A short summary of the annual obligations that come with owning a property in Spain from abroad.
A non resident owner files an annual return whether or not the property is let. Where it sits empty, the tax is calculated from the cadastral value rather than from any income received.
It surprises many owners that an unused property produces a filing at all. It does, every year, and unfiled returns accumulate quietly until they surface at the point of sale.
IBI is charged by the town hall and is usually the largest recurring item. Community fees apply where the property forms part of a community of owners. There may also be refuse charges and, above certain thresholds, wealth tax, which varies between regions.
Where the property is let, income has been declared annually rather than quarterly since 2024, in January for the year before. The treatment also differs depending on where you are tax resident, which since Brexit affects British owners in particular.
Individually these are modest sums. The difficulty is that municipal charges and community fees attach to the property rather than to the owner, so they follow it to a sale, often years later.
Keeping everything current is considerably easier than resolving it under time pressure with a buyer waiting. It is a service we provide for most of the clients whose property we look after.
This page gives general information about Spanish law and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts and should be assessed individually.
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