Non-resident property taxes in Spain: IRNR (modelo 210) and IBI, without a gestor

01What changes from 2027: new modelo 210 deadlines (Orden HAC/623/2026)

Orden HAC/623/2026 (published in the BOE on 23 June 2026, in force since 24 June 2026) moved the modelo 210 deadlines for property income. What you pay does not change — same base, same 19%/24% rates — but when you file does, and the form itself changes from 2027.

• Empty or own-use home (imputed income): filed from 1 April to 31 December of the following year (with direct debit: 1 April – 23 December). This applies first to the 2026 tax, so its window opens on 1 April 2027. The 2025 tax still follows the old rule: any time during 2026, by 31 December 2026.
• Rental income with tax to pay: filed and paid 1–20 April of the following year, whether you group the whole year in one return or file each accrual separately (with direct debit: 1–15 April). For a grouped return this starts with 2026 rent (filed in April 2027); for separate returns, with rent accrued from 1 October 2026. Separate returns for January–September 2026 keep the quarterly windows.
• Zero-tax and refund returns have their own windows: a rental return with zero tax is filed 1–20 January of the following year; a return asking for a refund can be filed from 1 February of the following year.
• New form from 1 January 2027: every modelo 210 filed from that date — whatever year it covers — uses the new version, with boxes for the number of days the property was at your disposal or rented («N.º de días») and your ownership share («Cuota participación»), a new annex itemising deductible rental expenses, and a box for whether the property has a cadastral reference.

In practice: diary 1–20 April for rent with tax to pay and 1 April – 31 December for an empty home, and have your ownership percentage and the days of own use or letting at hand before you file.

02The two taxes every non-resident owner pays

The first is IBI — the municipal property tax. The town hall knows your property, sends the receipt or charges it by direct debit, and most owners set it up once and forget it. IBI is rarely the problem.

The second is the non-resident income tax, IRNR, filed on form (modelo) 210 — and here is the part that catches almost everyone: the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) never sends an invoice for it. It is a self-assessed tax. You are expected to calculate it, file the form and pay, every year, unprompted. Silence from AEAT does not mean you owe nothing — it means the clock is running: the agency can claim up to four years back, with surcharges and interest.

You owe IRNR on the property whether it stands empty (as “imputed income” — Spain taxes the theoretical benefit of owning it) or produces rent (as rental income). Both go on modelo 210, with different rules and deadlines.

03The tax on an empty or own-use home (imputed income)

The base is a percentage of your property’s cadastral value (valor catastral — the administrative value on your IBI receipt, not the market price): 1.1% if the municipality’s cadastral values were revised within the last ten tax years, otherwise 2%.

On that base you pay 19% if you are tax-resident in the EU, Norway or Iceland — and 24% if you are resident anywhere else (which since Brexit includes the UK).

A worked example: cadastral value €80,000, revised recently → base 1.1% = €880. An owner resident in the Netherlands pays 19% = €167.20 for the year. A UK or Russian resident pays 24% = €211.20. The amount is pro-rated by days of ownership and split between co-owners — each co-owner files their own modelo 210 for their share.

04If you rent it out: real income, different rules

Rental income is taxed on modelo 210 as well, at the same 19%/24% rates — with one big difference. EU/EEA residents may deduct expenses proportional to the rental period (IBI, community fees, insurance, mortgage interest, repairs, depreciation); residents of other countries pay tax on gross rent, no deductions.

You can declare rent per accrual or group the whole year’s rental income from a property into one annual modelo 210. Under Orden HAC/623/2026 a rental return with tax to pay is filed 1–20 April of the following year in both cases (direct-debit filings 1–15 April) — from 2026 rent onward; the details and the transition are in the 2027 section above. For weeks the property was empty, the imputed-income rules above cover the gap — a part-rented year usually means both types on your filing.

05Deadlines and how to file

Imputed income for a given year is filed from 1 April to 31 December of the following year — from the 2026 tax onward, so the 2026 tax is filed between 1 April and 31 December 2027; the 2025 tax can still be filed any time in 2026. Rental income with tax to pay: 1–20 April of the following year, grouped or separate; zero-tax rental returns 1–20 January.

Filing channels: online with a Spanish digital certificate (certificado digital) or Cl@ve, through a fiscal representative, or via AEAT’s form service with an NIE/NIF. You need your NIE, the cadastral reference (on the IBI receipt), and — for rentals — income and expense records.

Filing yourself is realistic for a simple imputed-income return. It stops being fun when there are several owners, part-year rentals, missed years to regularize or a sale in between — that is where a structured plan pays for itself.

06The classic mistakes (each costs real money)

• Not filing at all because “nobody asked”. AEAT increasingly cross-checks land registry, cadastre and platform data; when it writes to you, four years of tax arrive with surcharges. Filing late voluntarily costs meaningfully less than waiting to be caught.
• UK owners still using 19% and deducting expenses. Since Brexit: 24%, gross, no deductions. Old habits from pre-2021 guides are expensive.
• One return for a couple. Modelo 210 is per person, per property, per income type. Two co-owners = two returns.
• Using the market price as the base. The base is the cadastral value from the IBI receipt — usually far lower. Overpaying is as real as underpaying.
• Forgetting the year of the sale. Selling triggers its own 210 (capital gain, the 3% retention refund) — and the imputed tax still applies for the days you owned the property that year.