Carmen Olmedo bought a flat in Nerja in 2019 for 210,000 €, and paid another 18,000 € in taxes, notary and registration fees. It is registered as a tourist home (vivienda turística) and she advertises it on two platforms. In 2025 she let it for 219 nights; for the rest of the year her family used it or it stood closed. She collected 21,000 € from guests. She has a folder with every receipt for the year and one specific question: which ones she can deduct in full, which only in part and which she cannot deduct at all.
Where the list comes from
As long as the letting is not an economic activity, Carmen earns income from real estate capital. Article 23.1 of the IRPF Law (LIRPF, the Spanish personal income tax law) allows the deduction of "all the expenses necessary to obtain the income", and article 13 of its Regulations (RIRPF) sets out the usual ones: interest, repair and maintenance, non-state taxes and charges, third-party services, the costs of arranging the tenancy and of legal defence, doubtful debts, insurance premiums on the property, services and utilities, and depreciation.
The list is broad, but each cost has to pass three tests: that it is related to the letting, that it is documented in Carmen's name and that it is allocated to the time in which the flat produced income.
What is deducted in full and what is apportioned
The second test separates two groups. Costs that arise from a specific booking are deducted in full. Those paid for owning the flat all year round are only deducted for the part of the year in which it was let.
| Cost | Group | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Platform commission | In full | Art. 13 RIRPF, third-party services |
| Cleaning between guests | In full | Art. 13.c) RIRPF |
| Laundry for the stays | In full | Art. 13.g) RIRPF |
| IBI and waste collection charge | Apportioned | Art. 23.1.a).2.º LIRPF |
| Community fees | Apportioned | Art. 13 RIRPF |
| Insurance on the flat | Apportioned | Art. 13.f) RIRPF |
| Electricity, water, internet | Apportioned or by consumption | Art. 13.g) RIRPF |
| Loan interest | Apportioned and capped | Art. 23.1.a).1.º LIRPF |
| Repairs | Apportioned and capped | Art. 13.a) RIRPF |
| Depreciation of the building | Apportioned | Art. 14 RIRPF |
| Furniture and appliances | Depreciation | Art. 14.2.b) RIRPF |
Carmen let the flat for 219 of 365 days: 60 %. That is the percentage she applies to annual costs. The days of family use are not only left out of the costs; they also generate imputed income, as explained in what imputed property income is.
Depreciation of the building, with the land left out
It is the cost that saves the most money and the one most often miscalculated. Article 14.2.a) of the Regulations allows up to 3 % a year "on the higher of the following values: the acquisition cost paid or the cadastral value, excluding the value of the land from the calculation". If the deed does not say how much the land is worth, the cost is split according to the ratio between the cadastral value of the land and that of the building.
Carmen's IBI receipt (the annual municipal property tax) gives a cadastral value of 95,000 €, of which 40 % is land. With that:
- Acquisition cost: 210,000 + 18,000 = 228,000 €.
- Building portion: 228,000 × 60 % = 136,800 €.
- Comparison with the cadastral value of the building (95,000 × 60 % = 57,000 €): the higher one prevails, 136,800 €.
- Annual depreciation: 136,800 × 3 % = 4,104 €.
- Part of the year let: 4,104 × 60 % = 2,462.40 €.
Applying 3 % to the 228,000 € without removing the land would give 6,840 € a year: an excessive deduction that any check will pick up. The guide on the land value on the IBI receipt shows where each figure is. And bear in mind that this depreciation is subtracted from the acquisition value when the flat is sold.
Carmen's year, item by item
| Item | Annual amount | Deductible |
|---|---|---|
| Income collected from guests | 21,000 € | — |
| Platform commission (15 %) | 3,150 € | 3,150 € |
| Cleaning between stays, invoiced | 2,400 € | 2,400 € |
| IBI | 620 € | 372 € |
| Waste collection charge | 180 € | 108 € |
| Community fees | 1,200 € | 720 € |
| Home insurance | 360 € | 216 € |
| Utilities | 1,500 € | 900 € |
| Mortgage interest | 2,100 € | 1,260 € |
| Boiler repair | 900 € | 540 € |
| Depreciation of the building | 4,104 € | 2,462.40 € |
| Total deductible | 12,128.40 € |
Net income: 21,000 − 12,128.40 = 8,871.60 €. If Carmen had declared only what reached her bank, 17,850 €, and then also deducted the commission, she would have counted the same cost twice. The platform reports the gross amount to Hacienda, the Spanish tax authorities, and that is the figure that must appear as income.
The calculator for apportioning by days let does this split with your own figures.
Interest and repairs share a ceiling
Article 23.1.a).1.º sets a limit on two items together: interest and other financing costs plus repair and maintenance cannot exceed, for each property, the gross income it produced. In Carmen's case, 1,260 + 540 = 1,800 €, very far from the 21,000 €. The limit bites in years with few bookings or with major works. Whatever exceeds it can be deducted in the following four years, always subject to the same ceiling. How this affects the mortgage is in can I deduct the mortgage?.
The boiler and the kitchen: where the line falls
The Regulations give examples of repair and maintenance: painting, plastering, fixing installations, replacing items such as the heating, the lift or a security door. And they expressly exclude "amounts spent on extension or improvement".
Replacing the broken boiler with an equivalent one is maintenance: 540 € this year. If Carmen knocks down a partition wall to gain a bedroom or refits the whole kitchen, it is an improvement: it is not deducted this year but added to the cost of the building and depreciated at 3 %. New furniture, the television or a new dishwasher are not deducted in one go either; they are depreciated using the coefficients in the simplified table. An invoice that says "refurbishment" with no detail forces you to argue over every item; an itemised invoice lets you separate them.
A cash payment to the plumber or a hardware shop receipt that does not identify the property is weak evidence. The invoice must identify the supplier, you as the recipient, the date, the description and the amount, and the payment must be traceable through the bank. We cannot guarantee that a cost that does not meet these conditions will be accepted.
What Hacienda usually rejects
- The capital part of the mortgage payment, which is not a cost.
- Fines and penalty surcharges, excluded by article 23 itself.
- Utilities for the weeks of family use.
- Furniture or refurbishments deducted in one go instead of being depreciated.
- Costs for months in which the flat was not available to guests.
- Trips to the property with no proven link to a specific task.
If you offer services typical of a hotel or employ someone to manage the letting, the calculation changes because it becomes an economic activity, as explained in do I have to register as self-employed?.
If you would like us to review your split, or the line between one kind of work and another, you can send us the invoices and the booking calendar through the holiday let form.
Keeping the folder in order
One sheet per property with four columns is enough: date, item, amount and whether it is deducted in full or apportioned. Next to it, the calendar of nights let, each platform's statements and the IBI receipt with the land value. With that, the return can be done in an afternoon and will stand up to a check.
The page on tax on tourist rentals brings together the owner's other obligations, from VAT to the platforms' register, and the guide on deductible costs of a VUT (a vivienda de uso turístico, or registered tourist home) goes through each item with more cases.