Non-resident tax in Peñíscola

The walled old town of Peñíscola, perched on its rock around the castle of Papa Luna, is one of the most photographed places on the Costa del Azahar, and film crews have used it for everything from El Cid to Game of Thrones. The permanent population is only 8,774, yet the municipality counts many thousands of homes: the apartment blocks along the Playa Norte, the newer developments of Font Nova towards the Serra d'Irta natural park and the holiday flats that fill up in July and August.

The owners are overwhelmingly Spanish, from Zaragoza, Madrid and Valencia, with a noticeable French contingent thanks to the AP-7 and a smaller group of Belgian, Dutch, German and British buyers. Provincial figures place buyers from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland at the top of the foreign list. Foreigners represent about 13.2% of provincial purchases. Asking prices average €2,475/m² (September 2026). The airports are Castellón (CDT), Valencia (VLC), the first a short drive inland.

Peñíscola stands out for its cadastral values, which are among the lowest of any resort on this site. The reason is the age of the ponencia de valores: the current one applies since 1999, so the municipality uses the standard coefficient of 2% rather than the 1.1% granted, for the 2023 to 2026 tax years, to towns revised with effect from 2012 onwards. Every other municipality applies 2%, and a low value multiplied by the standard coefficient still produces a modest imputed income tax.

Worked example: the average residential cadastral value in the municipality is €36,000 (Catastro statistics 2026). Multiply by 2% and apply 19% for an EU or EEA resident: the non-resident tax is €136.80 per year for one owner with the whole property all year. At 24%, the rate for UK, Swiss, US and other non-EU residents, it is €172.80. The figure on your own IBI receipt replaces the average in the Modelo 210.

The imputed income is a notional income, so it is owed even for a flat that stays shuttered all year, with no deduction and no threshold. For income year 2025 the return is filed during the following calendar year; from the 2026 income year the window becomes 1 April – 31 December of the year after (Orden HAC/623/2026). UK residents have paid 24% since Brexit, with no expenses deductible; whether the flat should also feature on the foreign pages of the Self Assessment return with credit relief is for a UK adviser to say. Irish owners pay the 19% EU rate. US owners pay 24% and may have FBAR or Form 8938 duties for a Spanish account.

Peñíscola's IBI is collected by Diputación de Castellón – Servicio Provincial de Gestión, Inspección y Recaudación (by delegation). The voluntary payment period is normally 6 July – 7 September. The urban IBI rate is 0.8%. Direct debit is the sensible choice for an owner who visits in summer only, because the surcharges after the voluntary period are automatic. Keep the receipt: the valor catastral and the cadastral reference on it are exactly what the Modelo 210 asks for. Duplicates are issued by the collector's electronic office to holders of a digital certificate, and Fiscasa can retrieve the cadastral data from the address or the reference.

Peñíscola lives from tourism, and many owners let their flats in high season. The days let are excluded from the imputed income, and the rent is declared on its own Modelo 210, grouped annually since 2024, at 19% net of pro-rata expenses for EU and EEA residents or 24% gross for everyone else; from 2026 income the rental return is filed between 1 and 20 April of the following year.

The Valencian rules apply in full: registration in the regional tourism registry, a municipal urban-compatibility report since Decreto Ley 9/2024, registrations valid for five years, lets over ten days to the same tenant excluded from the tourist regime, and since 1 July 2025 the national rental register number in every advert. A tourist let without registration can be fined; check the regulation in force before your first booking.

• Partial first year: the tax starts the day after completion and is prorated, so a spring purchase means roughly three quarters of a year to declare.
• Two names, two returns: each co-owner declares their share with their own NIE.
• Catching up: unfiled years may be claimed four years back; filing spontaneously limits the surcharge to 1% plus 1% a month (15% plus interest after a year), less 25% if paid once notified.
• Payment: direct debit from a Spanish account or a transfer from abroad, accepted since 2023; no representative is required for EU or EEA residents.
• Keep the deed, the IBI receipts and the filing receipts together; they are requested when you sell.