Registering the property
The route is the same across Andalusia: a responsible declaration to the Consejería de Turismo of the Junta de Andalucía, the regional government, and a code from the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía which in this province reads VUT/MA/00000. It must appear in every listing. The Supreme Court judgment 620/2026 annulled the single state register, leaving the Andalusian one in place and compulsory.
On a new development there is a step before that one: the property must actually exist in its own right, with its deed, its cadastral reference and its certificate of occupation. Owners who have paid for an off-plan unit and taken the keys sometimes discover that the paperwork the register expects is not yet in their name. It is fixable, but it is not instant, and it is better discovered in March than in July.
Statutes written before you arrived
In a new development the statutes of the community are usually drawn up by the developer while it still owns everything, and they are registered before the first buyer completes. That is a window in which the position of tourist letting can be settled for good, in either direction. If you are buying off-plan, read the statutes attached to the deed rather than the brochure, and ask what they say about letting before you sign.
The tax follows the owner
| Your position | What you file |
|---|---|
| Resident in Spain | Net rental profit in your income tax return |
| Self-employed for this activity | Modelo 130 and Modelo 303 quarterly, Modelo 390 in January |
| Non-resident | Modelo 210 per property and per owner, plus imputed income for the days at your disposal |
Residents of the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein pay 19 % and deduct their costs. Everyone else pays 24 % on the gross with no deductions. Estepona ownership is mixed, and the same apartment produces noticeably different results depending on which side of that line the owner falls.
VAT: why the concierge still matters in Estepona
Many of the newer Estepona developments come with a concierge, a gym and a reception. That has always raised a VAT question: are those services being supplied to your guests, taking the letting out of the exemption? Royal Decree-law 26/2026 would have made the answer almost irrelevant for short stays, because every let of up to 30 nights was to carry VAT at 10 % regardless. As things stand, the answer matters for every booking: a let stays exempt only without hotel services.
The decree-law was published and then rejected by Congress on 2 October 2026, so the date it had set, 1 December 2026, no longer applies and no new one exists; the European framework points to July 2028 at the latest. Until then nothing changes in how an exempt let is registered with the tax office, but if you use platforms the reverse charge on their commissions continues: Airbnb bills from Ireland, Booking from the Netherlands, and you self-account for the Spanish VAT with an EU VAT number and Modelo 349.
A season that is still lengthening
New hotels, a refurbished old town and a golf calendar have stretched the Estepona season well beyond the summer, and occupancy here now behaves more like Marbella than like a village. That matters directly for the accounts, because deductible costs are apportioned by the nights actually let: community fees, IBI, the waste charge, insurance, utilities, mortgage interest, repairs and depreciation all enter in that proportion.
On a recently built property, depreciation of the construction is usually the largest single deduction, and it needs the purchase deed and the cadastral split between land and building to be calculated correctly. Set it up once, benefit every year.
Communities and municipal charges
Since 2025 a community of owners may limit or condition tourist letting with three fifths of the votes. In a development where most buyers are non-resident and few attend the meeting, that majority can be assembled by a determined minority of permanent residents, so the practical advice is to attend, or to delegate your vote to someone who will. Keep an eye on the agenda of each general meeting.
Local charges are municipal. Waste tariffs and the planning treatment of tourist properties vary between councils and change over time, so we check the ordinance that applies to your address rather than repeating a number from the next town.
Buying from a non-resident seller
Estepona changes hands constantly, and a buyer here has an obligation of their own that has nothing to do with letting. If the seller is not tax resident in Spain, the buyer must withhold 3 % of the agreed price and pay it to the tax office on Modelo 211 within one month of the deed. It is not optional and it is not the notary's job. If it is not done, the property itself answers for the amount, which means the buyer inherits a debt attached to the asset they have just paid for. Where a purchase is from a developer that is tax resident in Spain the withholding does not apply, but the point is to establish which case you are in rather than to assume. We check that before completion for clients buying here, because the one-month clock starts on the day of the deed and nobody sends a reminder.
What we run for you
Recurring compliance for Estepona owners: reading the statements, setting up depreciation, apportioning costs against real occupancy, preparing drafts and filing. From 60 € a month plus VAT, and no tie-in. Pricing · Tell us about your case.
Kari and Lars, from Bergen: an off-plan flat and its first full year
The Norwegian couple bought a two-bedroom flat in one of the gated developments west of the town, with pool, gym and sea views, for 320,000 € plus VAT. They completed in 2026 and, one thing and another, their first full letting year is 2027. Norway is in the European Economic Area, so they pay 19 % and may deduct costs; each owns 50 % and files a separate Modelo 210. First, the depreciation base.
| Acquisition cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Price | 320,000 € |
| VAT at 10 % (not recoverable while the letting is exempt) | 32,000 € |
| Notary, land registry and stamp duty on the deed | 6,500 € |
| Total | 358,500 € |
| Building share per the IBI receipt (50 %) | 179,250 € |
| Annual depreciation (3 %) | 5,377.50 € |
In 2027 the flat sells 170 nights at 150 €: 25,500 €. Direct costs are the 15 % commission, 3,825 €, and 45 cleans at 60 €, 2,700 €. Annual bills: community fees (pool and gym included) 2,400 €, IBI 900 €, insurance 380 €, supplies 2,200 € and depreciation 5,377.50 €, together 11,257.50 €, of which 170 days' worth is deductible: 5,243.22 €. Net for the flat: 25,500 − 3,825 − 2,700 − 5,243.22 = 13,731.78 €, so 6,865.89 € each and, at 19 %, 1,304.52 € per person.
The 195 other days carry imputed income: on a cadastral value of 150,000 € at 1.1 %, 881.51 € for the flat, 440.76 € each and 83.74 € of tax per head. Were Estepona's cadastral valuation more than ten years old the rate would be 2 %, which the receipt shows. The couple pays 2 × (1,304.52 + 83.74) = 2,776.52 € for the year. The 2027 rent is filed from 1 to 20 April 2028; the apportionment calculator reruns these sums with your own figures.
The VAT paid on a new-build purchase
A new home carries 10 % VAT, 32,000 € here. While the flat is let exempt, without hotel services, that VAT is not recovered: it becomes part of the cost, and of the depreciation base. When stays of up to 30 nights come to be taxed at 10 % (the decree that did so fell in Congress in October 2026; the EU limit is July 2028), the input VAT may come into play under an adjustment rule that runs for ten years on property. That is not a switch to flip for a refund: it means quarterly VAT returns and a different way of working. The development's pool, gym and concierge, paid for by the community for everyone, do not count as hotel services; daily cleaning or meals supplied by the owner or the manager to the guest would.
The furniture pack, the completion year and two certificates
Developers here often sell a ready-to-let furniture pack separately. Have it invoiced separately: furniture depreciates at 10 % a year, not 3 %, so a 12,000 € pack yields 1,200 € a year for ten years, by the share of let days. Folded into the deed price, that faster write-off is lost. The completion year counts too: if the owners had the flat at their disposal from handover, imputed income runs for the days since then, and many new-build buyers only learn of it two years later, by letter. And each spouse needs their own Norwegian tax residence certificate to claim 19 %, since each return is individual; see the certificate for Modelo 210.
Thinking about the resale from the first year
When the day comes, the buyer will withhold 3 % of the price on account of the non-resident seller's tax, and the depreciation that should have been deducted is subtracted from the acquisition cost whether it was claimed or not. Keeping it right every year is not a detail; see selling as a non-resident.