Spain · Owning a home
If you live in the UK and own a home in Spain, you owe Spain's non-resident income tax (IRNR) every year, even if you never let it. For a home kept for your own use, the tax is 24% of a notional income of 1.1% or 2% of its cadastral value, declared on Modelo 210 by 31 December of the following year. Rent, a sale and the council's IBI are taxed separately.
Looking at a home in Spain? Four quick questions, then Rory tells you plainly what your budget reaches and whether the timing works.
See what fits →The Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes taxes the Spanish income of people who are not tax resident in Spain; where a couple own the home, each files separately on his or her share (Agencia Tributaria).
| Situation | What is taxed | Rate for UK residents | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kept for your own use, or empty | Imputed income: 1.1% or 2% of cadastral value | 24% | Modelo 210, yearly |
| Let | Gross rent, with no expenses deducted | 24% | Modelo 210 |
| Sold | The gain; the buyer withholds 3% of the price | 19% | Modelo 211 (buyer), Modelo 210 (seller) |
| Any year you own it | IBI, the council's property tax | Set by the council | Council bill |
Since 1 January 2021 UK residents pay 24% rather than the 19% charged to EU and EEA residents, and cannot deduct expenses (Agencia Tributaria Brexit guidance; arts. 24.6 and 25 TRLIRNR).
IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles) is the town hall's tax on owners, charged on the cadastral value at a rate each council sets between 0.4% and 1.10% for urban property, with some increases allowed (art. 72, RDL 2/2004).
Spain taxes a second home as if it earned income. Apply 1.1% to the cadastral value on your IBI receipt if your town's values were revised in a general revaluation that took effect in the tax year or the ten before it, and 2% otherwise (art. 85, Ley 35/2006; art. 24.5 TRLIRNR).
The Catastro's website shows when each town was last revalued; the result is scaled to the days owned and your share, with no costs deducted.
Sources disagree for 2024 and 2025. The Agencia Tributaria's guidance says 1.1% applies in those years wherever a general revaluation took effect from 2012. The BOE's consolidated text shows that rule was enacted for 2023 only: three decree-laws extending it, the last being Real Decreto-ley 2/2026, were revoked by Congress. It matters only for towns last revalued in 2012–2014.
A hypothetical cadastral value of €100,000 for a home owned half each by a UK-resident couple and never let. Arithmetic only, not an estimate for any real home.
| Step | If 1.1% applies | If 2% applies |
|---|---|---|
| Cadastral value | €100,000 | €100,000 |
| Imputed income for the whole home | €1,100 | €2,000 |
| Each owner's half | €550 | €1,000 |
| Tax per owner at 24% | €132.00 | €240.00 |
| Per owner if bought on 1 April (275 of 365 days) | €99.45 | €180.82 |
Each spouse files a separate Modelo 210; from 1 January 2027 the form asks for days owned and the percentage share.
Orden HAC/623/2026 (BOE, 23 June 2026) moved the windows. Imputed income for 2025 is filed as before, from 1 January to 31 December 2026; from the 2026 tax year the window is 1 April to 31 December of the next year, or 23 December with direct debit.
Rent can be declared payment by payment or grouped by year (annual grouping applies to rent earned from 2024). Separately declared rent for July to September 2026 is still due in the first 20 days of October 2026; rent from October 2026, and a grouped year, is due in the first 20 days of April of the next year (Agencia Tributaria note).
Most Britons file under their NIE, the tax number for foreigners (getting an NIE). A Spanish tax representative is needed only in listed cases, such as when the Agencia Tributaria asks because you own property in Spain (art. 10 TRLIRNR).
Rent is taxed on everything the tenant pays, including furniture let with the home but excluding VAT. If the home is let for only part of the year, the other months carry imputed income.
The ban on deducting expenses is under challenge. On 28 July 2025 the Audiencia Nacional let a US resident deduct letting costs, finding that the difference breaches EU free movement of capital; on 15 July 2026 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the State's appeal, as reported by the law firm Cuatrecasas. Until it rules, the law as written applies.
HMRC also taxes UK residents on overseas rent through Self Assessment, usually with Foreign Tax Credit Relief for the Spanish tax paid.
When a non-resident sells, the buyer keeps back 3% of the agreed price and pays it to the Agencia Tributaria on Modelo 211 within one month, giving the seller a copy (art. 25.2 TRLIRNR). The seller then has three months, from the end of that month, to file Modelo 210 on the gain.
The gain is the sale price net of selling costs, minus the purchase price plus purchase taxes, fees and improvements, but not repairs. It is taxed at 19%; the 3% counts towards the bill and any excess is refunded.
When the seller is a non-resident individual, the law makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer for the council's plusvalía tax (art. 106.2, RDL 2/2004).
You become tax resident by spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year or having your main economic interests there; it is presumed if your spouse and dependent children under 18 live there (art. 9, Ley 35/2006). That test is separate from the 90-in-180-day visitor limit (the 90-day rule and EES), and staying longer needs a visa such as the non-lucrative visa.
Residents pay IRPF on worldwide income and file Modelo 100; the 2025 campaign ran from 8 April to 30 June 2026. The main home stops producing imputed income, though other Spanish property still does (art. 85).
Residents also file Modelo 720 between 1 January and 31 March if accounts, securities or property abroad exceed €50,000 in any of those categories. After the EU Court of Justice ruling of 27 January 2022 (C-788/19), Ley 5/2022 swapped its special penalties for the general regime; the duty to file remains.
These are the rules as of September 2026, not advice: confirm your position with an independent Spanish tax adviser or lawyer (abogado) before filing. For the wider picture, see retiring to Spain and buying in Spain.
Weighing up a home in Spain?
Rory speaks to every buyer before anyone is introduced: fifteen minutes, your budget and your timing, and a straight answer on whether it fits.
Talk to us about Spain →Yes. A non-resident owner pays IRNR each year on imputed income: 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value, pro rata to days owned and each owner's share, taxed at 24% for UK residents. Every owner files Modelo 210, and the council's IBI is billed separately.
Imputed income for 2025 on a home you do not let must be filed between 1 January and 31 December 2026. From the 2026 tax year, Orden HAC/623/2026 moves the window to 1 April to 31 December of the next year, or 23 December with direct debit.
Not under the law as written: since Brexit only EU and EEA residents may deduct costs, so UK residents pay 24% on gross rent. A 2025 Audiencia Nacional judgment for a US resident is on appeal to the Supreme Court, which admitted it on 15 July 2026. Ask an adviser before relying on it.
The buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it to the Agencia Tributaria on Modelo 211 within a month of the sale. It counts towards the seller's 19% tax on the gain, declared on Modelo 210 in the next three months, and any overpayment is refunded.
You move from IRNR to IRPF on your worldwide income, filing Modelo 100 between April and June. Your main home no longer carries imputed income. If your assets abroad exceed €50,000 in accounts, securities or property, you also file the Modelo 720 information return by 31 March.
Last checked 2026-09-28. Rules and rates change; this is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own position with an independent Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you act.