Winter stays and second homes: are you a Spanish tax resident?

Terms used

• IBI — The IBI is the yearly property tax paid by the owner, and its receipt shows who owns the flat.

Key rules

• Three conditions: Passing any one of the days test, the economic-interests test or the family presumption can make you a Spanish tax resident.
• Owning a home: Owning a Spanish home does not make you resident, but a non-resident owner still owes tax on it.
• Proof: Keep travel records and a tax residence certificate from your other country in case of an audit.

Can you stay a non-resident?

Yes. You can stay non-resident if all three of these are true:

• You spend no more than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year.
• Your main business or economic interests are not based in Spain.
• You cannot be presumed resident because a spouse and minor children live in Spain.

A spouse and minor children living in Spain raise a presumption of residence; How a spouse and children in Spain affect your tax residency shows how to rebut it.

Counting your days

Count every day in the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. Hacienda, the Spanish tax authority, counts short trips home as days in Spain. The exception is when you prove you are tax resident in another country with a certificate from that country's tax authority.

So do two things. Keep a day-by-day record with tickets and boarding passes, and ask your home country's tax authority for a tax residence certificate each year. Audits turn on this proof. If both countries claim you as resident, the tax treaty between them has a tie-breaker. Ask a tax adviser if that happens to you.

What counts as economic interests in Spain

Your economic interests are in Spain when most of your income comes from Spanish work or business, or your main assets, investments and professional activity are here. There is no fixed percentage; each case is judged on its facts (the signs and how Hacienda weighs them).

Tax on a second home you do not rent out

As a non-resident owner you pay non-resident income tax on imputed income. This is a notional income the law assigns to the property.

• The income is 1.1% of the cadastral value. It is 2% where values have not been revised in the last 10 years.
• The tax rate is 19% if you live in the EU or EEA, and 24% otherwise.
• You declare it on modelo 210, one return per property. You can file for a year at any point up to 31 December of the following year.

If you rent the property out, you pay tax on the rental income instead. A gain from selling the property is declared on modelo 210 within 3 months of the sale. EU and EEA residents can deduct expenses. You file modelo 210 for rental income quarterly or annually by the following January. If you are a non-resident with a business activity in Spain, you file modelo 200 or 202.

You also pay the local property tax, the IBI, on your home. If you file modelo 210 or modelo 100 late, Hacienda adds a surcharge and possibly interest.

If you become resident

You then file the annual resident return, modelo 100, for the calendar year. You file it from April to 30 June of the following year. You also declare foreign assets on modelo 720 or 721 and, if your net assets pass the wealth tax allowance, file a wealth tax return. Work this out before your days pass the limit.

If you arrive part-way through a year

A resident year is the whole calendar year, including the months before you arrived: see Moving to Spain mid-year and when your residency starts.