If you own a property in Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola or anywhere along the Costa del Sol but live abroad, the Spanish tax office (Agencia Tributaria) still expects to hear from you every year — whether you rent the place out or not. The tax is called IRNR (Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes), and it is filed using the famous Modelo 210. This guide explains how it works in plain English for British, German, Dutch, French and Swedish owners.
Answer capsule: Non-resident owners pay IRNR on Spanish rental income via Modelo 210: EU/EEA residents pay 19% on net profit (expenses deductible), non-EU residents (including post-Brexit Britons) pay 24% on gross income with no deductions. Even if you never rent, you owe an annual imputed-income tax of roughly 19–24% on about 1.1% of the cadastral value — often €150–€600 a year.
Who has to file?
Anyone who owns Spanish property but is tax-resident in another country is a “non-resident” for these purposes. That includes the typical Costa del Sol owner: a retiree in Benalmádena who spends winters here, a German family with a Mijas apartment, a Dutch couple renting out a Nerja townhouse in summer. If you spend fewer than 183 days a year in Spain and your main economic interests are abroad, you are almost certainly a non-resident — and Modelo 210 is your annual obligation.
Each owner files separately. A British couple owning a Torremolinos flat 50/50 must submit two returns, each declaring half the income or imputed value.
The two scenarios: rented vs not rented
When the property IS rented
Rental income is taxable in Spain regardless of where the tenant pays you or which platform you use. The rate depends on where you are tax-resident:
- EU/EEA residents (Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, etc.): 19% on the net profit. You can deduct expenses.
- Non-EU residents (United Kingdom since Brexit, Switzerland, USA, etc.): 24% on the gross income. No deductions are allowed.
This EU/non-EU gap is the single biggest post-Brexit change for British owners. A Marbella villa earning €20,000 a year illustrates it bluntly: a German owner might pay 19% on, say, €8,000 of net profit (around €1,520), while a British owner pays 24% on the full €20,000 (€4,800) with nothing deductible.
When the property is NOT rented (imputed income)
This surprises almost every new owner. Even if your Estepona apartment sits empty all year, Spain assumes you derive a notional benefit from owning it and taxes that “imputed income.” The calculation:
- Take the cadastral value (valor catastral) from your IBI council-tax bill.
- Apply 1.1% if the cadastral value was revised in the last ten years, otherwise 2%.
- Tax that figure at 19% (EU/EEA) or 24% (non-EU).
For a typical Fuengirola apartment with a cadastral value of €90,000, that is 1.1% = €990, taxed at 19% = about €188 a year. For a larger Sotogrande villa it can reach €400–€600. It is modest, but missing it for years builds up penalties and interest.
Deductible expenses (EU/EEA residents only)
If you are tax-resident in an EU or EEA country, you may deduct expenses proportional to the period the property was actually let. Commonly accepted deductions on the Costa del Sol include:
- IBI council tax and rubbish (basura) charges
- Community of owners (comunidad) fees
- Home insurance premiums
- Mortgage interest on the property
- Repairs and maintenance (not improvements)
- Property-management and cleaning fees
- Utilities (water, electricity, internet) for let periods
- Depreciation of the building (typically 3% of the construction value)
- Agency and advertising costs
Keep every invoice with your NIE on it. Non-EU residents — including British owners — cannot deduct any of these, which is why the headline 24% gross rate bites so hard.
Quarterly vs annual filing
The filing rhythm depends on the scenario:
- Rental income: filed quarterly. Deadlines are 20 April, 20 July, 20 October and 20 January for the preceding quarter. From 2024 onward the Agencia Tributaria allows rental income to be grouped into a single annual Modelo 210 (filed in January) in many cases, but the safe default many gestores still use is quarterly.
- Imputed income (empty property): filed once a year. The deadline is 31 December of the year following the tax year — so 2025’s imputed income is due by 31 December 2026.
If your Mijas villa is rented for part of the year and empty the rest, you file rental returns for the let quarters and a separate imputed-income return for the empty days. A gestor handles the apportionment.
How to pay and the NIE requirement
You will need a NIE (foreigner identity number) and, ideally, a Spanish bank account for the direct-debit payment option. Modelo 210 can be filed online, but the platform is in Spanish and demands a digital certificate or Cl@ve PIN, which is awkward for absentee owners. Most British, German and Swedish owners appoint a gestor or fiscal representative to file on their behalf — the cost is usually €90–€200 per return or a flat annual fee.
Costa del Sol specifics worth knowing
- Tourist rentals (VFT): if you let short-term to tourists you must register the property as a Vivienda con Fines Turísticos with the Junta de Andalucía’s RTA (Registro de Turismo de Andalucía) and display the licence number. That registration is separate from your tax filing — but the rental income still flows through Modelo 210.
- Platform reporting: Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo now report your income to the Agencia Tributaria automatically, so undeclared rental days are easy for them to spot.
- Double-taxation treaties: Spain has treaties with the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, so the tax you pay here is generally credited against your home-country liability. You will not usually be taxed twice, but you must declare in both countries.
- Selling later: when you eventually sell, the buyer withholds 3% of the price (Modelo 211) as an advance against your capital-gains tax — another non-resident quirk to plan for.
Don’t get caught out
The two most common mistakes we see among Costa del Sol owners are forgetting the imputed-income tax entirely on a holiday home that is never rented, and British owners assuming the old EU rules still apply to them. Both are easily avoided with a quick annual filing. Penalties for late or missing Modelo 210 returns start at 50% of the tax due and rise with interest, so it is genuinely cheaper to stay current.
This guide is general information, not personal tax advice — your cadastral value, residency status and double-taxation position are individual, and the rules shift year to year. A local gestor or abogado who handles non-resident filings every day will get your Modelo 210 right and often save you more than their fee.
If you would like to be introduced to a vetted, English-, German- or Dutch-speaking gestor on the Costa del Sol, send us a quick message. The enquiry is free and there is no obligation — we will simply connect you with a trusted local professional who can review your situation.