Non-resident tax in Arona

Arona is the municipality behind the busiest resort coast in Tenerife: Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas, Costa del Silencio, Palm-Mar, Chayofa. Los Cristianos grew from a fishing village with a ferry to La Gomera into a town where Scandinavian winter residents, British retirees and Irish families share the promenade; Playa de las Américas (the Arona half of it) is the nightlife and beach strip; Costa del Silencio and Palm-Mar are quieter, lower-rise, and popular with owners who want a base rather than a resort; Chayofa sits up the hill among banana terraces. 87,793 residents are registered in the municipality.

Foreign owners in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife come mainly from Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland. The typical property is a one-bedroom apartment in a complex with communal pools, bought decades ago by the first wave of buyers or more recently as a winter escape. Foreign buyers account for about 30% of purchases across the province. Asking prices average €4,071/m² (September 2026), several times the cadastral values on which the non-resident tax is calculated.

The Spanish state taxes non-resident owners on a notional income from any home they keep for their own use. That is the imputed income tax, declared on the Modelo 210. Its base is the cadastral value multiplied by a coefficient, and in Arona the coefficient is 2%: the municipality's last general cadastral revision took effect in 2000, and only municipalities revised with effect from 2012 onwards qualify for the reduced 1.1% coefficient under the rule in force for 2023 to 2026. The others, Arona included, apply 2%.

The compensation is that Arona's cadastral values are old and low. The average residential value in the municipality is €45,600 (Catastro statistics 2026), which gives an imputed income of €45,600 × 2% and a yearly tax of €173.28 at the 19% EU/EEA rate, or €218.88 at the 24% rate paid by UK, Swiss and US residents. Those figures assume a single owner holding the whole property for the whole year; a couple owning half each files two returns of half that amount.

Nothing in this calculation depends on whether anybody stayed in the apartment: the tax is due for every day the home was at your disposal. The Modelo 210 for income year 2025 can be filed at any point in the following calendar year; from the 2026 income year the window runs from 1 April to 31 December of the following year (Orden HAC/623/2026). UK owners have paid the 24% rate without deductions since Brexit and, if the apartment is let, normally report that rent on the foreign pages of their Self Assessment with credit relief for the Spanish tax. Norwegian owners, as EEA residents, keep the 19% rate.

The IBI is Arona's municipal property tax, separate from the state tax above. It is collected by Consorcio de Tributos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife), Arona is a member municipality. The voluntary payment period normally runs 6 May – 17 July. The urban rate is 0.55%. If you are away for months at a time, pay it by direct debit: a receipt that goes unpaid in the voluntary period comes back with a surcharge.

The IBI receipt is also the document your Modelo 210 depends on, because it states the valor catastral and the referencia catastral of your apartment. If you have never seen a receipt, download it from the collector's sede electrónica with a NIE and digital certificate, or ask Fiscasa to look up the cadastral data from the address.

Letting changes two things. First, the imputed income only covers the days the apartment was not let, so a home occupied by guests for most of the year carries little imputed income. Second, the rent itself must be declared on a Modelo 210 for rental income: EU and EEA residents deduct expenses pro rata and pay 19%, everyone else pays 24% on the gross rent. Since 2024 this is an annual return, and from the 2026 income year it is filed between 1 and 20 April of the following year.

In the Canary Islands, a holiday home (vivienda vacacional) must be registered with the Cabildo and display its registration number, under Decreto 113/2015. The regional law on the sustainable tourist use of homes approved in 2025 lets municipalities zone and cap tourist homes, with acquired rights for homes already registered under conditions. Arona is among the most saturated municipalities in the islands, so check the current island and municipal rules before you advertise, and make sure your advert carries the national rental register number required since 1 July 2025. Rules change often.

• One return per owner. Joint owners each file their own Modelo 210 for their percentage; a NIE is required for each.
• Year of purchase: the imputed income starts the day after the deed, proportional to the days owned.
• Complex paperwork. Keep the IBI receipt, the community fees statements and, if the apartment is let, the annual summary from the agency or platform.
• Unfiled years. The tax agency can claim four years. A voluntary late filing costs a surcharge of 1% plus 1% per full month of delay (15% plus interest beyond twelve months), reduced by 25% if paid within the deadline given.
• US owners: besides the 24% rate, a Spanish account used for the IBI or rent may need FBAR or Form 8938 reporting.
• Airport: Tenerife Sur (TFS) is a short drive from Los Cristianos, convenient for an annual visit to check the post.