Non-resident landlord tax in Spain: Modelo 210 for a Valencia flat
Last updated: 26 September 2026
Rent from a flat in Valencia is taxed in Spain even when the owner lives in Antwerp, Utrecht or London, and the owner declares it and pays. The form is Modelo 210, and its calendar changed in 2024 and again in June 2026. This article explains how Modelo 210 rental income works for an owner abroad: who files, which rate applies, which costs count, when the return is due, what an empty flat costs, and which records to keep. It is general information, not tax advice, and a tax advisor should confirm the figures for your situation.
Who has to file Modelo 210
Every owner who is not tax resident in Spain and earns rent from a Spanish flat has to declare it on Modelo 210, the return for non-residents without a permanent establishment in Spain. Spain generally treats you as resident if you spend more than 183 days of the calendar year in the country, or if your main economic interests are based there.
When a couple owns the flat together, each files a separate return for their share.
One exception: when the tenant is a company or business in Spain that withholds the tax from the rent, the owner does not file for that income. When the tenant is a private individual, the owner files.
Tax rates: EU and EEA residents compared with everyone else
Owners resident in an EU country, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein pay 19% on their net rental income, while owners resident anywhere else, including the UK, pay 24% on the gross rent.
Resident in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein | Resident elsewhere (for example UK, Switzerland, US) | |
|---|---|---|
Tax rate | 19% | 24% |
Taxed on | Rent minus deductible expenses | Gross rent, no expenses |
To deduct expenses | A tax residence certificate from your home country, valid for one year | Not applicable |
Tax representative in Spain | Not required for EU residents | Can be required by the Tax Agency |
Taxable rent means everything the tenant pays, including amounts for the furniture let with the flat. The rental reductions available to Spanish resident landlords do not apply to non-residents.
Which expenses you can deduct
An owner resident in the EU or EEA can deduct the same expenses as a Spanish resident landlord, provided they relate directly to the rent from the flat and can be proved. The main ones:
Loan interest for buying or improving the flat, plus repairs and maintenance. Together they cannot exceed the year's rent; the excess carries forward for four years.
IBI, the local property tax, and local charges such as the rubbish collection fee.
Community fees and fees for services such as administration and management.
Insurance premiums on the flat.
Utilities paid by the owner; if recharged to the tenant, the recharge counts as rent.
Costs of drawing up the lease and of legal defence relating to the flat.
Depreciation of up to 3% a year of the higher of purchase cost or cadastral value, excluding the land, plus depreciation of the furniture and appliances.
Two limits matter. Improvements are not repairs, and expenses count only for the days the flat is let, so the costs of an empty month are not deductible.
When Modelo 210 rental income is due
Since 2024, Modelo 210 rental income can be declared in one annual return, and rent earned in 2026 is declared and paid between 1 and 20 April 2027. For 2024 and 2025 rent, the annual return was due in January; Orden HAC/623/2026, published in June 2026, moved the window to April from 2026 income onwards. Owners who declare rent separately keep the quarterly calendar for rent earned up to September 2026.
Income | Period | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
Rent, one annual return | 2025 | 1 to 20 January 2026 |
Rent, one annual return | 2026 onwards | 1 to 20 April of the following year |
Rent, declared separately | July to September 2026 | 1 to 20 October 2026 |
Rent, declared separately | October 2026 onwards | 1 to 20 April of the following year |
Imputed income | 2025 | 1 January to 31 December 2026 |
Imputed income | 2026 onwards | 1 April to 31 December of the following year |
The April window is for returns with tax to pay. A zero return is filed from 1 to 20 January of the following year, and a refund claim from 1 February. Payment can be made by direct debit, including from a bank account anywhere in the SEPA zone, or by transfer from abroad.
Empty months and own use: imputed income
A non-resident individual who owns a flat in Spain pays tax on an imputed income for every day the flat is not let. It is a percentage of the cadastral value shown on the IBI receipt: 1.1% where the municipality's cadastral values were revised in a general valuation that took effect in the current year or the previous 10 years, and 2% otherwise. Temporary rules changed that window for 2023 to 2025, so check the percentage for your year; the Catastro website shows when each municipality was last valued.
The figure is reduced in proportion to the days the flat was let, no expenses are deducted, and the same 19% or 24% rate applies. In a typical scenario, a flat with a cadastral value of EUR 60,000 at the 2% rate, used by the owner all year, gives an imputed income of EUR 1,200 and tax of EUR 228 at 19% or EUR 288 at 24%.
For a mid-term let this is easy to miss: the weeks between two tenancies are days the flat was not let.
NIE, online filing and a tax representative
Modelo 210 asks for your Spanish tax identification number, which for a foreign individual is the NIE. Online filing uses a digital certificate or the Cl@ve system, and an authorised tax advisor can submit the return for you.
Owners resident in the EU do not need a tax representative. Owners resident elsewhere can be required by the Tax Agency to appoint one resident in Spain, and the law names owning property in Spain as a ground. For Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein this depends on their mutual assistance arrangements with Spain.
Double tax treaties: Spain first, then home
Spain has the right to tax rent from a flat located in Spain, and your country of residence then decides, under its own law and its treaty with Spain, whether to tax the same income and how to relieve the double charge. Treaties based on the OECD model use one of two methods: the home country either exempts the rental income or taxes it and gives a credit for the Spanish tax. Which applies depends on the treaty.
Your home return may need to show the Valencia income even where it is exempt there, so ask your advisor at home and keep proof of every Modelo 210 paid.
A typical scenario
In a typical scenario, a Valencia flat let for all of 2026 at EUR 1,100 a month costs an owner resident in Belgium EUR 1,392.70 in Spanish tax, and an owner resident in the UK EUR 3,168. The figures are illustrative.
The rent for the year is EUR 13,200. The owner in Belgium deducts IBI of EUR 400, community fees of EUR 720, insurance of EUR 250, repairs of EUR 600, management fees of EUR 1,500 and depreciation of EUR 2,400 (3% of a building value of EUR 80,000, land excluded). Expenses total EUR 5,870, net income is EUR 7,330, and 19% of that is EUR 1,392.70. The owner in the UK pays 24% on EUR 13,200.
What records to keep
Keep every document behind each Modelo 210 for at least four years after its filing deadline, because that is how long the Spanish Tax Agency has to review a return. That means:
lease contracts and bank statements showing the rent received;
invoices for every expense you deduct, including IBI receipts, community fee statements and loan interest statements;
the purchase deed and purchase costs, for as long as you own the flat, since depreciation is calculated from them;
the annual tax residence certificate, if you deduct expenses;
a record of the days the flat was let, empty or used by you, which the form asks for from 2027;
every Modelo 210 filed, with its payment receipt.
Where your property manager fits in
Most of the paperwork behind Modelo 210 is created during the year by whoever runs the flat. At Nestor, one team, one contract and one monthly report cover tenants, rent collection, cleaning, maintenance and repairs, so the year's figures for your flat sit in one place for your tax advisor. For the return itself, Nestor provides introductions to vetted tax advisors. The services page sets out each service, and what a property manager actually does walks through a normal month.
If you own a flat in Valencia and live abroad, send the address, the size and the current situation. You will get a written proposal with a fixed monthly fee, no visit required, no obligation. Request a management proposal
Frequently asked questions
What is Modelo 210?
Modelo 210 is the return non-residents use to declare income earned in Spain without a permanent establishment: rent, imputed income from a property and gains on a sale. Each owner files their own, online or on paper.
Is Modelo 210 rental income declared quarterly or annually?
Annually, for rent earned from 2024 onwards, although declaring rent separately is still allowed. Rent earned in 2026 is declared from 1 to 20 April 2027.
Do I have to file if my Valencia flat is empty?
Yes, if you own it as an individual. An empty flat, or one you use yourself, generates imputed income of 1.1% or 2% of its cadastral value, taxed at 19% or 24%. For 2025 the return is due by 31 December 2026; for 2026, between 1 April and 31 December 2027.
Can a UK resident deduct expenses from Spanish rental income?
Under the rules the Spanish Tax Agency applies, no. Since 1 January 2021 UK residents are taxed like other non-EU residents: 24% on the gross rent, without the deductions available to EU and EEA residents.
What happens if I file Modelo 210 late?
A late return filed before the Tax Agency contacts you carries a surcharge of 1% of the tax due plus 1% for each full month of delay. After 12 months the surcharge is 15%, and late-payment interest runs from then on.
How can Nestor help with Modelo 210?
Nestor provides introductions to vetted tax advisors, and its monthly report covers rent collection, cleaning, maintenance and repairs, which gives your advisor the year's figures in one place.
