Short answer: If you own property in Spain and are not a Spanish tax resident, you almost certainly owe IRNR every year — even if the property sits empty and you never rent it out. You declare it on Modelo 210, at 19% if you're a tax resident of the EU/EEA and 24% if you're not (UK, US, Switzerland, Canada…). The filing deadlines changed in June 2026.
If you own a property in Spain and live somewhere else, there's a good chance you owe Spanish tax on it every year. That's true even if you've never rented it out and only visit twice a summer. Most non-resident owners find this out by accident — from a neighbour, from a Facebook group, sometimes years after the fact.
The tax is called IRNR (Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes, Non-Resident Income Tax), and it applies whether your property sits empty, gets rented out, or gets sold. The rules depend on which of those three applies to you, and the rate depends on where you're a tax resident — not on your passport.
Here's what actually triggers it, how much it costs, and the filing change that came into force this year.
What is IRNR?
IRNR is the tax Spain charges non-residents on income earned — or deemed to be earned — inside Spanish territory. For a property owner, that "income" can be actual rent you collect, or it can be a notional figure Hacienda assumes you benefit from simply by having a home available to you, even when it's empty.
It's declared on a form called Modelo 210, and it is separate from two things people often confuse it with:
- IBI, the local council property tax that every owner pays, resident or not.
- Income tax in your home country, which you may still owe on the same property. A double taxation treaty normally stops you paying twice, but it doesn't remove the Spanish filing obligation.
Do I owe tax even if I never rent the property out?
Yes, in most cases. If you own an urban property in Spain for personal or holiday use and it isn't rented, Hacienda takes the view that you get a benefit from having it at your disposal, and taxes that assumed benefit. This is called renta imputada — imputed income.
It's calculated in three steps:
- Take the property's valor catastral (cadastral value — an administrative value set by the council, usually well below market price, printed on your IBI bill).
- Apply 1.1% or 2% to it, depending on when that cadastral value was last officially revised.
- Apply your tax rate — 19% or 24% — to the result.
Worked example. A holiday apartment with a cadastral value of €150,000, recently revised, so the 1.1% rate applies:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cadastral value | €150,000 |
| Imputed base (1.1%) | €1,650 |
| Tax at 19% (EU/EEA resident) | €313.50 for the year |
| Tax at 24% (non-EU resident) | €396 for the year |
If you only owned the property for part of the year, or it was rented for part of it, the figure is prorated for the months it sat empty.
How much will you pay?
The rate depends on your tax residency, not your nationality:
| Tax residency | Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| EU / EEA (incl. Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein) | 19% | Rental income, imputed income, capital gains |
| Everywhere else (UK, US, Switzerland, Canada…) | 24% | Rental income, imputed income |
| Everywhere else, on a sale | 19% | Capital gains only |
If you're British, this catches a lot of owners off guard. Since 1 January 2021 the UK is treated as a third country for IRNR purposes, not an EU member. A rental taxed at 19% before Brexit is now taxed at 24% — and the expense deductions that used to soften the blow are largely gone too.
Can I deduct expenses from my rental income?
If you're a tax resident of the EU or EEA, generally yes. Mortgage interest, community fees, repairs, insurance and letting-agent commission can usually be deducted before the 19% is applied, so you're taxed on net profit rather than gross rent.
If you're a tax resident outside the EU/EEA, including the UK, you generally cannot deduct these costs. There are narrow exceptions under specific treaties that need checking case by case, but as a rule a UK owner is taxed on the full rental amount at 24%, not on the profit after costs. That is a meaningfully bigger bill than the headline rate alone suggests.
Modelo 210: the form you actually file
Modelo 210 is the self-assessment used to declare almost every kind of IRNR income: rent, imputed income, capital gains from a sale, dividends and more. Each type of income has its own clave de renta (income code) on the form, and as a general rule you file per property and per accrual period.
Because most non-resident owners don't hold a Spanish digital certificate, the form is usually filed either through a fiscal representative in Spain, or with an electronic ID system from your home country that the AEAT recognises.
Filing deadlines: what changed in 2026
This is the part most guides still have wrong. On 23 June 2026 the Boletín Oficial del Estado published Orden HAC/623/2026, which reworked both the Modelo 210 form and its filing calendar. The form changes apply to returns filed from 1 January 2027, but the new deadlines already affect income accrued during 2026.
Rented property (income codes 01 and 35)
The old quarterly rhythm for self-filed rental income — April, July, October, January — is gone. Rental income is now declared in the first 20 calendar days of April of the year following accrual, whether you group a full year into one return or file separately.
- Grouped return: applies to income accrued from 2026 onwards. A full year of 2026 rent is declared between 1 and 20 April 2027.
- Separate returns: the new deadline only applies from the final quarter of 2026 onwards. Rent accrued between July and September 2026 still follows the old calendar — the first 20 days of October 2026.
Property not rented (imputed income)
The window moved too. Imputed income used to be filed at any point during the whole following calendar year; now it runs from 1 April to 31 December of the year following accrual.
- Imputed income for 2025: unchanged, filed any time during 2026.
- Imputed income for 2026: filed between 1 April and 31 December 2027.
If you want to pay by direct debit
Direct debit (domiciliación) always closes earlier than the filing deadline itself: 1 to 15 April of the following year, for both grouped and separate rental returns.
Selling
Capital gains on a sale are filed within four months of the transfer — a one-month grace period, then a three-month filing window.
One rule the reform didn't touch: when you sell, the buyer is legally required to withhold 3% of the sale price and pay it straight to the Agencia Tributaria on your behalf, as an advance against any capital gains tax you owe.
You can check the official wording in the Agencia Tributaria's note on the new Modelo 210 deadlines.
What happens if you don't file?
Unfiled IRNR doesn't quietly disappear. It tends to surface at the worst possible moment: when you try to sell.
- Outstanding IRNR debts can be set against the sale proceeds, or against the 3% withheld at sale, before you see the balance.
- Discrepancies can delay or block a sale at the notary while they're resolved.
- Surcharges and interest accrue for as long as a return goes unfiled.
If you've owned a property for several years without ever filing imputed-income returns, get an adviser to check your exposure before you list it — not after an offer is on the table.
Do I need a fiscal representative?
Not always. An individual without a permanent establishment in Spain generally isn't required to appoint one, though non-EU/EEA owners must do so in certain situations — for instance when the AEAT expressly requests it.
In practice most non-resident owners use one anyway, EU or not. Tracking Spanish filing windows and answering correspondence from Hacienda in another country and time zone is exactly the kind of thing that gets forgotten until it's expensive.
Common mistakes non-resident owners make
- Assuming an empty property means no tax. Imputed income applies either way.
- Missing deadlines because Hacienda sends no reminder — the obligation is yours to track.
- UK owners budgeting as if the pre-Brexit deductions still applied.
- Discovering years of unfiled returns only once a buyer is already lined up.
- Planning around the old quarterly calendar. Self-filed rental income now goes in April, not four times a year.
- Declaring rental income and imputed income for the same months, when only one should apply.
What you'll need to file Modelo 210
- Your NIE (Foreigner Identification Number)
- The property's cadastral reference — it's on your IBI bill
- The cadastral value and the date it was last revised
- Rental contracts and payment records, if it was rented
- A certificate of tax residency in your home country, to apply a double taxation treaty
- Your fiscal representative's details, if you use one
Don't have a NIE yet? You'll need one before you can file anything — our step-by-step guide covers it: How to Get Your NIE in Spain →.
FAQ
What is IRNR in Spain? Spain's Non-Resident Income Tax. It covers rental income, imputed income from an unrented property, and capital gains on a sale, for anyone who owns Spanish property without being a Spanish tax resident.
Do non-residents pay tax if the property is empty? Yes. Spain taxes an assumed benefit from simply having an available property, calculated from its cadastral value, even with no rental income at all.
What's the non-resident tax rate? 19% for EU/EEA tax residents, 24% for everyone else, including the UK and the US. Capital gains on a sale are taxed at 19% regardless of residency.
Is the UK treated as an EU country for IRNR? No. Since 1 January 2021 UK tax residents are third-country residents: the 24% rate, and greatly reduced ability to deduct rental expenses.
When do I file rental income now? In the first 20 calendar days of April of the following year. The old quarterly calendar for self-filed rental income ended with Orden HAC/623/2026.
Do I need a fiscal representative? Not always required for individuals, but common practice given the filing dates and the difficulty of dealing with Hacienda from abroad.
Key takeaways
- Owning Spanish property as a non-resident almost always creates an annual tax obligation, rented or not.
- 19% for EU/EEA tax residents, 24% for everyone else, on both rental and imputed income.
- UK owners lost the lower rate and most expense deductions after Brexit.
- Since Orden HAC/623/2026, rental income is filed in April, not quarterly; imputed income now runs 1 April – 31 December of the following year.
- Unfiled IRNR resurfaces at the worst time: when you try to sell.
Four filing windows a year, from another country, in a second language, with no reminder from anyone — that's how most of these get missed. EasyNest's non-resident tax service files your Modelo 210, keeps you ahead of changes like this one, and reviews your filing history before you ever put a property on the market.
