Modelo 210 for British Holiday-Home Owners: The Annual Tax Everyone Forgets (2026)

TL;DR: If you are a UK resident who owns a holiday home in Spain, you must file Modelo 210 every year and pay Spanish non-resident tax, even if you never rent the property out. Since Brexit, Britons pay 24% (not the EU 19%) on an imputed income of 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value. Miss it and surcharges start at 1% per month and can reach 50–150%.

What is Modelo 210 and why do British owners keep missing it?

Modelo 210 is the Spanish tax return (declaración) that non-residents use to declare income connected to Spain, most commonly the income from owning property here. It is filed with the Agencia Tributaria (the AEAT, Spain’s tax authority).

The reason it is “the tax everyone forgets” is simple: there is no bill in the post. Spain’s IBI (the local council property tax) arrives automatically each year, so owners pay it and assume they are square with the state. Modelo 210 is different: it is a self-assessment. Nobody sends you a demand. You are legally responsible for calculating it, filing it, and paying it yourself, and if you don’t, the clock on penalties and interest starts quietly running in the background.

Two situations trigger it for a typical British holiday-home owner:

You use the property yourself or leave it empty: you owe tax on imputed income (a notional rent the state assumes you could have earned).
You let the property out: you owe tax on the actual rental income.

Most Costa del Sol second homes fall into the first bucket for all or most of the year. That is the return people overlook.

Do I really owe tax on an empty property in Spain?

Yes. This is the part British owners find hardest to accept: Spain taxes you on your own empty apartment as if it were quietly earning you money.

The logic is called renta imputada (imputed income). The Spanish state takes the view that a property is an asset capable of generating income, so even when it sits empty, or you use it yourself for holidays, it attributes a theoretical income to you and taxes it. There is no way to argue “but nobody was living in it.” Empty is the taxable scenario.

The imputed income is a percentage of the property’s valor catastral (cadastral value), the administrative value the government assigns to the property. You will find this figure on your annual IBI receipt. It is almost always far lower than the market value or what you paid, which is the one piece of good news in this entire article.

Cadastral value status	Imputation rate applied
Revised by the council in the current tax year or the previous 10 years	1.1% of cadastral value
Not revised in the last 10 years (older valuation)	2.0% of cadastral value

You then apply your non-resident tax rate to that imputed income.

How much is the UK non-resident tax rate after Brexit?

This is where Brexit hurt. Before 1 January 2021, UK owners were EU residents for Spanish tax purposes and paid 19%. Since Brexit, the UK is a non-EU third country, so British owners pay the higher 24% rate and, for rental income, lose the right to deduct expenses.

Owner’s country of tax residence	Imputed income base	Tax rate on that income
EU / EEA (incl. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)	1.1% or 2% of cadastral value	19%
Non-EU (UK since Brexit, USA, etc.)	1.1% or 2% of cadastral value	24%

It is a flat rate, with no bands and no personal allowance for non-residents.

A worked example

Take a Fuengirola apartment with a cadastral value of €200,000, revised within the last ten years (so the 1.1% rate applies), owned by one person for the full year:

Step	UK owner (24%)	EU owner (19%)
Cadastral value	€200,000	€200,000
Imputed income (× 1.1%)	€2,200	€2,200
Annual tax due	€528	€418
The Brexit surcharge	+€110 / year	—

If that same property had an un-revised cadastral value (2% rate), the base would be €4,000 and the UK bill would be €960 a year.

Two important refinements:

Multiple owners file separately. A couple who own 50/50 each files their own Modelo 210 for their 50% share. Two owners = two returns.
It is pro-rated by days of ownership. Buy or sell mid-year and you only owe for the days you held the property, calculated as × (days owned ÷ 365).

What if I rent my Costa del Sol property out?

If you let the property, long-term or as a holiday rental, the rental income is taxed instead of (or alongside) the imputed income for the days it was actually let.

Here is the second Brexit penalty. EU/EEA residents pay 19% on net rent: they can deduct mortgage interest, community fees, IBI, insurance, repairs, agency fees and depreciation. UK owners, as non-EU residents, pay 24% on the gross rent with no deductions at all. On a property with a mortgage and running costs, that difference is severe.

	UK owner (post-Brexit)	EU/EEA owner
Rate	24%	19%
Taxed on	Gross income	Net income
Expense deductions	None	Mortgage interest, IBI, community, repairs, etc.

Filing frequency changed recently. Order HFP/1338/2023 abolished the old quarterly grouping for rent accrued from 1 January 2024. Non-resident landlords now file rental income once a year (or optionally per payment). For the days the property was empty in the same year, you still declare imputed income on top. If you rent, do not assume the annual imputed-income return alone covers you. It does not.

When is the 2026 Modelo 210 deadline?

Deadlines depend on which income you are declaring, and Spain is changing the windows from the 2026 tax year onward, so note carefully which year you are filing for.

What you’re declaring	Tax year	Filing window
Imputed income (empty / own use)	2025	Any time up to 31 December 2026
Imputed income	2026 (filed in 2027)	Window opens 1 April 2027 (later start than before)
Rental income (annual)	2025	1–20 January 2026
Rental income	2026 (filed in 2027)	1–20 April 2027

The headline for most readers: imputed income for the 2025 tax year must be filed and paid by 31 December 2026. If you have owned your Spanish home for years and have never filed a Modelo 210, you are almost certainly overdue; see the penalties section below. (The shift of the imputed-income window to a 1 April start from the 2026 tax year is reported by specialist filers; confirm it against the AEAT’s published order before your final filing.)

How do I file Modelo 210 myself? (Step by step)

You can file directly on the AEAT’s online Sede Electrónica. Here is the process for the standard imputed-income return.

Step 1. Gather your documents.

Your NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero).
Your latest IBI receipt, which shows the valor catastral and the cadastral reference (referencia catastral).
Your ownership share (e.g. 50%).
A means to pay (a Spanish bank account for direct debit is easiest; otherwise an NRC payment reference from a collaborating bank).

Step 2. Confirm your rate.

If the cadastral value has been revised in the last 10 years, the rate is 1.1%; otherwise 2%.
Your tax rate as a UK resident is 24%.

Step 3. Calculate the tax.

Cadastral value × 1.1% (or 2%) × 24% × your ownership share × (days owned ÷ 365).

Step 4. Complete the form online.

Go to the AEAT Sede Electrónica and open Modelo 210. Select income type 02 (imputed income from urban property).
File one form per owner, per property. Enter the cadastral reference so the system links the property.

Step 5. Pay.

Direct debit (domiciliación) is available if you file early enough and hold a Spanish account. Otherwise pay via NRC or transfer.

Step 6. Keep the proof.

Save the stamped, submitted return. It is your evidence of compliance if the AEAT ever queries earlier years.

Step 7 (recommended). Set a recurring reminder for next year, or hand the whole thing to a gestor so it never slips again.

Filing yourself is entirely possible, but the NIE-based digital certificate login, the Spanish-only interface, and the per-owner arithmetic are exactly why most non-residents pay a gestoría €100–300 a year to run it on autopilot. That is cheaper than a single month’s late-filing surcharge, and a great deal cheaper than a 50% penalty.

What are the penalties for not filing Modelo 210?

The tax itself is rarely the painful part; the surcharges stacked on top of it are. Two very different regimes apply, and the difference between them is who noticed first.

If you fix it voluntarily (before the AEAT contacts you)

You pay a recargo (surcharge) that scales with how late you are:

How late (voluntary)	Surcharge on tax due
Up to 1 month	1%
Each additional full month	+1% per month
More than 12 months late	15% + interest from month 13

Voluntarily catching up on a few missed years is inconvenient but rarely ruinous.

If the AEAT finds it first

Situation	Penalty
AEAT detects the unfiled return before you regularise	50% to 150% of the unpaid tax, plus interest

The AEAT can pursue unfiled Modelo 210 returns going back four years. Given how much cross-border property and banking data now flows automatically between HMRC and the Agencia Tributaria, “they’ll never notice an empty flat” is an increasingly expensive assumption. If you are behind, file voluntarily now, while the 1%-per-month door is still open.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to file Modelo 210 if my property is empty all year? Yes. An empty or personally used property generates imputed income, which is exactly what Modelo 210 captures. Empty is the standard taxable case, not an exemption.

My spouse and I own the flat together. Is one return enough? No. Each owner files a separate Modelo 210 for their share of the property. A couple owning 50/50 submits two returns each year.

I already pay IBI. Isn’t that the same tax? No. IBI is a local council property tax billed automatically. Modelo 210 is a national non-resident income tax that you must self-assess and file. They are separate obligations.

How much tax will I actually pay? For most Costa del Sol apartments, the annual imputed-income bill runs from roughly €200 to €900+ per owner, depending on the cadastral value and whether the 1.1% or 2% rate applies. It is usually a modest sum. The danger is the penalties for skipping it, not the tax itself.

Will HMRC also tax my Spanish property? UK residents are taxed on worldwide income, so Spanish rental income is also reportable in the UK, with relief for Spanish tax paid under the UK–Spain double-tax treaty. Imputed income is a Spanish concept and is not itself UK-taxable, but rental profit is. Confirm your position with a dual-qualified adviser.

I haven’t filed for several years. What should I do? File the outstanding years voluntarily as soon as possible. The surcharge for coming forward (1%–15%) is far lower than the 50%–150% penalty that applies once the AEAT opens an enquiry.

The bottom line for British owners

Modelo 210 is a small tax with an outsized capacity to punish neglect. The annual bill on a typical Costa del Sol holiday home is modest, a few hundred euros. But because it is invisible, self-assessed, and post-Brexit charged at the higher 24% rate, it is precisely the obligation that goes unfiled for years until a sale, an inheritance, or an AEAT letter turns a €500 bill into a four-figure penalty. File it every year, keep the proof, and it stays a non-event.

Disclaimer: This article is general information about Spanish non-resident taxation as it stands for the 2025–2026 filing period, not tax or legal advice. Rates, thresholds, cadastral valuations, and deadlines change and vary by individual circumstances and municipality. Before filing or relying on any figure here, consult a Spain-registered gestor / asesor fiscal or a dual UK–Spain tax professional, and verify current deadlines and rates against the AEAT and the applicable BOE order.