Marta Ibáñez and Joan Serra live together in Barcelona without being married. In 2023 they bought an apartment in Sitges: Marta put in more money, from her father's inheritance, and the escritura (the title deed) was drawn up 70 % in her name and 30 % in his. It is registered as a vivienda de uso turístico (a licensed holiday let) and advertised on a platform whose account was opened with Marta's email address. In 2026 the apartment took 24,000 € and had 9,000 € of deductible expenses. All the money arrives in Marta's account. Her gestor (a tax and paperwork adviser) suggests she declare all of it herself "because that is what Hacienda sees". Joan thinks they should split it down the middle, as they do with everything else. Neither of them is right.
The deed decides, not the bank account
Article 11.3 of the IRPF Law (the Spanish personal income tax law) attributes income from capital to whoever holds title to the asset it comes from, according to the rules on legal ownership and the evidence provided. Marta and Joan's holiday letting, as long as it is not a business activity, is income from real estate capital. Each of them therefore declares the percentage the deed gives them: 70 and 30.
Neither the platform, nor the account holder, nor a verbal agreement between them changes that split. Nor does who paid more of the expenses in a particular year. The last paragraph of article 11.3 adds a warning worth bearing in mind: if ownership is not properly proved, Hacienda may treat as the owner whoever appears in a tax or public register. Here, the registered deed settles the question.
Marta and Joan's split, step by step
- Income for the year: 24,000 €.
- Deductible expenses for the year (community fees, IBI, utilities, commissions, depreciation and the rest): 9,000 €.
- Joint net income: 24,000 − 9,000 = 15,000 €.
- Marta's share, 70 %: income 16,800 €, expenses 6,300 €, net income 10,500 €.
- Joan's share, 30 %: income 7,200 €, expenses 2,700 €, net income 4,500 €.
| Option | Marta declares | Joan declares | Problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| All to Marta | 15,000 € | 0 € | She pays tax on income that is not hers and Joan omits his |
| Half each | 7,500 € | 7,500 € | Does not match the deed |
| In line with the deed | 10,500 € | 4,500 € | None, if it is documented |
Declaring everything in Marta's name looks prudent because it matches what the platform reports. But the IRPF scale is progressive and Marta has a higher income than Joan, so between them they would pay more. And if there is ever a check, Joan appears as the owner of 30 % of a property being let out without having declared anything.
Unmarried couples, community property and inherited assets
Marta and Joan are not married, so there is no marital property regime to add: what the deed says is what counts. In a marriage things get a little more complicated. The same article 11.3 refers to the rules of the matrimonial property regime and provides that assets held in common by both spouses are attributed half to each, unless a different share is proved.
| Situation | How the income is split |
|---|---|
| Unmarried couple or separation of property | According to the percentages in the deed |
| Community property (gananciales), common asset | Half each, unless another share is proved |
| Separate asset of one spouse (for example, inherited) | To the spouse who owns it |
| Mixed purchase, part separate and part community property | The proportion has to be worked out from the deed and the evidence of where the funds came from |
The common temptation is to choose, each year, the split that produces the least tax. That is not allowed. The percentage comes from the title and the regime, and it stays in place until ownership changes.
When a comunidad de bienes appears
Co-ownership is already, in civil law, a form of community. But in tax practice people speak of a "comunidad de bienes" (a co-ownership arrangement with its own tax number) when the co-owners operate together with their own NIF: the comunidad contracts with the platform, invoices, collects and pays. In that case, article 8.3 of the IRPF Law establishes that the comunidad is not taxed in its own right and that its income is attributed to its members.
There is a nuance here that directly affects Marta and Joan. Article 89.3 says that income is attributed according to the applicable rules or agreements and that, if those agreements are not reliably on record with the Administration, it is attributed in equal parts. If they set up a comunidad with a NIF without recording the 70/30 split, they run the risk of Hacienda attributing 50 % to each of them.
The comunidad also has obligations of its own. Article 90 requires entities under the income attribution regime to file an information return on the income they attribute to their members: this is Modelo 184. The regulations exclude some cases with no business activity and small amounts of income; the current threshold has to be checked before taking it for granted.
Article 27.2 of the IRPF Law treats letting as a business activity when at least one person employed under an employment contract and working full time is used to manage it. If the comunidad hires that person, the income stops being income from real estate capital and is split as business income, with other registration and accounting obligations.
If you would like us to review how your letting is set up and what each of you should declare, you can send us the deed, the platform contract and the statements through the holiday let form.
VAT follows a different logic
For IRPF, what matters is who owns the flat. For VAT, what matters is who provides the service. Letting a furnished home is exempt, but article 20.Uno.23.º of the VAT Law excludes from the exemption the case where the landlord undertakes to provide complementary services typical of the hotel trade, such as cleaning during the stay or changing the linen. If that happens, the transaction is taxed, and article 91.Uno.2.2.º applies the reduced rate to hospitality services.
When VAT has to be charged, the question is who charges it: each co-owner for their share, or the comunidad as such. Article 84.Tres of the VAT Law treats as taxable persons those comunidades de bienes that form an economic unit and carry out taxable transactions. It is decided by the real way of operating, not by a choice made at the end of the quarter.
Article 7 of Royal Decree-law 26/2026 was due to tax short stays of up to 30 nights at 10 % from 1 December 2026, but Congress voted it down on 2 October and the start date is now uncertain, with July 2028 as the outer limit. Co-owners who operate exempt will then have to decide who registers for VAT: the co-ownership as a single unit or each owner for their share, and the answer has to match how the income is split. It is worth settling now.
A single account and how to document the split
The money going into Marta's account is not a problem if it is documented. The platform reports the payments with the NIF of whoever appears on the listing, through Modelo 238, and the Agencia may see 24,000 € linked to Marta. To explain why she declares 16,800 €, it helps to have:
- The deed with the percentages.
- An annual sheet with income, expenses and the 70/30 split.
- The transfers of Joan's share to him, with a recognisable description.
- A short agreement signed by both stating that Marta manages the payments on behalf of the two of them. That agreement does not change ownership, but it explains the flow of money.
The best solution, where possible, is to register both owners on the platform or to show the co-ownership there. That way, what is reported to Hacienda is closer to what each of them declares.
If one of the two is not resident in Spain
If Joan moves to Lisbon and stops being resident, his 30 % is then declared as a non-resident, with his own Modelo 210 and at a rate that depends on where he lives. Marta would go on declaring her 70 % under IRPF. The home is the same, but each owner is taxed according to their own tax residence, not the other's.
If Marta pays for an entire 3,000 € repair, it should be made clear whether Joan will reimburse his 900 €. If he does, each deducts their share. If not, it is best to document it another way, because an expense on the jointly owned property does not automatically become an expense only of the person who pays it.
What the platform reports and how to reconcile it is in Airbnb reports my income to Hacienda. Which expenses go into the 9,000 € of the example, in the deductible expenses of a holiday let. And the boundary with a business activity, in whether you have to register as self-employed.
The Salama Tax holiday lets page sets out VAT, income tax and the information returns for a home with more than one owner.