Non resident tax Spain (Modelo 210 / IRNR) and property tax Spain
Modelo 210 is the tax return for the non-resident tax Spain charges foreign owners, formally the non-resident income tax (IRNR) — mandatory for every foreign property owner, even when the property stands vacant, whether it is rented out or not. A common and costly assumption is that nothing needs declaring when the property is not rented out.
How is the non-resident property tax Spain applies calculated (Modelo 210 / IRNR)?
Non-residents file Modelo 210 even when the property is vacant: for personal use or vacancy Spain taxes a deemed income based on the cadastral value, for actual rentals the real rental income. An EU/EEA resident pays 19% on rental income and may deduct genuine expenses, while a non-EU resident pays a flat 24% on gross income without deductions.
Non resident property tax Spain: what matters in practice
The answer box above states the case. The two points it is built from carry their own heading here — together with what each of them means in practice.
Non-resident property tax Spain — two cases: personal use/vacant vs. actual rental income: Before the first return, establish which of the two cases you are in — and whether that changes during the year. Anyone who uses the property personally for part of the year and lets it for the rest has both cases in the same year and must report them separately, not combined.
Tax rate: Put the rate at the start of the yield calculation, not the end. If a change of residence takes you outside the EU/EEA, you are taxed on a different basis from then on: gross rather than net. That question belongs before the purchase, not in the first tax return.
Deadlines — subject to change
Deadlines have shifted more than once: rental income is now declared annually rather than quarterly, and from the 2026 income year the filing window for rental income moves to 1–20 April of the following year (previously 1–20 January). For deemed income from personal use or vacancy, the deadline remains 31 December of the following year. Because these dates can change by regulation, always verify the current deadline before filing rather than relying on a previously learned date.
Why this is often overlooked: A common and costly assumption: 'I don't rent it out, so I don't need to declare anything.' That's incorrect — personal use or vacancy still triggers a filing obligation via the deemed rental income. IBI is usually collected automatically and feels 'done'; IRNR, by contrast, must be actively calculated and filed — nobody does it for you.
With several owners, each files separately
A jointly owned property does not file one return.
Each co-owner submits their own Modelo 210 for their share of the ownership, with their own NIE and their own payment — a married couple owning half each files two returns, not one joint one.
The share that counts is the one recorded in the escritura, not the split of who paid what.
This matters twice over: the tax office matches filings against the register, so a missing return by one owner is visible even if the other has paid in full, and each owner is liable only for their own share.
Where one co-owner lives outside Spain and the other inside it, the two are not even on the same form.
Why EU residents pay less than non-EU residents
The difference is not only the rate.
A landlord resident in the EU or EEA may deduct the costs attached to the letting — mortgage interest, IBI, community fees, insurance, maintenance, depreciation.
A landlord resident outside it is taxed on the gross rent with no deductions at all, on top of the higher rate. The same flat therefore produces a very different bill.
Since Brexit this affects British owners directly, and it affects anyone planning a move outside the EU.
The second point: what counts is tax residency in the period concerned, not nationality — a German citizen resident in Switzerland falls into the less favourable group, and an Irish citizen resident in Spain into neither.
Modelo 210 Spain: who has to file?
Every foreign property owner files Modelo 210, whether the property is rented out, used personally or vacant.
With several owners, each co-owner files their own return for their share, with their own NIE and their own payment. If you use the property yourself for part of the year and let it for the rest, the two cases are reported separately.
Property Tax Spain (IBI) →
The IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles) is the annual Spanish property tax. Whoever is registered as owner on 1 January is liable.
Ongoing costs such as the IBI belong in every honest profitability or budget calculation.
Non-Resident Mortgage Spain (Hipoteca no residente) →
A Hipoteca no residente is a Spanish property loan for buyers without tax residency in Spain, usually with a lower maximum loan-to-value.
With the right choice of bank and a well-prepared file, a lender can be found and the processing time shortened noticeably.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Model 210 Spanish tax return work?
Modelo 210 is the return for Spain's non-resident income tax. Personal use or vacancy is taxed on a deemed income based on the cadastral value, actual rentals on the real rental income, and each case has its own rules and deadlines. Deemed income is due by 31 December of the following year; for rental income, the window moves from the 2026 income year to 1–20 April of the following year. Verify the current deadline before filing.
When is the Modelo 210 deadline for rental income and for deemed income?
From the 2026 income year the filing window for rental income moves to 1–20 April of the following year. For deemed income from personal use or vacancy, the deadline remains 31 December of the following year. Because these dates can change by regulation, always verify the current deadline before filing.
Do I have to file Modelo 210 if I do not rent out my Spanish property?
Yes. Personal use or vacancy still triggers a filing obligation via the deemed rental income. IRNR must be actively calculated and filed, nobody does it for you.
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Content by Siegfried Perini — local brand representative since 2019, active in real estate since 1992, entered in the German intermediary register (§ 11a GewO) as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice. Point of contact for German-speaking buyers in Spain and Portugal. Brokerage by Olga Nikushkina, mortgage credit intermediary under § 34i German Trade Regulation (GewO); in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary.