Renting out a Spanish home as a non-resident: tax

The legal basis: article 24 and article 25

The texto refundido de la Ley del IRNR sets the base and the rate:

• Article 24.1. The taxable base is the gross amount (“su importe íntegro”), determined under the personal income tax rules, “sin que sean de aplicación los porcentajes multiplicadores del artículo 23.1 […] ni las reducciones”. The reductions that residents enjoy on rent from a home let as a residence are therefore not available.
• Article 24.6. For taxpayers resident in another EU member state, the base may be reduced by the expenses provided for in the personal income tax law, “siempre que el contribuyente acredite que están relacionados directamente con los rendimientos obtenidos en España” and that they have a direct and inseparable economic link with the Spanish activity. The text applies the same rule to residents of an EEA state that exchanges information with Spain.
• Article 25.1.a. The general rate is 24%. It is 19% for residents of another EU or EEA member state with effective exchange of tax information.

Since Brexit, British owners are outside the EU. A Canadian or US owner never was in it. All three fall in the 24% gross-rent group. The Canada-Spain treaty leaves Spain free to tax rent from a Spanish property (article VI): see the Spain-Canada tax treaty and property.

Worked example (a calculation with assumed figures)

Take annual rent of €12,000.

The €3,000 of expenses is an assumption chosen for the arithmetic. What counts as deductible is for the personal income tax law and your adviser; this guide reproduces only the principle. Your own tax in your home country is a separate matter, and a credit may be available there under the treaty.

What if the home is let only part of the year?

Article 24 is about rent actually received, and the return must state, from 2027, the number of days the home was let or at your disposal (a new box on the form). The texts read do not explain how the rent and the imputed-income rules interact for a mixed year; ask the AEAT or your adviser, and see non-resident property tax for the imputed-income rule.

Filing: grouped or separate

The return is modelo 210; the mechanics are in the modelo 210 guide. For rent, the AEAT page states:

• since rent accrued in 2024, the grouping period for rent has become annual instead of quarterly;
• if you group rent for the full year and tax is payable, the period is 1 to 20 April of the following year for rent accrued from 2026 (it was 1 to 20 January for 2024 and 2025);
• if you choose to declare each rent separately, rent accrued up to September 2026 is declared in the first 20 days of April, July, October and January for the previous quarter, and rent accrued from October 2026 in 1 to 20 April of the following year.

Hence a tenant who pays from July 2026 produces a first return in the first 20 days of October 2026 (July to September) if you declare separately, and the rest in April 2027. The AEAT also says that rent from April to September 2026 declared without grouping keeps its July and October deadlines. These dates come from Orden HAC/623/2026, as described by the AEAT; the order itself was not read.

Grouping needs the same type of income and tax rate, and the same property; for rent accrued from 2018 the payer need not be the same. For a returns calendar, use the table in the modelo 210 guide.

What the form will ask from 2027

Returns filed from 1 January 2027 carry a new annex for itemising deductible expenses on let property, and the days and ownership-share boxes. If you are an EU or EEA owner, keep your invoices; a non-EU owner does not use the annex to reduce the base.

Other points for landlords

Tax on rent is only one part. A lease, a deposit and, in some cities, a registration are regional or civil-law matters; see letting your property in Spain and rental deposit. The residents’ version of this tax is explained in rental income tax for residents, which does not apply to you unless you become a Spanish tax resident.

Which professional to consult

A tax adviser, or a lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados), can prepare modelo 210 returns, and a letting agent can manage the tenancy. For whether you must appoint a tax representative, see tax representative for non-residents. The non-resident tax calculator gives an estimate.