Non-resident tax in Benidorm

No other town on the Costa Blanca looks like Benidorm. Its high-rise skyline, begun in the 1960s when a visionary development plan turned a fishing village into a resort, now shelters a population of 77,327 and a far larger number of apartments owned by people who live elsewhere. The British connection goes back to the first package holidays and has produced generations of UK owners, particularly in Rincón de Loix and along Levante beach; Poniente and the old town between the two bays attract more Spanish, Belgian and Dutch owners. Owners from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland are the leading foreign groups.

The typical non-resident property is a one- or two-bedroom flat in a tower with a communal pool, bought decades ago or inherited, and often let to holidaymakers in the months the family is not there. For context, foreigners account for 43.3% of home purchases across Alicante province. Listings today average €3,824/m², September 2026 figures. Benidorm is served by Alicante-Elche (ALC), about fifty minutes away by motorway or by the direct airport bus, and by the tram line to Alicante.

Benidorm's cadastral values were last revised by a general ponencia de valores with effect from 1990, one of the oldest revaluations still in force on the coast. The imputed income rule for 2023–2026 reserves the 1.1 % coefficient for municipalities revalued from 2012 onwards; all others, Benidorm included, apply 2 % to the valor catastral. The base is therefore a small percentage of an old value, which explains why the tax on a Benidorm flat is often lower than owners fear.

For the average residential value in the municipality, €60,300 in the 2026 Catastro statistics, the arithmetic runs: valor catastral × 2% = taxable base; base × 19 % = €229.14 a year for an EU or EEA resident owning the whole flat all year. At 24 %, the rate that applies to UK, Swiss and American owners, the same flat gives €289.44. The only input that matters is the valor catastral on your own IBI receipt; a small studio in a 1970s block will sit well below the average, a new apartment in Poniente well above it.

The tax is a notional one: an empty flat generates it just as a used one does, and each owner files a Modelo 210. Since Brexit, UK residents are taxed at 24 % with no deductions and would normally declare the flat under foreign income in their Self Assessment with credit for the Spanish tax; Irish residents remain at 19 %; US residents pay 24 % and should check whether a Spanish account triggers FBAR or Form 8938. The return for income year 2025 is filed during the following calendar year. For 2026 income and later, Orden HAC/623/2026 sets the filing window at 1 April – 31 December of the following year, and from 2027 a reform of the imputation may alter the calculation.

The Ayuntamiento has delegated the IBI to Suma Gestión Tributaria (Diputación de Alicante), by delegation of the Ayuntamiento, which issues the receipts and runs an office in town. The voluntary period for paying is usually 27 July – 8 October. Benidorm applies an urban rate of 0.82%. The surcharge for a receipt missed while you are in the UK is avoidable with a direct debit, which the collector accepts from a SEPA account.

Your IBI receipt is also the source document for the Modelo 210, because it prints the valor catastral and the referencia catastral. A copy is available on the collector's website with a digital certificate, or Fiscasa can trace the cadastral data from the flat's address and reference.

Benidorm is one of the Valencian municipalities known for applying its own planning limits to tourist flats, on top of the regional regime. In the Valencian region a flat cannot be advertised as a tourist let until it is on the regional tourism registry; Decreto Ley 9/2024 (August 2024) added a municipal urban-compatibility report, limited registrations to five renewable years, and ruled that a stay of more than ten days with the same guest is not a tourist let. Many Benidorm communities of owners also restrict holiday lets through their statutes, so read yours. Since 1 July 2025 every listing has needed a Registro Único de Arrendamientos number, and platforms pass their data to the tax administration.

For the tax, let days and own-use days are separated. Imputed income covers only the days the flat was available to you; the rent for the let days is declared annually on Modelo 210 (grouped since 2024), at 19 % after pro-rata expenses for EU and EEA residents, or 24 % on the gross for others. Regulations shift often; check the current municipal and regional position before taking bookings.

• Inherited flats: the imputed income tax is due by the new owners from the date of death, each for their share; many Benidorm flats pass to children who were unaware of the Modelo 210.
• First year of ownership: pro rata from the day after completion, filed the following year.
• Couples: two Modelo 210 returns, one per spouse, each with a NIE.
• Late years: the AEAT can claim four years; voluntary regularisation costs 1 % plus 1 % per full month (15 % plus interest after twelve), with a 25 % reduction if the resulting notice is paid on time.
• No Spanish bank account needed: payment by transfer from abroad has been possible since 2023, and EU/EEA residents need no fiscal representative.