Short answer: if you are a private individual and rent out your home to tourists without offering hotel-type services, what you earn is taxed in the IRPF (Spanish personal income tax) as income from real estate capital (rendimiento del capital inmobiliario). You deduct the expenses for the period the property was actually let, add a small imputed income for the days it was not, and the result is added to the rest of your general taxable base (salary, pension…), which is taxed on a progressive scale: in Galicia, between 18.5% and 47% depending on your bracket. The 60% reduction that applies to lettings of a main residence does not apply.
Article updated on 3 November 2026 with the Spanish Tax Agency’s 2025 Income Tax Manual and the 2026 changes. This is general information: for your specific case, consult your tax adviser.
Real estate capital or economic activity?
The Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) distinguishes two cases:
- Income from real estate capital (the usual case): you let the property and, at most, you clean it and change the linen between one stay and the next, and deal with breakdowns.
- Economic activity: if you provide services typical of the hotel industry (permanent reception and guest assistance in a dedicated space, periodic cleaning or linen changes during the stay, laundry, luggage storage, catering) or if you have at least one full-time employee to manage the letting.
This article covers the first case, which is that of the vast majority of owners. Cleaning at each guest’s arrival and departure, changing linen between stays and maintenance do not turn the letting into an economic activity.
Step 1: income
Income is everything the guests pay for the stay, including the cleaning fee (not counting the tourist tax or, where applicable, VAT, which are not your income). The commission kept by Airbnb or Booking is not subtracted here: it is deducted afterwards as an expense. Keep the annual reports from each platform, because the tax authority receives the same data (see below).
Step 2: deductible expenses (only for the period the property was let)
This is where people make the most mistakes. Since Supreme Court ruling 270/2021, only the expenses corresponding to the days on which the property was actually let are deductible. Days when it was advertised but empty do not count. In practice, annual expenses are apportioned: annual expense × days let / 365.
| Expense | How it is deducted |
|---|---|
| Platform and management company commission | Deductible (administration fees and third-party services). If your letting is exempt from VAT, the VAT on the invoice is also part of the expense. |
| Community fees, IBI (local property tax), refuse collection charge, insurance | Deductible, apportioned by days let. |
| Utilities you pay yourself (electricity, water, gas, internet) | Deductible, apportioned. |
| Mortgage interest and repair and maintenance costs | Deductible, apportioned, with a limit: together they cannot exceed the income from that property. The excess can be applied in the following 4 years. |
| Depreciation of the property | Up to 3% a year of the higher of the purchase price (including costs and taxes) and the cadastral value, excluding the land, apportioned. |
| Depreciation of furniture and appliances | Up to 10% a year of their cost, apportioned. |
Improvements (refitting the kitchen, replacing windows) are not deducted in one go: they increase the value of the property and are depreciated.
Step 3: imputed income for the days not let
For the days of the year when the property was not let (and it is not your main residence), you must declare an imputed income: 1.1% of the cadastral value if that value was revised from 2012 onwards, or 2% in all other cases, in proportion to those days. No expenses are allowed against it. For 2026, the 1.1% also depends on the ratification of Royal Decree-Law 29/2026, which is the one that extends that percentage.
Example: a tourist flat in Vigo
A flat let for 200 days a year that has earned €20,000. It was bought for €200,000 (€120,000, including purchase costs and taxes, corresponds to the construction), has €10,000 of furniture and a revised cadastral value of €80,000.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Income | €20,000 |
| Platform commission (15.5%) | −€3,100 |
| Management (20% + VAT on the platform net amount) | −€4,090 |
| Community fees, IBI, insurance, utilities and interest (€5,100 a year × 200/365) | −€2,795 |
| Depreciation of the property (3% of €120,000 × 200/365) | −€1,973 |
| Depreciation of furniture (10% of €10,000 × 200/365) | −€548 |
| Net income | €7,494 |
| Imputed income (1.1% of €80,000 × 165/365) | +€398 |
| Total added to your general taxable base | €7,892 |
Step 4: the rate you pay
The net income has no fixed rate: it is added to your salary, pension or other income in the general taxable base and taxed on the state scale plus that of your autonomous community. In Galicia, the combined marginal rate runs from 18.5% in the first bracket to 45% between €60,000 and €300,000, and 47% above that. In the Canary Islands it reaches 50.5% in the highest brackets. The more you earn from other sources, the higher the rate applied to your letting income.
How to declare it
- In your income tax return (Modelo 100), section C, “Rendimientos del capital inmobiliario” (income from real estate capital), stating the cadastral reference, the days let, the income and each type of expense.
- There are no instalment payments (Modelo 130 is only for economic activities) and no withholding: the private individual tourist withholds nothing from you (if the person renting from you is a company, it may have to withhold 19%).
- The tax authority already knows what you have received: since 2024 the platforms report each host’s income and, when they know them, days every year through Modelo 238. Whatever you do not declare will be detected when the data is cross-checked.
If you do not live in Spain
Non-resident owners file Modelo 210 (Non-Resident Income Tax): 19% if they live in the EU, Iceland or Norway, with expenses deductible, and 24% on gross income, with no expenses, in all other cases. New (Order HAC/623/2026): lettings with an amount to pay are declared once a year, from 1 to 20 April of the following year: all of 2026 if you group them, or from the fourth quarter of 2026 if you declare them one by one. The imputed income for days not let is filed from 1 April to 31 December of the following year.
Changes to keep in mind
- VAT from 1 December 2026: Royal Decree-Law 29/2026 subjects lettings of furnished housing of up to 30 nights to 10% VAT. It is pending ratification by Congress. If it goes ahead, your expenses will be counted in the IRPF without VAT, because you will recover that VAT. We explain it in our guide to VAT on holiday rentals.
- Imputed income from 2027: the same decree replaces the percentage with a scale from 1.1% to 3% depending on the sum of the cadastral values of your properties. This also depends on ratification.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 60% reduction apply to tourist lettings?
No. The Spanish Tax Agency says so expressly: the reductions in article 23.2 of the IRPF Law are only for lettings of a main residence, not for tourist lettings.
Can I deduct all of the year’s expenses?
No, only the part corresponding to the days on which the property was let. Expenses tied to a specific booking, such as the platform commission, are deducted in full.
Do I have to register as self-employed?
If you only let the property, without hotel services and without employees, no: you declare the income in your tax return as income from real estate capital. If you provide hotel services or have someone employed full time, it becomes an economic activity and you should have an adviser review it.
At CABANA we give you a monthly report with your property’s income, commissions and expenses, ready for your adviser or your tax return. Ask us for a free analysis of your property.
