The non-resident tax is a tax that every owner of property in Spain is required to pay every year if they are non-resident in Spain. It is like a wealth tax and is calculated based on the value of your property. It is calculated according to tables provided by the tax office and expenses such as a mortgage are deducted from these calculations. This kind of tax is always paid in one-year in arrears, that’s mean that you are paying this year the taxes for the previous year, and next year you will pay the taxes for this year.

As well is a tax that all the non- resident owner of property in Spain need to pay if decide rent the house, this kind of tax must be paid quarterly if you rent the property all year or at the end of every natural year, if you rent the property short period of time. This tax must be paid in the actual year of the rent. But if you decide to rent your property short periods of time will be considered like Touristic rent and you will need to obtain a touristic license and Vives Pons can assist in this matter.

If you become a resident you will not have to pay this non-resident tax but instead you will have to do your income tax return here in Spain, the same as for Spanish people.

If you decide not to pay this tax you risk getting a fine from the tax office. If you are caught by the tax authorities, they will send you an official notification claiming payment of the tax plus a penalty fee. Should this not be paid they could freeze your Spanish bank accounts or put a charge on your property should you not have funds to cover the tax due. It is possible that you will never receive any notification from the tax office; however, on the sale of any property in Spain, the tax authorities will ensure that all tax due has been paid up-to-date on this property. In your case, the Tax office can claim the four previous years of this tax, my recommendation is you must to submit this taxes at your earliest convenience, but please note that the Tax Office will charge to your penalties and interest for this taxes submitted out of date.

This non-resident tax is different from other local taxes such as IBI (local tax) or Rubbish Collection. The local taxes you will pay to the Suma office (local tax office) directly through the bank as they send you an invoice direct to your home.

The non-resident tax, you pay directly to the tax office after you have prepared the forms and done the calculations. This is best completed by a professional accountant (asesor fiscal).

Vives Pons have different packages depending the kind of taxes that your property needs:

-If you rent the property different times of the year, that is considered like vacational letting and you must to obtain a Touristic license, in that case need to submit quarterly taxes for the rental and annual tax for the no rented period.

-If you have a property but you do not rent it, only one annual tax would be submitted.

- If you own a property and rent it throughout the year, it would no longer be considered a vacation rental, and you would have to submit quarterly returns.