What Brexit changed, in two numbers
Article 25 of the Spanish non-resident income tax act sets a rate of 19 % for residents of the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, and 24 % for everyone else. A British owner moved from the first group to the second.
But the heavy blow was not the rate, it was article 24: the deduction of letting costs — community fees, IBI (the annual municipal property tax), insurance, utilities, depreciation, platform commissions — is reserved to residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Outside that group tax is paid on the gross receipts. On a flat with ordinary running costs, the bill can more than double without the rent having changed at all.
It is ground with legal mileage in it: the difference in treatment has been argued over in the light of the free movement of capital. We describe it for what it is, an open avenue and not a result, in non-residents.
A note on what tax residence actually turns on, since it is the pivot of everything above. Spanish law looks at days spent in Spain during the calendar year, at where your main economic interests lie and, in some cases, at where your spouse and minor children live. None of those is settled by a residence card, by the municipal population roll or by how you describe yourself: they are questions of fact, and they are checked with facts.
The question almost nobody asks: are you still non-resident?
A great many people on the Costa Blanca spend more time here than they think. If you go over 183 days in the calendar year, or if the centre of your economic interests is in Spain, you are tax resident and Modelo 210 is no longer yours: what is yours is IRPF, Spanish income tax on your worldwide income, and with it reporting duties on assets held abroad may appear.
Becoming resident is not always bad — sometimes it works out better — but becoming resident without knowing it always is. It is in the dual residence conflict.
The certificate of tax residence issued by your own country is valid for one year. It is what proves that the treaty rate applies to you rather than the general one, and it is the first thing asked for in an enquiry. We handle it in the certificate of tax residence.
When the sale comes
The sale is the moment everything surfaces. The buyer withholds 3 % of the price and pays it over on Modelo 211, and the seller has three months to file the Modelo 210 on the gain and, where appropriate, to claim back the excess withheld. If there are undeclared years, they appear exactly there, with four years of limitation counting backwards. You have it in I have sold a property in Spain.
Two details around that moment. The 3 % is a payment on account and not the tax itself, so where the real gain is smaller the difference is claimed back, and where there was no gain at all the whole of it is. And plusvalía municipal, the local tax on the increase in land value, is settled with the city council on its own deadline, separately from anything filed with the tax authority.
Who writes to us from Alicante
| Who | What they usually face |
|---|---|
| British owner letting in the summer | Tax on gross receipts at 24 % and whether letting is worth it set up the way they have it |
| Northern European retiree settled here all year | Checking whether they are already tax resident and what taking that step means |
| Couple owning a flat in halves | Two Modelos 210 per property, one for each owner |
| Someone who bought off-plan and has not let yet | Imputed income for the days at their disposal since completion |
| Non-resident seller | The 3 % withholding, the Modelo 210 on the gain within three months and plusvalía municipal |
How we work with clients in Alicante
In English whenever it is needed, and with a power of attorney so that we file in your name: no Spanish digital certificate of your own and no journeys. We warn you about the deadline, not the other way round.
And we do one thing that costs us work but avoids unpleasantness: before accepting the engagement we check whether there are years outstanding. If there are, we tell you what bringing them up to date costs and what leaving them risks, and you decide with the figure in front of you.
One last thing we put in writing at the outset. We do not promise that a refund will come through, that an enquiry will close without adjustment or that an argued point will be accepted: those outcomes belong to the administration and to the courts. And on the tax law of the country you live in, your adviser there decides; we coordinate with them so that the two returns tell the same story.
A British seller in Alicante: the full sum of the sale
He bought a flat at Playa de San Juan in 2015 for 160,000 € plus 12,000 € of taxes, notary and registry fees. He let it some summers and sells it in 2026 for 245,000 €. He still lives in England. Non-residents' gains are taxed at 19 % wherever they live: on a sale, Brexit does not change the rate.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | 245,000 € |
| Costs of sale: agency 4,000 € and plusvalía municipal 1,200 € | − 5,200 € |
| Acquisition value: 172,000 € less 6,000 € of depreciation for the years it was let | − 166,000 € |
| Capital gain | 73,800 € |
| Tax at 19 % | 14,022 € |
| Withheld by the buyer, 3 % of the price | − 7,350 € |
| Payable with the Modelo 210 on the gain | 6,672 € |
Depreciation is subtracted even though he never deducted it, because as a resident outside the Union he could not deduct costs: the law takes the minimum for the years let. Many people think the 3 % is the tax and that it has already been paid. It is only a payment on account: if the gain is large, money is still owed; if there is a loss or a small gain, there is a surplus and a refund is claimed. It is in minimum depreciation on a sale and in recovering the 3 % withheld; the form is I have sold a property.
The clock on a Costa Blanca sale signed on 15 June 2026
| By | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 15 July 2026 | Modelo 211: paying over the 3 % | The buyer |
| Thirty working days from signing | Plusvalía municipal | The buyer, standing in for the seller |
| 15 October 2026 | Modelo 210 on the gain: 6,672 € to pay | The seller |
| 1 April to 31 December 2027 | Modelo 210 for imputed income on the days of 2026 when he was still the owner | The seller |
What the United Kingdom does with that same gain will be seen to by your adviser there; we give you proof of what was paid in Spain for them to use.
A detail that holds up many refunds: the Modelo 210 on the gain requires proof of the acquisition value with the purchase deed and the invoices for the costs. Someone who bought ten years ago and no longer has the folder can ask the notary for a copy of the deed, but the receipts for taxes and improvements have to be found before signing, not afterwards.
When the seller does not live in Spain, the law makes the buyer stand in for them on plusvalía municipal: the buyer files it and pays it to the City Council. In practice, the buyer withholds 3 % at the notary's for the tax authority and a further amount for the plusvalía, and the seller walks away with less than expected on the day of signing. If the plusvalía is worked out in a hurry, too much or too little is withheld, and adjusting it afterwards between two people who are no longer speaking is hard. It is worth having it calculated, by both methods the law allows, before setting the price.