Eric S

My wife and I are thinking about buying a vacation home in Spain. The idea would be to rent it to university students during the school year and use it ourselves in summer. I just want to make sure there are no rules against this. I thought I remember seeing mention of new laws that prohibit short term rentals, but couldn't find details when I tried to search on here.

I'm American, by the way, and my wife is Spanish. We live in the U.S. I don't know if that makes any difference.

Thanks.
- Eric S.

Madridboy

I'd imagine as long as it's registered as doing so and tax is paid I can't see a problem.....on the other hand, would you really expect Uni students to keep/leave your place in a state you'd want to find it in when it comes to summer?

amideislas

In most regions, if you rent to tourists you'll need a licence. Depending on the region, licences can be quite difficult or impossible to get, and in some cases, expensive. Plus you have a list of things you are required to provide and may be subject to inspections by the consell de tourisme.

I believe anything less than 1 year qualifies as a "short-term - non residential" or otherwise "tourist" rental. Better to contact the local consell de tourisme or whatever it's called in your region to find out the legalities.

Now, having said that, most holiday lets are not licenced (at least in Mallorca) and the enforcement is pretty lax. But the penalties can be nasty if you get caught.

snikpoh

I think you mean holiday-makers rather than tourists .

With the introduction of the new rental laws earlier this year, 'long-term' lets must now be either 6 or 12 month contracts. With this in mind, I would suggest that anything less than 6 months is now deemed a holiday let rather than 12 months.

amideislas

Is there a difference? "tourists" is easier to type - besides, the guy is a yank.

Eric S

Holiday-makers, tourists, whatever. I know what you mean.

One other question. Assuming it's allowed, would I have to pay any Spanish tax on the rental income? We would not be Spanish residents for tax purposes (only 2 months in Spain per year). I'm sure there'd be property tax that we'd pay whether we rent it or not. But what about income tax?

Thanks.

missile

You pay tax on the rental income.

Fred James

And if you are non resident in Spain but resident in the UK you will also have to pay UK income tax on the rental as well as Spanish tax but you will be able to claim the UK tax against the Spanish tax.

pablovicente

As far as I know (and I am a lawyer), there is no rule against renting your flat in Spain. Everybody does (or tries to). There is no restriction, and if there is, nobody knows because nobody enforces it.

Source: I am Spanish renting 3 apartments in different places all over Spain.

amideislas

It depends entirely on how long it's rented for, and whyt the tourism inspectors can prove.

I understood less than one year is automatically considered a holiday let, and is subject to licencing. Someone else said 6 mos. It may vary depending on region.

In any case, enforcement is lax, but they do pick on a few from time to time to make an example of, and the penalties can be surprisingly harsh. There are ways around it, however.

here's a bit about how it works in Mallorca

Eric S

Thanks. Do you pay tax on the rental income?

- Eric S.

snikpoh

No, the law changed earlier this year. Long-term rental contracts MUST now be 6 or 12 months - renewable.

Short-term, temporary or holiday lets are now anything less than 6 months.

@Eric S - of course, you have to declare ANY income.

pablovicente

I do pay taxes. As a lawyer I cannot recommend not doing it, but as you may guess, some people do not pay for that. If you are planning to rent the apartment for long term stays (more than a month), then definitely I would suggest doing the things in the "right way". Be aware too of the double taxation agreement between Spain and GB.

Eric S

Thanks. I wasn't thinking about not paying taxes. I just wasn't sure that we would need to pay tax on the rental income to Spain because we aren't residents. I thought we might only pay the income tax to the US (we live in US, not GB ). But I guess we pay to Spain and then deduct it on our US taxes due to the tax treaty.

I was more worried about the new rental law and if it would prevent us from renting our place for only 9 months. But after reading the link posted by amideislas and some other articles I found (including this one right here on BE), I think we'll be okay. We just have to make sure our rental is not considered a "tourist" rental.

Thanks.
- Eric S.