Spain continues to struggle to combine digital portals like AirBnB and Homeaway with sustainable living and citizens’ rights. Given the current climate, if you’re renting out an apartment on AirBnB you will want to make sure you comply with the law to avoid fines and upset neighbours. This can be tricky: as well as national taxes, each region of Spain has its own regulation and laws you’ll need to comply to in order to make sure your AirBnB is legal in Spain.
I’ve gone through national requirements and taken the example of Catalonia for the local ones. If you don’t live in Catalonia, I’d encourage you to book some time with your local town council to confirm requirements in your local area (there is a list of local town councils here). Share what you learn in the comments box below!
(Note that renting out an entire apartment has a different legal status from renting out rooms in your apartment (while you still live there). You can find out more about the latter here.)
Renting a flat with AirBnB: national laws
Regardless of where in Spain you set up business, you will need to pay IVA (VAT) and IRPF (Income Tax).
For a very simple business model (just 1 property that’s not your main dwelling on AirBnB), renting a flat is exempt from VAT (article 20.1 VAT law 37/1992, section 23). However, this changes if you offer “hospitality services” to your clients (such as breakfast or laundry services). Then, you are considered to be running a different kind of business and so in a different tax category. Legally, you are not even allowed to change towels or sheets without charging VAT on your final bill (even if you do not charge extra for these services). Of course, this only applies while your apartment is full – after the guests leave you can clear up 🙂
How much you pay depends on your total earnings/profits and personal situation (whether you have children, disabilities, etc.). It generally varies between 20-40%.
If you are earning more than 1000€/year, IRPF needs to be declared in the yearly Declaración de la Renta (which all Spanish citizens need to fill in), in the section “Rendamientos del capital inmobilario”. There are instructions on how to do this here, you can also pay a gestor around €50-€100 to do on a one-off basis. As the guide explains, you can claim back expenses, including the ones below. If you only rent our your apartment for a portion of the year, you should claim expenses pro rata.
- Property tax
- Interest on your mortgage
- Rubbish collection tax
- Community tax
- Costs of agencies who sub-let your apartment
- Gas/electricity/water bills
- Insurance
- Amortization
Is AirBnB legal? Local laws
Obtaining a licence
In Catalonia, in order to legally rent out a flat using platforms like AirBnB, you first need to register it as a HUT (Habitatge d’ús Tourístic). In order to register, you’ll need to book an appointment with your district council using this form. Note that a “tourist” flat in Catalonia is rented for up to or including 31 days at a time.
You’ll need to fulfill the criteria listed here (namely, having a permanent contact number and having a flat that is correctly furnished) to run a legal AirBnb in Spain.
Make sure you bring your resident’s card/passport and the cedula de habitabilidad (Habitacion Certificate) of the apartment you’re planning to rent.
Local district authorities only grant a certain amount of licenses per year. Fulfilling the criteria is not necessarily enough to guarantee you a licence. If your application is successful, you should display your licence number in your AirBnB listings.
Catalonia’s Tourist Tax
You’ll also need to pay the Tourist Tax (Tasa Turística, applicable in Catalonia and the Balearics). You do this once a quarter using the Modelo 950 form. You can access this by downloading the special programme available here (make sure you have a digital certificate). Select “HT” as your business type.
When calculating the number of units to tax (“nombre d’unitats d’estada”), calculate how many people stayed in your apartment. Then, multiply by the amount of nights they stayed, up to a maximum of 7 nights. So 2 people x 9 nights would mean 2×7 = 14 units.
You currently pay 0.65€ per unit of stay in Barcelona and 0.45€ outside of Barcelona.
These are just my notes and it’s important to note that I might be wrong. Even if I’m not, laws can change. My recommendation would be to hire a gestor (accountant) to do your first round of taxes to check you haven’t missed any nuances and to confirm your AirBnb in Spain is legal. Then, depending on how confident you feel, you can take it from there.
