Non-resident tax in Benicàssim

Benicàssim earned the nickname of the Biarritz of Valencia in the early twentieth century, when Valencian families built the summer villas that still line the Las Villas promenade between Voramar and the Torreón beach. Today the town of 20,539 residents is better known abroad for the FIB music festival and for the Desierto de las Palmas hills behind it, but the villa culture survives: this is a municipality of houses with gardens and well-kept apartment blocks rather than high-rise towers, which is one reason its cadastral values are among the highest in the province.

Foreign owners are a modest share here, mostly French and Belgian families who drive down the AP-7, with some Dutch, German and British buyers. In the province, the leading foreign buyers come from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland. Foreigners account for about 13.2% of provincial purchases. Asking prices average €2,881/m² (September 2026). Flights arrive at Castellón (CDT), Valencia (VLC); the first is barely twenty minutes away.

Every non-resident who keeps a home in Spain for their own use owes imputed income tax on it through the Modelo 210, computed as a percentage of the cadastral value. Benicàssim's percentage is 2%. Its ponencia de valores took effect in 2007, a few years short of the 2012 threshold that, for the 2023 to 2026 tax years, earns a municipality the reduced 1.1% coefficient; everywhere revised earlier applies 2%. A relatively recent revision combined with the standard coefficient is the least favourable mix, and it explains why Benicàssim owners pay noticeably more than owners in Peñíscola or Oropesa.

Take the average residential cadastral value in the municipality, €105,400 (Catastro statistics 2026): €105,400 × 2% gives the base, and at the 19% rate for EU and EEA residents the non-resident tax is €400.52 per year for a sole owner with the whole home all year. At 24%, the rate for the UK, Switzerland, the United States and other non-EU countries, it reaches €505.92. A Las Villas house with a larger valor catastral pays correspondingly more; your IBI receipt holds the figure that counts.

The tax is owed whether the villa is used every weekend or left empty, with no allowance and no deductible costs. For income year 2025 the Modelo 210 is filed during the following calendar year; from the 2026 income year the window will run from 1 April to 31 December of the year after (Orden HAC/623/2026). UK owners have paid 24% since Brexit and should ask their adviser whether the home belongs on the foreign pages of the Self Assessment return, with credit relief for Spanish tax; Irish owners stay at 19%; US owners pay 24% and may have FBAR or Form 8938 reporting for a Spanish account.

The IBI is collected by Ajuntament de Benicàssim – Servicio Municipal de Recaudación. The voluntary payment period usually falls 5 July – 5 October. The urban rate is 0.58%. Because cadastral values are high in Benicàssim, the IBI bill is one of the larger annual costs of a villa here, and a direct debit avoids adding surcharges to it. The receipt also carries the valor catastral and the cadastral reference that the Modelo 210 requires. Duplicates can be obtained from the collector's sede electrónica with a digital certificate, or Fiscasa can retrieve the cadastral data from the address.

A home let for part of the year is imputed only for the days it was not let; the rent is declared on a separate Modelo 210, once a year since 2024, at 19% after pro-rata expenses for EU and EEA landlords or 24% on the gross for the rest, and from 2026 income that return is lodged in the first twenty days of April.

Benicàssim fills up for the FIB and in August, so short lets are tempting, but the Comunitat Valenciana requires registration in the regional tourism registry first. Decreto Ley 9/2024 added a municipal urban-compatibility report, a five-year validity for registrations and the exclusion of lets over ten days to one tenant from the tourist regime; the national rental register number has been compulsory in adverts since 1 July 2025. Rules change often, so verify the current regulation before listing.

• First year: the imputed income begins the day after completion and is prorated, so note the signing date.
• Family villas with several heirs: each co-owner, however small the share, files a Modelo 210 with their own NIE.
• Back years: Spain can claim four years; a spontaneous late filing costs 1% plus 1% per full month (15% plus interest after twelve), with a 25% reduction if paid once notified.
• Payment from abroad by transfer has been accepted since 2023; EU and EEA residents need no fiscal representative.
• Documents: keep the deed, the IBI receipts and the Modelo 210 receipts; they come up when the villa is sold or inherited.