Modelo 210 and 211: imputed income, rent and sales, with examples

If you own a flat in Spain and you are not a Spanish tax resident, the tax agency does not ask whether you use it, let it or sell it. It asks all three, separately. Each one is filed on Modelo 210, and none of them is calculated the same way. If you sell, the buyer has a second form, Modelo 211, which is the 3% withholding. This October 2026 guide is written for clients: the rules in force, the deadlines in Order HAC/623/2026, and fourteen worked examples.

What to keep in mind before the examples

• Modelo 210 is filed by the non-resident owner or seller. It reports imputed income (code 02), rent (code 01) or the gain on a sale (code 28).
• Modelo 211 is filed by the buyer. The buyer pays 3% of the price within one month of the deed. It is a payment on account, not the final tax.
• Imputed income and rent: 19% if you live in the EU or in the EEA with information exchange (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). 24% for the rest of the world, including the United Kingdom since Brexit. On rent, only the 19% group may deduct expenses.
• A sale: the capital gain is taxed at 19% for every non-resident, including British, American, Swiss and Chinese sellers. The 24% rate does not apply to a sale (article 25.1.f of the Non-Resident Income Tax Act).
• Each owner files their own Modelo 210 for their share. A couple at 50/50 means two returns, not one.
• Spain taxes property located in Spain. Your country of residence relieves double tax under the treaty, usually by exemption with progression or by a foreign tax credit. That relief is claimed on your home return, not on Modelo 210.
• The 2026 tax year of imputed income and of grouped rent is filed in April 2027, not in 2026. Imputed income runs from 1 April to 31 December 2027. Grouped rent runs from 1 to 20 April 2027.

Modelo 210 and Modelo 211, side by side

A counter rule: 211 is paid by the person who buys; 210 is filed by the person who owns or sells. The 211 receipt number is copied onto the seller's 210 so the withholding can be credited.

Who must file, and who must not

You file Modelo 210 if you are not tax-resident in Spain and you obtain income from Spanish property: because it is at your disposal, because you let it, or because you transfer it. Residence is decided by the 183-day rule, the centre of economic interests and, where relevant, the treaty. If you become resident, you leave 210 and enter ordinary income tax (Modelo 100). The residence guide is in this article.

A co-owner who is a Spanish tax resident does not file 210: that person reports their share on the resident return. The non-resident reports only their own share. If the property sits in a Spanish company, the usual route is corporate tax, not a 210 for the shareholder. A company files 210 when the company itself is non-resident and has no permanent establishment in Spain.

Two rates, and a third one almost nobody expects

The 19% rate on rent and imputed income has to be proved with a tax-residence certificate from the other country. Without that paper, the AEAT applies 24%. Switzerland is neither EU nor EEA: imputed income and rent are at 24%, even though a sale is still at 19%.

One procedural point needs to be stated plainly. The Spanish Tax Agency's current practice is that someone living outside the EU and the EEA cannot deduct expenses from rent. The National Court (Audiencia Nacional), in a judgment of 28 July 2025, recognised that right for non-EU taxpayers; the case is on appeal before the Supreme Court. Until there is a final ruling, the self-assessment the AEAT accepts at the outset is 24% of gross rent. Anyone who wants to argue expenses for years that are not yet time-barred can file a rectification claim, knowing that this is an appeal route and not the ordinary calculation.

1. Imputed income: the tax on an empty or personally used home

If the flat is not let, the law deems an income. It is not the rent you could have charged. It is a percentage of the cadastral value (article 24.5 of the Non-Resident Income Tax Act, which refers to article 85 of the resident income-tax law):

• 1,1% of the cadastral value if that value was revised and the revision took effect in the tax year itself or in the previous ten years.
• 2% if the revision is older, or if none is on record.
• If there is no cadastral value, 1,1% of 50% of the higher of the purchase price and the value checked by the Administration.

The base is time-apportioned for the days the property was at your disposal, and for your ownership share. The 19% or 24% rate is then applied. IBI, community fees and interest are not deducted here: imputed income allows no expenses, even if you live in the EU. IBI is a different, municipal tax and is paid separately. How to read the cadastral value is in the cadastral-value guide.

The income accrues on 31 December. Imputed income for 2025 is filed between 1 January and 31 December 2026, and direct debit runs from 1 January to 23 December 2026. Imputed income for the 2026 tax year is filed in April 2027: from 1 April to 31 December 2027. Direct debit for that year runs from 1 April to 23 December 2027.

Example 1. A German couple, a flat in Alicante, 50% each

Anna and Markus live in Munich. The apartment is not let. Cadastral value revised in 2019: 180.000 €. Full year 2025.

• Base for the property: 180.000 × 1,1% = 1.980 €.
• Each owner's share (50%): 990 €.
• Each owner's tax: 990 × 19% = 188,10 €.

That is two Modelo 210 returns, code 02, not a joint one. Family total: 376,20 €. Deadline for 2025 imputed income: any day in 2026. If they wait until 2027, the 2025 return is already late. The 2026 tax year is filed in April 2027: from 1 April to 31 December 2027.

Example 2. The same flat with no recent cadastral revision: Belgium against the United States

Cadastral value 95.000 €, last revision older than ten years. One owner, full year.

• Base: 95.000 × 2% = 1.900 €.
• Resident in Belgium: 1.900 × 19% = 361 €.
• Resident in the United States: 1.900 × 24% = 456 €.

The gap is 95 € a year. On imputed income there are no expenses the Belgian owner can deduct and the American cannot: both are taxed on the same base. Only the rate changes. That is why the revision date on the IBI bill has to be checked before using 1,1%. Using 1,1% "because the flat is on the coast" is the expensive mistake in this category when the revision is old: on 95.000 €, 2% is almost twice the base of 1,1%.

Example 3. You bought on 1 September: you do not pay a full year

Same revised 180.000 €, one German owner. Deed on 01/09/2025. Days in 2025 with the flat at their disposal: 122 (September to December; 2025 is not a leap year).

• Full-year base: 1.980 €.
• Base for the period: 1.980 × 122 / 365 = 661,81 €.
• Tax: 661,81 × 19% = 125,74 €.

In 2026, with a full year of ownership, they go back to example 1 (or to their half, if there are two owners). The new form, compulsory for anything filed from 01/01/2027, expressly asks for the number of days and the ownership share.

2. Rent: this is where the European Union and the rest of the world really split

Rent is income from immovable capital, code 01. The base for a resident of the EU or the EEA is the income minus expenses directly connected with that letting (article 24.6 of the Non-Resident Income Tax Act):

• IBI, rubbish charges and community fees.
• Buildings or rent-default insurance.
• Repair and maintenance. A work that improves the flat (a new kitchen, an extension) is not a cost of the year: it is added to the purchase value and taken into account on the day of sale.
• Mortgage interest. Capital repaid is not deductible.
• Agency fees, and utilities paid by the owner.
• Depreciation of 3% of the higher of the cadastral construction value and the acquisition cost of the building, excluding the land. Land is not depreciated.

Outside the EU and the EEA, the AEAT's current practice is 24% of the rent received, with nothing on that list deducted. The same flat and the same tenant can cost more than twice as much solely because of the tax passport.

Deadlines for rent with an amount to pay, according to the Spanish Tax Agency (Order HAC/56/2024 and Order HAC/623/2026). From 2024, grouping is annual. Grouped rent for the 2026 tax year is filed in April 2027:

• 2025 income, grouped: 1 to 20 January 2026. Not April. Direct debit: 1 to 15 January 2026.
• 2026 tax year, grouped: 1 to 20 April 2027. Direct debit: 1 to 15 April 2027.
• Only if you file each letting separately, the Tax Agency does not move April to September 2026 accruals to April 2027. In those quarters direct debit runs from day 1 to day 15 of the filing month:
  • January to March 2026: 1 to 20 April 2026.
  • April to June 2026: 1 to 20 July 2026.
  • July to September 2026: 1 to 20 October 2026. Not April 2027, and the previous form is used.
  • October to December 2026: 1 to 20 April 2027, already on the new form. It is no longer January 2027.
• A zero result: 1 to 20 January of the following year. A refund: from 1 February of the following year, within four years.

The order is explained in the guide to Order HAC/623/2026 deadlines, and the service is at rental income.

Example 4. A French owner, a full year of rent in 2025

Claire lives in Lyon. Rent received: 18.000 €. Costs of the year, all documented and linked to the letting:

• IBI 650 €, community 1.200 €, insurance 280 €, repairs 900 €, mortgage interest 2.400 €.
• Depreciation: cadastral construction value 70.000 × 3% = 2.100 €. (The 70.000 € is the building, not the total cadastral value.)
• Costs: 650 + 1.200 + 280 + 900 + 2.400 + 2.100 = 7.530 €.
• Net base: 18.000 − 7.530 = 10.470 €.
• Tax: 10.470 × 19% = 1.989,30 €.

One Modelo 210, code 01, annual grouping. Deadline: 1 to 20 January 2026. If Claire files on 25 January with no prior notice from the agency, article 27 surcharge applies, not yet a penalty. Grouped rent for the 2026 tax year is filed from 1 to 20 April 2027.

Example 5. The same numbers, an owner in the United Kingdom

James lives in Manchester and the flat is the same 18.000 € tenancy. AEAT practice:

• He does not deduct the 7.530 €.
• Tax: 18.000 × 24% = 4.320 €.
• Gap against Claire: 4.320 − 1.989,30 = 2.330,70 € more, for the same rent.

That gap is not fixed by filing Modelo 210 "with the expenses anyway". It is fixed, if the Supreme Court upholds the National Court, by a rectification claim. Until then, the ordinary 210 for a British, American, Swiss or Chinese client comes out at 4.320 € on these figures. In the United Kingdom, Spanish tax paid is usually claimed as a foreign tax credit: keep the NRC receipt. The treaty does not reduce the Spanish 24% on property rent, because rent from immovable property is taxed where the property sits.

Example 6. Norway is not "outside Europe" for this purpose

Ingrid lives in Oslo. Norway is not in the EU, but it is in the EEA with information exchange. On Claire's figures, Ingrid files as Claire does: base 10.470 € and tax 1.989,30 €. The same applies to Iceland and Liechtenstein. It does not apply to Switzerland or the United Kingdom.

Example 7. A mixed year in the Netherlands: two forms, not one

Pieter lives in Utrecht. Revised cadastral value 150.000 €, sole owner. From January to June 2025 he uses the flat (181 days). From July to December he lets it for 9.000 €, with costs attributable to that half-year of 3.200 € (IBI, community, insurance, interest and depreciation for those months, plus a repair in July).

Modelo 210 for imputed income, code 02:

• Full-year base: 150.000 × 1,1% = 1.650 €.
• Share of the 181 days: 1.650 × 181 / 365 = 818,22 €.
• Tax: 818,22 × 19% = 155,46 €. Deadline: any time in 2026.

Modelo 210 for rent, code 01:

• Base: 9.000 − 3.200 = 5.800 €.
• Tax: 5.800 × 19% = 1.102 €. Deadline for 2025 rent: 1 to 20 January 2026.

Putting both into one form under a single code is a typical reason for an enquiry. They are two different accruals.

Example 8. You let only one room

Revised cadastral value 200.000 €. The room is 30% of the floor area and is let all year. The other 70% stays at the disposal of the owner, who lives in Ireland.

• Imputed income on 70%: 200.000 × 1,1% × 70% = 1.540 € × 19% = 292,60 €.
• The room rent goes on another Modelo 210, code 01, at 19% of the net for that part.

A token rent to a relative, one euro a month, does not turn the flat into a "letting". If there is no real lease, the AEAT keeps the imputed income for the period. Reporting 12 € of rent to avoid code 02 costs more when the enquiry arrives.

3. The sale: capital gain, Modelo 211 and the refund

The gain is the difference between the transfer value and the acquisition value. It is computed the same way for a German seller and an American seller:

• Acquisition value = purchase price + purchase costs (transfer tax or VAT, notary, land registry, gestoría) + documented improvements.
• Transfer value = deed price − selling costs paid by the seller (agency, the seller's share of the notary, and municipal plusvalía if the seller pays it).
• Tax = gain × 19%. If there is a loss, the tax is zero, but Modelo 210 is still filed in order to recover the withholding.

The resident relief for reinvesting the gain on a main home belongs to residents. A non-resident does not claim it on Modelo 210. If the flat was bought before 31 December 1994, abatement coefficients may apply: those files do not fit a simple ratio and have to be computed on the official form.

In parallel, the buyer withholds 3% of the price (the consideration, not the gain) and pays it on Modelo 211 within one month of the transfer (article 25.2). If the buyer does not withhold, the buyer is liable. There is no 211 when the seller proves they are taxed under resident income tax or corporate tax, that is, when the seller is resident. If only some of the sellers are non-resident, the 3% is calculated on their share of the price.

The seller files Modelo 210, code 28, in the three months that follow the one month running from the deed date. In practice: one month, then three. A sale on 15/03/2026 → the 211 month ends on 15/04/2026 → the 210 ends on 15/07/2026. Inside that window you either pay the difference or claim the refund. The 3% guide is in the Modelo 211 article and at withholding refund.

Municipal plusvalía (IIVTNU) is not inside the 3%. It is a town-hall tax. If the seller pays it, it does reduce the IRNR gain, like any other selling cost.

Example 9. A sale where the tax exceeds 3%: the difference has to be paid

Sale deed on 15/03/2026 for 320.000 €. The seller is German.

• Purchase in 2014: 180.000 €. Purchase costs (transfer tax, notary, registry): 16.200 €. Kitchen and bathroom refurbishment, with invoices: 12.000 €. Acquisition value: 208.200 €.
• Selling costs: agency 9.600 € and municipal plusvalía 2.800 €. Transfer value: 320.000 − 12.400 = 307.600 €.
• Gain: 307.600 − 208.200 = 99.400 €.
• IRNR tax: 99.400 × 19% = 18.886 €.
• Buyer's withholding: 320.000 × 3% = 9.600 €, Modelo 211, deadline 15/04/2026.
• The seller pays the difference: 18.886 − 9.600 = 9.286 €, Modelo 210, deadline 15/07/2026.

If the buyer does not hand over the 211 receipt, the seller cannot credit the 9.600 €, and the AEAT can demand the full 18.886 € until the withholding is on record.

Example 10. The seller is in the United States: the sale is still at 19%

Same prices, same costs, same gain of 99.400 €. The tax is again 18.886 € and the balance to pay is again 9.286 €. The 24% of examples 2 and 5 does not carry over to the sale. Where the American client pays more than the German client is on each year's imputed income and, above all, on rent with no deductions. On the day of the deed, the rate on the gain is the same.

Example 11. A small gain: part of the withholding comes back

• Deed price: 250.000 €. Selling costs: 3.000 €. Transfer value: 247.000 €.
• Acquisition value: 220.000 €. Gain: 27.000 €.
• Tax: 27.000 × 19% = 5.130 €.
• Withholding: 250.000 × 3% = 7.500 €.
• Refund: 7.500 − 5.130 = 2.370 €.

The refund is not automatic. You have to file 210 within the deadline, with the 211 receipt number and a bank account. Silence does not send the money back.

Example 12. You sell for less than it cost you

• Acquisition value, already including costs and improvements: 310.000 €.
• Deed price: 275.000 €. Selling costs: 5.000 €. Transfer value: 270.000 €.
• Loss: 40.000 €. Tax: 0 €.
• The buyer still withholds 275.000 × 3% = 8.250 €.
• Modelo 210, with a refund result, recovers the 8.250 €.

Not filing 210 because "there is no gain" is the most common way to give the withholding away. The deadline is the same: three months once one month has passed from the deed.

Example 13. A British couple at 60% and 40%

We use the gain from example 9, 99.400 €, and the withholding of 9.600 €. Both live in the United Kingdom. Each files their own 210. The rate is still 19%, including after Brexit.

• 60% owner: gain 59.640 × 19% = 11.331,60 €. Withholding allocated: 5.760 €. To pay: 5.571,60 €.
• 40% owner: gain 39.760 × 19% = 7.554,40 €. Withholding: 3.840 €. To pay: 3.714,40 €.

11.331,60 + 7.554,40 = 18.886 €, and 5.571,60 + 3.714,40 = 9.286 €. It matches example 9. There is no 210 "for the couple".

Example 14. A resident brother and a non-resident sister

They sell for 400.000 €. He is resident in Spain (50%) and she lives in France (50%). The brother reports his gain on resident income tax, with no Modelo 211 on his half. The sister:

• The buyer withholds 3% only on her share of the price: 200.000 × 3% = 6.000 €.
• She files one Modelo 210, code 28, for her 50% of the gain, at 19%, and credits those 6.000 €.

Withholding 3% on the whole 400.000 €, when half of the seller is resident, withholds too much and then forces a correction of the 211.

The deadlines in one place, so they do not get mixed

Filing late: a surcharge, not the old 5% to 20% scale

If you file late before the tax agency sends a notice, article 27 of the General Tax Law (wording in force since Law 11/2021) works like this:

• Within the first twelve months: 1%, plus another 1% for each full month of delay. Interest is not added in that stretch.
• After twelve months: a 15% surcharge, plus late-payment interest from the day after those twelve months.

If the notice arrives before your return, it is no longer a surcharge: it is a penalty file, with much higher percentages. That is why a sale 210 that produces a refund should be filed inside the deadline even when the tax itself is zero.

What is paid in Spain and what is settled at home

The treaties (article 6 and article 13 of the OECD model, with differences in each text) leave Spain the right to tax property located in Spain, both the income and the gain. Your country of residence usually:

• exempts that income and only takes it into account to set the rate on the rest of your income (exemption with progression: the frequent German pattern), or
• includes it again and deducts the Spanish tax already paid (foreign tax credit: the United Kingdom and United States pattern).

Modelo 210 does not apply the treaty to reduce the 19% or 24% on the property. The treaty is applied on your home return, with the Spanish receipt. The official list of treaties is on the Ministry of Finance website. Dividends from a Spanish company are a different case: they can have a lower treaty rate, and they are not reported as rent or as imputed income. Do not mix that regime with the flat.

Mistakes we see on real files

• One 210 for two owners.
• Using 1,1% without checking the cadastral revision date.
• Deducting IBI from imputed income. It is not an allowable cost of that category.
• Deducting a new kitchen as a rental expense, and adding it again on the day of sale.
• Applying 24% to the gain of a British or American seller.
• Applying 19% with expenses to the rent of a non-EU owner, as if the National Court judgment were already AEAT practice.
• Believing that the deadline for 2025 rent is April. It is 1 to 20 January 2026.
• Believing that imputed income or grouped rent for the 2026 tax year is filed in 2026 or in January 2027. The Tax Agency opens them in April 2027: imputed income from 1 April to 31 December, grouped rent from 1 to 20 April.
• Not filing 210 when there is a loss, and losing the 8.250 € of example 12.
• Calculating 3% on the gain instead of on the price.
• Not obtaining the non-resident seller's NIF before the deed: without a NIF there is no proper 211 or 210.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to file 210 if I do not let and I do not sell?

Yes, for imputed income, for as long as the flat is at your disposal and you are not tax-resident in Spain.

Does the 19% on a sale also apply to a non-resident company?

Yes. Article 25.1.f applies to the gain on a transfer of assets, whether the seller is an individual or an entity with no permanent establishment. The buyer still pays 211. On rent, a company from outside the EU/EEA is, under current practice, at 24% of the gross.

Can I pay 211 and forget 210?

No. Modelo 211 does not close the tax. If the tax is higher, you owe the rest. If it is lower, the excess does not come back on its own.

Do I need a digital certificate?

To file yourself, the AEAT website asks for Cl@ve or a certificate. You can instruct a filing without holding your own certificate. When there is tax to pay, payment is made with the 22-character NRC. The NRC guide is at NRC for Modelo 210.

From when do I use the new form?

Every self-assessment filed from 1 January 2027, whatever the year of the income, uses the form approved by Order HAC/623/2026, with the expense annex, the days and the ownership percentage.

Where to go next, depending on your case

• Modelo 210 hub, with online filing.
• Imputed income if the flat is empty or you use it yourself.
• Rent if there is a tenant.
• Capital gain if you are about to sell or you have already signed.
• Modelo 211 if you buy from a non-resident or 3% was withheld from you.
• What Modelo 210 is, in the short version.

SpainTaxForm prepares and files Modelo 210 (imputed income from 30 €, rent, capital gains and the 3% refund) and the buyer's Modelo 211. The fourteen examples in this guide are the map; the form is filled with your cadastral value, your share and your residence certificate.

General information as at 12 October 2026, based on the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act, Order EHA/3316/2010 and Order HAC/623/2026. It is not an opinion on your file.