Behind on Spanish property tax as a non-resident

Key rules

• Late surcharge: Filing late before Hacienda writes adds 1% plus 1% for each full month of delay up to 12 months, and 15% plus interest after that, worked out separately for each year.
• Time limit: Hacienda can claim an unfiled imputed-income return for four years, counted from the day after that year's filing deadline, and any formal Hacienda action restarts the four years.
• Yearly deadline: Each year's imputed-income return can be filed until 31 December of the following year, and lateness counts from the day after.
• One return each: Each owner files a separate return for each property and each year, declaring only their own share.

The whole process, step by step

• Apply for a NIE (the foreigner's tax number) if you have none: before you file anything, because you cannot file without it
• Work out which years are still open (Filing missed modelo 210 returns for past years): start now, oldest year first
• Check what each year costs: before you file, because each year's surcharge depends on its own delay
• File and pay each missed modelo 210 return: as soon as you know the amounts, online or by bank transfer from abroad
• Pay any unpaid IBI and waste charge (Unpaid IBI, waste charge or community fees: the debt and the seizure path): before the apremio notice, which keeps the extra at 5%
• Settle community fees with the administrator: before the community goes to court, where you have 20 days to pay or oppose once the court notifies you
• Request the IBI and community debt certificates (Clearing it all before you sell): at least two weeks before the signing date
• Hand the certificates to the notary and declare your community debt position: at signing
• File your own capital gains declaration and settle any tax still owed: after the sale, because the buyer's 3% withholding is only an advance

Documents you may need

• Passport or other identity document of the owner — Filing missed modelo 210 returns for past years
• Form EX-15, the NIE application, only if you have no NIE — Filing missed modelo 210 returns for past years
• Power of attorney or written authorisation for a representative or gestor — Filing missed modelo 210 returns for past years, Unpaid IBI, waste charge or community fees: the debt and the seizure path
• Official IBI debt certificate — Unpaid IBI, waste charge or community fees: the debt and the seizure path, Clearing it all before you sell
• Community certificate showing whether the property owes community fees — Unpaid IBI, waste charge or community fees: the debt and the seizure path, Clearing it all before you sell
• Latest IBI receipt — Clearing it all before you sell
• Certificate of being up to date with tax obligations from the Agencia Tributaria, only if asked — Clearing it all before you sell

Questions that cross several articles

Which owners have to file modelo 210 for a property they do not rent?

Non-resident owners of a Spanish property that is not rented and is not their main residence for tax purposes declare imputed income, meaning a taxable amount based on the property's cadastral value. Co-owners each declare their own share.

How much tax is charged on imputed income?

The rate is 19% for EU and EEA residents and 24% for everyone else, including the UK.