Spanish property rental income tax
Not too long ago, the average Briton could buy a flat in Spain, declare the property uninhabited, rent it out to whoever he felt like and avoid paying a penny in tax to the Spanish government.
Not any more. Be warned, if you are planning the same dodge, be prepared to face a sizeable tax bill on any rental income generated. In a sneak move, the Spanish authorities recently introduced laws requiring tenants to include the property registry number on their electricity bills.
Teams of tax collectors are also scouring the classifieds and internet for rental property ads and then comparing them to the tax registry.
If you are resident in Spain, you can now expect to pay tax on 50% of the net rental income, and non-residents pay a fixed rate of 25% of the gross income. There is also a nominal tax levied on potential rental income regardless of whether the property is occupied. The opportunity to avoid these taxes is limited and getting slimmer by the day. You have been warned – If you own rental property in Spain, you are going to have to pay taxes on the income.
Filed under Investing in real estate by 
Leave a Comment
Comments on Spanish property rental income tax
As a photographer, this is a question that I too have often asked myself. Even if I was just an everyday, shoot photos of the kids and dogs, type of person, common sense would still tell me to take a better photo if I want to make money off of it. Come on realtors – it’s not rocket science. It doesn’t take a professional photographer nor does it take expensive gear to make a house look good in a picture. The most important part of *any* photograph is composition. To me, this particular picture tells me that the realtor doesn’t want to sell this house. It also tells me that the realtor doesn’t care much for the people trying to sell the house, because he or she obviosly isn’t helping them with this photo. Did the realtor take this picture, or was it the seller? If it was the home owner, then I would hope that the realtor would advise them to take a better picture, or offer to do it herself. Either way, shame on the realtor. This is amature effort from an amature agent.