Form 210 explained: the annual return for non-resident property owners in Spain

Short answer: if you own a property in Spain and you are not tax resident here, you must file Form 210 every year, even if the property sits empty and earns you nothing.

What Form 210 is

Form 210 is the Spanish Non-Resident Income Tax return. It is filed by individuals who are not tax resident in Spain but receive Spanish-source income.

The most common type of income is not real income at all but a legal fiction: imputed property income. Spain takes the view that a property available to you produces a benefit, whether or not you let it, and taxes it.

How imputed income is calculated

A percentage is applied to the cadastral value of the property:

• 1.1% if the cadastral value was revised within the previous ten tax periods.
• 2% in all other cases.

The tax rate is then applied to that base:

• 19% for residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
• 24% for residents of any other country, including the United Kingdom since Brexit.

A worked example: an apartment in Fuengirola with a cadastral value of €90,000, last revised more than ten years ago, produces a base of €1,800 (2%). An owner resident in Ireland pays €342 a year. An owner resident in the United States pays €432.

Who files, and how many returns

Each owner files their own return for their share. A married couple owning 50/50 files two Forms 210, not one joint return. The same applies between a usufructuary and a bare owner.

Deadlines

• Imputed income: throughout the year following the tax year, with a final deadline of 31 December.
• Rental income: a single annual return, filed between 1 and 20 January of the following year.
• Capital gain on a sale: four months from the date of the deed.

If you let the property

Rental income is taxed separately and replaces imputed income for the days let. Days when the property is at your disposal still generate imputed income, so in a normal year both are declared.

Residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein may deduct costs directly related to the letting: council tax, community fees, insurance, utilities, mortgage interest, repairs and depreciation. Outside those countries, tax is paid on gross income with no deductions.

If you have never filed

This is the most common situation we see, especially among owners who bought twenty years ago and were never told the obligation existed.

The last four non-time-barred years can be regularised. Filing voluntarily before the tax office contacts you carries a late-filing surcharge, which is considerably cheaper than the penalty that follows if they get there first. Once filed, the matter is closed.

Common mistakes

• Assuming an empty house means nothing to declare.
• Filing one return per property when there are several owners.
• Using the purchase price instead of the cadastral value to calculate the base.
• Forgetting imputed income for the months not let.
• Deducting expenses without being resident in a country that allows it.

The figures and rates in this article were current at the time of publication. Spanish tax rules change, so confirm your own position before filing anything.