Non-resident tax in Alicante

Alicante is the only city in this guide where a non-resident is as likely to own a flat near a tram stop as a holiday apartment on the sand. The provincial capital, with 366,221 registered residents, runs from the old quarter below the Santa Bárbara castle to Playa de San Juan, Cabo de las Huertas and La Albufereta, where most foreign second homes are concentrated. Most non-resident owners here come from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland. Across Alicante province, foreign buyers account for 43.3% of all home purchases.

The stock is urban: 1970s blocks along the Avenida de la Costa Blanca, newer towers behind San Juan beach, renovated flats in the Barrio de Santa Cruz bought for city breaks, and a handful of villas on the Cabo. Because Alicante is a year-round city rather than a resort, many owners let for part of the year and use the flat themselves in spring and autumn, which matters for the way the non-resident tax is calculated. Market prices currently average €2,743/m² as of September 2026; cadastral values sit far below. The airport, Alicante-Elche (ALC), lies inside the neighbouring municipality of Elche, a short bus ride from the centre.

Spain treats a second home that is available to its owner as if it produced an income, even when nobody sets foot in it for months. That notional amount, the renta imputada, is declared each year on Modelo 210, the non-resident income tax return. In Alicante the base is 2% of the valor catastral, because the last general revaluation (ponencia de valores) of the municipality took effect in 1996: for the 2023–2026 tax years the reduced 1.1 % coefficient is reserved for municipalities revalued with effect from 2012 or later, and every other town uses 2 %.

Take the average residential cadastral value in the city, €50,700 according to the Catastro statistics for 2026. Multiply by 2% to obtain the base, then apply 19 % if you are resident in the EU or EEA: €192.66 for the year, per owner holding the whole property. A resident of Britain, Switzerland or America pays 24 %, which gives €243.36. Your own figure comes from the valor catastral printed on your IBI receipt, not from the purchase price.

Since Brexit, UK residents sit in the 24 % group with no deductions and generally report the flat on the foreign pages of their Self Assessment, claiming credit for the Spanish tax. Irish residents remain at 19 % as EU taxpayers; US residents pay 24 % and may also need FBAR or Form 8938 reporting for a Spanish bank account. For income year 2025 the return can be filed at any time during the following calendar year; from the 2026 income year the window narrows to 1 April – 31 December of the year after (Orden HAC/623/2026). From 2027 the announced reform of the imputation may change the rules again.

The IBI is collected on behalf of the city by Ayuntamiento de Alicante (Concejalía de Hacienda / Tesorería Municipal – Oficina Virtual Tributaria), the provincial collection agency whose head office is itself in Alicante. The voluntary payment window normally runs 15 March – 30 June. The urban rate applied by the city is 0.62%. A direct debit, which Ayuntamiento de Alicante (Concejalía de Hacienda / Tesorería Municipal – Oficina Virtual Tributaria) accepts from a SEPA account held abroad, is the simplest way to avoid the surcharges that follow a missed receipt.

Keep that receipt: it carries the referencia catastral and the valor catastral you need for the Modelo 210 every year. Duplicates can be downloaded from the collector's online office with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or Fiscasa can pull the cadastral record from the address.

A flat that is let for part of the year is taxed in two parts. The imputed income covers only the days the flat was at your disposal, while the rent is declared separately on Modelo 210: EU and EEA residents deduct the expenses attributable to the let days and pay 19 % on the net, everyone else 24 % on the gross. Since 2024 rental income goes into a single annual return instead of quarterly ones.

Alicante belongs to the Comunitat Valenciana, where a tourist let must be entered in the regional tourism registry before the first advert. Decreto Ley 9/2024 tightened the regime in August 2024: a municipal report confirming urban-planning compatibility is required, registrations last five years and must be renewed, and a stay longer than ten days by one tenant no longer counts as a tourist let. Since 1 July 2025 the Registro Único de Arrendamientos number must also appear in platform listings, and platforms report to the tax authorities. Rules change often; check the current regulation with the Ayuntamiento before accepting bookings.

• Year of purchase: the imputed income starts the day after you sign at the notary, pro rata for the days left in the year, and the first Modelo 210 is due the following year.
• Two or more owners: one Modelo 210 each, for each person's share, each with a NIE.
• Missed years: Spain can go back four years. Filing late without being asked costs a 1 % surcharge plus 1 % for each full month, capped at twelve; after that 15 % plus interest, reduced by a quarter if you pay promptly after notification.
• No representative is needed by EU or EEA residents, and the AEAT has accepted bank transfers from abroad since 2023.
• Local offices: the provincial Catastro office and the AEAT delegation are both in Alicante, which makes a cadastral query or an in-person appointment easier here than anywhere else in the province.