at 19%, and the amount withheld is set against it. If the withholding exceeds the tax, you claim the difference back on the same form.

If you are the one buying from a non-resident, the obligation is yours: if you do not withhold and pay that amount, the property answers for it. More in our guide to buying risks.

• 19% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.1.f.3º · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 3% — RDLeg 5/2004 TRLIRNR, art. 25.2 · Checked: 17/10/2026

Wealth tax

Spanish wealth tax (impuesto sobre el patrimonio) also reaches non-residents through what is called «obligación real»: it applies only to assets and rights located in Spain, such as the home or an account with a Spanish bank, after deducting debts secured on them, such as the mortgage. There is a tax-free threshold of €700,000. The main-home exemption is designed for residents and does not cover a holiday home.

The tax is devolved to the regions, which set very different reliefs. In certain cases a non-resident may apply the rules of the region where most of their Spanish assets are located (fourth additional provision of Law 19/1991). If what you own in Spain comes close to the threshold, review your case with an adviser before the tax falls due on 31 December (Article 29 of Law 19/1991).

• €700,000 — Ley 19/1991 Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio, art. 28.Dos y Tres · Checked: 17/10/2026

Inheritance and gift tax for non-residents, region by region, is in our inheritance and gift tax table.

Plusvalía: the municipal tax on sale

Plusvalía municipal (formally IIVTNU, the tax on the increase in value of urban land) is charged when the home changes hands: sale, gift or inheritance. In a sale the seller pays it; in a gift or inheritance, the person receiving. If the seller is a non-resident individual, the buyer pays it to the town hall as a substitute and deducts it from the price (Article 106.2 TRLRHL). So when you sell, expect the buyer to hold back two amounts.

After Constitutional Court ruling 182/2021, Royal Decree-Law 26/2021 changed the tax: if the land has not gained value, there is no tax, and the taxpayer can choose between the objective method (cadastral land value times a coefficient based on years of ownership) and the actual method (the difference between sale and purchase price). Purchase taxes are covered in our guide to buying property in Spain.

Community fees, insurance and bills

In a building or development with shared areas you pay fees to the community of owners (comunidad de propietarios) and, when the general meeting approves them, one-off levies (derramas) for works. The community sets them, not the law, and they do not depend on whether you live there. Debts the previous owner left with the community pass to the home: it answers for the current year and the three previous years (Article 9.1.e of the Horizontal Property Law, LPH). Before signing, ask for the community's debt certificate; the seller must also notify the community of the sale.

Then there is home insurance (with a mortgage, the law requires the property to be insured against damage, but you need not take the bank's own policy) and utilities — water, electricity, gas and internet — whose standing charges run even while the house is empty. Give the community and the town hall a contact address and pay bills by direct debit from a Spanish account so you do not miss any notices.

Modelo 210: one form for everything

All this income is declared on a single form, modelo 210, which is also used to claim a refund. Each owner files their own: if two people own the home, each declares their share.

• Imputed income: one return a year, filed during the year after the one it covers.
• Rental income: declared by periods or grouped for the whole year in a single return, under Order HAC/623/2026; the tax agency publishes the deadlines for each option.
• Gain on sale: one return for each sale.

The form is filed online, either by you with a digital certificate or through a representative or gestoría, who can also pay by direct debit. You need an NIE. If you do not file, the tax agency can claim the tax with surcharges and interest, even if you never received any rent.

A year as a non-resident owner

A typical year:

• During the year: IBI and waste fee bills, in the collection period each town hall sets (many allow instalments or direct debit).
• The following year: modelo 210 for the previous year's imputed income.
• If you let: modelo 210 for the rent, by periods or once a year, depending on the option chosen.
• If you sell: the buyer files form 211 with the withholding within one month of the sale; afterwards you declare the gain on modelo 210 and claim any refund. Plusvalía is settled with the town hall.
• 31 December: wealth tax falls due, if it applies to you.

Exact dates change with the rules: before each deadline, check the taxpayer calendar of the Spanish tax agency (AEAT).