Kari Haugen is a physiotherapist in Bergen. On 16 March 2026 she signed the deed for a new-build apartment in Mijas, for 390,000 €. She wants it for holidays and, later on, to spend the winters there. In August she left it with an agency, which let it for the whole month to a family; for the rest of the year she used it herself for two weeks and it was shut. When her Norwegian adviser asks what she has declared in Spain, Kari replies that she has only declared the August rental, "because it is the only thing I have been paid". She is missing half the story, and on top of that her flat does not yet have a valor catastral (the official cadastral value).
An income the law assumes
Article 85 of the IRPF Law (the Spanish personal income tax law) treats as imputed income a fixed amount calculated on the value of urban properties that are not used in a business activity, do not generate income from capital and are not the main home. Article 24.5 of the IRNR Law (the non-residents' income tax law) applies that rule to non-residents, and article 13.1.h) treats that income as obtained in Spain. What is taxed is not what Kari collects, but the fact of having the flat at her disposal.
The year is divided into days. The days on which the flat was let generate rental income. The days on which it was available to her, whether she used it or not, generate imputed income. The days before the purchase generate nothing. No day counts twice.
Which percentage applies to each flat
| Situation of the property at 31 December | Percentage | On what value |
|---|---|---|
| Cadastral value revised, or set by a general collective valuation, in force in the year or in the ten previous years | 1.1 % | Cadastral value |
| Cadastral value without that recent revision | 2 % | Cadastral value |
| No cadastral value, or not notified to the owner | 1.1 % | 50 % of the higher of the purchase price and the value checked by the Administration |
| Under construction, or unusable for planning reasons | No imputed income | — |
The distinction between 1.1 % and 2 % depends on the municipality, not the flat. An annual rise in the IBI bill (the municipal property tax) through updating coefficients is not a cadastral revision. To know which applies, you have to look at when the municipality's last ponencia de valores (the cadastral valuation study) came into force.
Kari's first year, without a cadastral value
As the development was handed over in 2026, by 31 December the Catastro (the Spanish property register for tax purposes) had not yet notified her of any value. The rule in the third paragraph of article 85.1 applies: 1.1 % on 50 % of the higher of the price and the checked value. There is no checked value, so the price is used.
- Calculation base: 50 % of 390,000 € = 195,000 €.
- Imputed income for a full year: 195,000 × 1.1 % = 2,145 €.
- Days of ownership in 2026, from 16 March to 31 December: 291.
- Days let in August, which are not imputed: 31.
- Days of imputation: 291 − 31 = 260.
- Imputed income for 2026: 2,145 × 260 / 365 = 1,527.95 €.
- Kari lives in Norway, a European Economic Area state with exchange of information, so her rate is 19 %: 290.31 €.
The fourteen days on which she used it herself are included in those 260. Nor are the months it was shut, or the weeks it went unadvertised, taken off: available does not mean occupied.
The exclusion in article 85.1 refers to a property that is still being built or that cannot be used for planning reasons. A flat that has been handed over and is habitable generates imputed income from the day of the deed, even if work is still going on in the development or the pool is missing.
The second year, with a cadastral value
In 2027 the Catastro notifies Kari of a valor catastral of 150,000 €. From then on the base changes, and the percentage depends on the last revision in Mijas. If that year the flat is not let on a single day:
| Scenario | Percentage | Imputed income | Tax at 19 % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revision in force within the previous ten years | 1.1 % | 1,650 € | 313.50 € |
| No recent revision | 2 % | 3,000 € | 570.00 € |
The difference between the two scenarios almost doubles the tax, and it does not depend on anything Kari does. That is why the first thing to check on receiving the value is the year of the municipality's valuation study.
If you would like us to calculate your imputed income with the correct value and days, you can send us the escritura (the title deed), the IBI receipt and the calendar of use for the year through the non-residents form.
August is a separate matter
The 31 days of August are not imputed income: they are rental income, with their own 210. As a resident of the European Economic Area, Kari can deduct the expenses directly related to that rental in proportion to the days let, including depreciation of the property. That depreciation has an effect that is felt years later: article 35.1 of the IRPF Law requires depreciation to be subtracted from the acquisition value when the flat is sold. What lowers the tax on the rental today raises the gain on the sale tomorrow.
Imputed income, by contrast, allows no expenses. Neither the IBI, nor the community fees, nor mortgage interest reduce imputed income. It is an estimated base, not a net income.
Deadlines for the two 2026 returns
Order HAC/623/2026 sets different calendars:
- The August rental is declared from 1 to 20 April 2027, or until the 15th if payment is by direct debit.
- Imputed income for 2026 is declared from 1 April to 31 December 2027, or until 23 December if paid by direct debit. They are two separate self-assessments, even though they relate to the same flat and the same year.
If Kari had bought half and half with her partner, each of them would file their own returns for their 50 %. And if the parking space has its own cadastral reference, it also generates its own imputed income.
Usufruct, bare ownership and timeshare
If Kari one day gives the bare ownership to her children and keeps the usufruct, the imputed income is not shared out among them all. Article 85.2 says that, where there are real rights of enjoyment, the income is attributed to the holder of the right, for the amount that would correspond to the owner. She would be taxed, on 100 %, for as long as she keeps the usufruct. For timeshare rights, paragraph 3 apportions the cadastral value according to the length of the period, and excludes imputation when that period does not exceed two weeks a year.
What happens if it is not declared
Imputed income usually means a small amount of tax, and that is why it gets forgotten year after year. Each year omitted can be regularised with the surcharge in article 27 of the General Tax Act (Ley General Tributaria) if this is done before a formal request, or it is exposed to a penalty if the Agencia gets there first. And everything tends to come to light on a sale, when the earlier years are reviewed. This is explained in whether they can seize my flat for not filing.
To file you need an NIE and a means of payment, not necessarily a digital certificate: we cover this in the NIE and digital certificate for the 210. The number of returns when letting, own use and two owners are combined is in how many Modelo 210 returns I have to file.
The Salama Tax non-residents page brings together imputed income, letting and the sale of a flat in Spain for those who live in another country.