Ramón and Teresa retired in 2021 and went to live in Brighton, where their daughter lives. They kept their flat in Benidorm, owned half each, with its parking space. They use it for three weeks in summer and it is shut for the rest of the year. He receives a Spanish Social Security pension; she receives a small British pension from when they both worked there as young people. For four years they filed nothing in Spain for the flat, convinced that if they did not let it there was nothing to declare. In 2026 they received a formal request from the Agencia Tributaria (the Spanish tax agency) for the unfiled Modelo 210 imputed income returns.
Theirs is a textbook case: the empty home is by far what generates the most letters among pensioners living abroad.
Three different things that do not talk to each other
Anyone who lives abroad and keeps a home in Spain has at least three separate tax questions. It is best not to mix them up, because each is governed by different rules and falls due at different times:
| What | Under which rules | Depends on… |
|---|---|---|
| The Spanish pension | Treaty and, if Spain taxes it, non-resident income tax | Who pays and why |
| The empty flat | Non-resident income tax, imputed income | Simply having it available |
| Assets in Spain | Wealth tax on a territorial basis | The value of what you own here |
Ramón's pension goes its own way: if the treaty with the United Kingdom gives it to the country of residence, it is not taxed in Spain even though he owns a flat here. Owning a home in Spain does not make anyone tax resident unless, added to everything else, it moves the centre of their interests here. The pension and the flat are analysed separately; the pension in is my Spanish pension taxed in Spain or where I live.
Why a shut flat pays tax
The law presumes that an urban home available to its owner, which is neither their main home nor let, produces income for them. Article 85 of the Spanish personal income tax act (IRPF) sets that income at 2 % of the valor catastral (the official cadastral value), or 1.1 % if the cadastral value was revised in the tax year or in the ten previous years, in proportion to the days of the year. Article 24.5 of the Spanish non-resident income tax act applies the same rule to non-residents.
For a non-resident, the general rate of the tax is applied to that imputed income: 19 % for residents of the European Union, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein, and 24 % in all other cases. Ramón and Teresa live in the United Kingdom, outside that group.
One year's calculation, step by step
Data: cadastral value of the flat, 96,000 €, revised six years ago; cadastral value of the parking space, which has its own reference, 9,000 €, revised at the same time. Ownership 50 % each. Flat and parking space available to them all year (the weeks of personal use do not interrupt the imputation).
- Applicable percentage: value revised within the previous ten years, 1.1 %.
- Imputed income on the flat: 96,000 × 1.1 % = 1,056 €. For each spouse, 528 €.
- Imputed income on the parking space: 9,000 × 1.1 % = 99 €. For each spouse, 49.50 €.
- Income for each of them: 528 + 49.50 = 577.50 €.
- Tax for each at 24 %: 138.60 €.
- For the couple, per year: 277.20 €.
Each spouse files their own return and, because the parking space has its own cadastral reference, it is treated as one more property. Four unfiled years add up to a little over 1,100 € of tax for the couple, before surcharges or penalties. It is not an amount that ruins anyone, but the procedure can end up costing more than the tax. How the imputation works in detail, with its exceptions, is in what imputed property income is.
If the taxpayer puts things right on their own before Hacienda (the Spanish tax authorities) sends a request, what applies is the surcharge in article 27 of the Ley General Tributaria (the general tax act): 1 % plus one point for each full month of delay, and from twelve months 15 % plus interest. Once the request has been received, that surcharge is no longer available and the penalty regime comes into play. Ramón and Teresa were a few weeks too late.
For the oldest years, with more than twelve months' delay, the surcharge would be 15 %: on one year's 138.60 € of tax, 20.79 € per spouse, plus interest, with a 25 % reduction of the surcharge if it is paid on time. The calculation with real dates is in working out the article 27 surcharge.
If the flat is let for a few weeks
If Ramón and Teresa let it in summer, the year would be split: rental income for the days let and imputation for the days it was available. They are two different kinds of income in different returns. From 2026 the rental return is filed from 1 to 20 April of the following year, or until the 15th if payment is by direct debit. As residents outside the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, they could not deduct rental expenses. The details are in Modelo 210 for rental income and in days let and apportionment.
Wealth tax: nearly always zero, not always
Non-residents pay Spanish wealth tax on a territorial basis: only on what they own in Spain (article 5 of the wealth tax act). The national tax-free allowance of 700,000 € also applies to those taxed on this basis (article 28), and the law requires a return when there is tax to pay or when the value of the assets exceeds 2,000,000 € (article 37). The region where the greatest value of the assets is located may have its own rules, which differ, and you need to check which apply.
In Ramón and Teresa's case, with a flat and a parking space owned half each and some money in a Spanish account, they will foreseeably not have to file anything. But the sum has to be done: someone who also owns a second property, shares in Spanish companies or substantial deposits can cross the line without realising. It is explained in do I have to pay wealth tax as a non-resident.
Documents to request so the scare is not repeated
| Document | What for |
|---|---|
| IBI bill (the annual municipal property tax) for each property | Cadastral value and reference of flat, parking space and storage room |
| Information on the revision of the cadastral value | To know whether 2 % or 1.1 % applies |
| Title deed or nota simple (land registry extract) | Each spouse's percentage of ownership |
| Rental contracts or statements, if any | To separate days let from days available |
| Tax residence certificate | To apply the treaty to the pension |
If you are in a similar situation, or have already received the letter, tell us the properties, owners and outstanding years through the pensioners form. With the IBI bill for each property it takes little time to work out what has to be filed and what it amounts to.
Local taxes keep running
The IBI, the refuse collection charge and the other municipal taxes do not depend on where the owner lives. They keep arriving and, if they are not paid by direct debit, they build up with enforcement surcharges. The request from Hacienda about the 210 returns is usually the first news; the second, often, is a seizure by the town hall for unpaid bills nobody collected from the letterbox of the shut flat. Giving a useful contact address and paying the bills by direct debit avoids most of these problems.
The combination of pension, flat in Spain and non-resident obligations is everyday life for many retirees living abroad, and at Salama Tax we explain how their annual calendar is handled, from imputed income to the residence certificate. For the general analysis of this situation, it is also worth reading if you live abroad and keep a home in Spain.