Tag Archives: dwelling for tourist use

New Obligations for Tourist Accommodation Owners

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Last year, tourist accommodation owners in Spain were required to obtain a Unique Rental Registration Number (NRUA) if they wanted to advertise their properties online. Now, to maintain this registration, they must comply with a series of reporting requirements.

Owners of properties intended for short-term rentals must submit an information return detailing the activity carried out during the previous year in these properties, specifying each category and type of rental that took place there. This declaration consists of an anonymized list of rentals made by hosts or landlords who provide short-term accommodation rental services through online platforms.

This information declaration for short-term rentals must be submitted during the month of February each year, with information on the rentals established in the previous year. One separate information return must be submitted for each property, ship, vessel, or naval craft intended for short-term rental. For each NRUA (Unique Rental Registration Number), it will be indicated whether the purpose of the rental was on vacation or tourism, work, studies, medical reasons requiring relocation, or any other reason. If there are well-founded doubts about the declared purpose, the property registrar may request additional supporting documentation.

Failure to fulfil these requirements will result in the withdrawal of the rental registration number.

Carlos Prieto Cid

Lawyer

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Property acquisition tax increases in Catalonia

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On March 25 of this year, the Catalan government adopted a series of new tax regulations, that affect those intending to acquire real estate in this territory.

The background of these measures is the serious political and social problem of housing prices. Purchase or rental prices for flats or houses are once again skyrocketing, as they have been at previous times in our recent history.

In a country where almost 14% of the Gross Domestic Product is driven by tourism, the local population is being displaced in historic city centres, replacing family homes with tourist flats or hotels. Furthermore, investment in real estate in the centres of global cities like Barcelona is attractive to international investment funds, which resell the properties to foreign investors who will not reside there but rather keep them as an asset in the form of a holiday home.

These trends in the dwelling market generate great social tension because most of the Catalan society find it almost impossible to access housing: impossible to buy and increasingly difficult to afford to pay the rent in the centre of major towns or tourist areas.

For this reason, the Catalan socialist government has decided to increase tax revenue from the purchase of luxury homes (priced over €600,000), also applying increased rates of 20% for buyers who already own more than 10 residential properties (or more than 1,500 square meters). This increased rate can also be applied to owners of only five residential buildings if the area in which they are located is considered particularly affected by the rise of prices.

However, there are many exceptions to the rule that are worth knowing, so once again we recommend that investors interested in purchasing homes in Catalonia seek advice from a tax expert.

Carlos Prieto Cid

Lawyer

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New increase in the tourist tax rate for stays in tourist establishments in Catalonia starting in the summer of 2025

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If we rent our vacation home in Catalonia to tourists, our guests must pay the tourist tax (IEET), per person and per stay unit, with a maximum of seven consecutive nights in the same accommodation. Rates vary depending on the type of accommodation, its category, and whether it is in the city of Barcelona or anywhere else in Catalonia.

This tax will increase again in 2025, as the Catalan regional government has decided to double the tax rates. In addition to this significant increase in the regional tax, all Catalan municipalities also have the option of adding a municipal surcharge to the Catalan regional tax, something that until now had only been applied in the city of Barcelona. Therefore, the amount per night may vary, even outside of Barcelona, ​​from one municipality to another, as it will be up to the city councils to decide whether or not to apply these surcharges. However, in any case, municipal surcharges cannot exceed a maximum of €4 per night. Therefore, the maximum amount that can be charged outside of Barcelona for the occupancy of a tourist accommodation will be €6.

Filing the periodic return for this regional tax on stays in dwellings for tourist use, as well as any applicable municipal surcharges, must be done electronically. This tax may also be part of the tax base for calculating VAT, depending on the circumstances. Furthermore, tourist rentals always accrue income tax, regardless of the owner of the rented property being resident in Spain or abroad. Therefore, it is better to seek advice from tax experts when renting your vacation home.

Carlos Prieto Cid – Lawyer

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