Andrés Villalba, a teacher in Murcia, bought a ground-floor flat with a garden in San Javier on 3 February 2026 from Petra Lang, who lives in Freiburg. Price: 184,000 €. At the notary's office he did the right thing: he withheld 5,520 € and paid the rest. Then came the move, the bathroom works and the end of the quarter, and the 5,520 € stayed in his account. On 20 June, sorting out papers, he finds the note with the words "Modelo 211" underlined. His question is the one almost everyone in his situation asks: do I file it now, or wait and see whether anyone says anything?
How late it really is
Article 14.3 of the Regulations on IRNR (Spanish non-resident income tax) gives the buyer one month "from the date of the transfer" to file the return and pay in the withholding. With a deed dated 3 February, the deadline ended on 3 March 2026. How periods counted in months are calculated is explained in the guide on counting time limits.
On 20 June, Andrés is three full months late (from 3 March to 3 June) and a few days more. That figure decides the cost.
File before Hacienda asks
Article 27 of the General Taxation Law (Ley General Tributaria) governs the surcharges for filing late "without prior demand". The surcharge is 1 % plus a further 1 % for each full month of delay, and it rules out penalties and late-payment interest. After twelve months it rises to 15 % and interest starts to run.
The decisive nuance is the prior demand: for the law, it is "any administrative action carried out with the formal knowledge of the taxpayer" aimed at regularising that debt. As long as Andrés has received nothing from the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency, about this purchase, he can use the surcharge. As soon as he is notified of an action concerning Modelo 211, he loses that option. The guide on what counts as a prior demand goes through the doubtful cases.
Andrés's figures
If he files Modelo 211 on 20 June and pays at that moment:
- Outstanding withholding: 184,000 × 3 % = 5,520 €. It is paid in full with the form.
- Full months of delay: 3.
- Surcharge: 1 % + 3 % = 4 %. 5,520 × 4 % = 220.80 €.
- Article 27.5 reduces the surcharge by 25 % if the debt is paid on filing and the surcharge within the period opened by its assessment: 220.80 × 0.75 = 165.60 €.
The Agencia Tributaria does not charge the surcharge on Modelo 211 itself: it assesses it afterwards and sends a payment slip. Andrés just has to watch out for it so as to pay it on time and keep the reduction.
Now let us compare that with what would happen if he waited and it was the tax authorities who detected that nothing had been paid in:
| Scenario | What applies | Cost to Andrés, on top of the 5,520 € |
|---|---|---|
| Files on 20 June, without a demand | 4 % surcharge, reduced by 25 % | 165.60 € |
| Files after twelve months, without a demand | 15 % surcharge and interest from month twelve | 828 € of surcharge before reduction, plus interest |
| Hacienda regularises it first | Tax, late-payment interest and a possible penalty | Minimum penalty of 5,520 € before reductions |
The last row needs explaining. Andrés did withhold: he deducted the 5,520 € from the price. Article 191.4 of the General Taxation Law classes as very serious, even without fraudulent means, failing to pay in withholdings actually made when they represent more than 50 % of the base of the penalty. Here they are 100 %. The fine ranges from 100 to 150 %. Even if he accepted the proposal and paid without appealing, with the reductions in article 188 (30 % and 40 %) it would still come to 2,318.40 €, plus interest. It is an estimate of the mechanism, not the outcome of a specific case, but the difference in scale is plain. The calculation of the surcharge in other situations is in the guide on the article 27 surcharge, and the general comparison in surcharge versus penalty.
Someone who withheld and did not pay in has in their account money that belongs, on account, to another person's tax. It is the situation the law treats most harshly. Every week of waiting can only make the cost worse; there is no scenario in which waiting makes it cheaper.
If you would like us to prepare and file the late Modelo 211, with the surcharge calculation, you can send us the deed through the Modelo 211 form.
The seller is also waiting for that payment
Petra has her own deadline. Article 14.4 of the Regulations gives her three months, counted from the end of the buyer's period, to file her Modelo 210 and set the withholding against her tax in it. In this case, until 3 June 2026. Petra may already have filed it deducting 5,520 € that the Agencia Tributaria cannot find anywhere, or she may be waiting for her copy of Modelo 211 to do so.
That is why it is worth writing to her as soon as the form is filed: send her copy with the proof of payment and explain the real date of the payment. If her Modelo 210 has already been filed, her adviser will know whether she needs to do anything. The paper you have to give her, and what she uses it for, is covered in what I have to give the seller.
The marginal note at the land registry
While the withholding has not been paid in, article 25.2 of the law leaves the property charged with payment of the lower of the withholding and the seller's tax. Article 14.5 of the Regulations adds that the registrar records this by a note in the margin of the entry, stating the amount for which the property is liable.
That note does not disappear on its own because you have paid. The same article provides for it to be cancelled when it expires or by presenting the payment slip or an administrative certificate. In practice, once Modelo 211 has been paid in, Andrés should keep the proof and, if the note has been entered, take it to the land registry to cancel it. It will matter to him the day he wants to sell or mortgage: no buyer or bank will happily accept a property with an outstanding tax charge.
If instead of withholding you paid the full price
Andrés's case is the most common, but not the only one. If the buyer did not even withhold, the article 27 surcharge works in the same way, but he will have to put up the 5,520 € out of his own pocket and then claim them from the seller. The consequences if it is never filed are analysed in what can happen if I do not pay it in, and the full mechanics of the late form in the guide on Modelo 211 filed late.
What to have in front of you before filing
- The deed, to establish the exact date of the transfer and the price.
- The seller's NIE (the identification number Spain gives foreigners) and her address abroad, as they appear in the deed.
- The property's cadastral reference.
- A digital certificate, or a representative who can file for you.
With that, the form can be prepared quickly. What you should avoid is filing it with details that differ from those in the deed: the seller is going to deduct that withholding in her return, and any difference in name or NIE leaves her unable to do so.
The 3 % withholding has more twists than the deadline: the base, several sellers, subrogations. We deal with them on the Salama Tax page on Modelo 211.