Non-resident tax in Sotogrande

Sotogrande was laid out in the early 1960s as a private estate on the eastern edge of the municipality of San Roque, and it still works that way: gated avenues, the polo fields of the Santa María club, the marina and a ring of golf courses including Valderrama. The stock runs from apartments around the port to the large villas of the Kings and Queens zone and the newer houses of La Reserva, while La Alcaidesa and Torreguadiaro offer more affordable flats along the same coast.

Owners come mainly from United Kingdom, Netherlands, Morocco, Belgium, with a strong British and Irish presence helped by Gibraltar airport a quarter of an hour away, and a growing Scandinavian and Dutch community. Across the province of Cádiz, foreign buyers account for 5.1% of home purchases, far below Alicante or Málaga. Asking prices average €4,082/m² (September 2026). The municipality has 34,310 registered residents, but many homes on the estate stand empty most of the year, and for the Spanish tax office an empty home still produces a notional income.

The non-resident tax on a home that is not let out is called imputed income tax: the Agencia Tributaria assumes a fictional rent equal to a percentage of the cadastral value and taxes it. In San Roque that percentage is 2%, because the last general revision of cadastral values (the ponencia de valores) took effect in 2010. For tax years 2023 to 2026 the reduced 1.1% coefficient is reserved for municipalities revised with effect from 2012 onwards; every other municipality, San Roque included, stays at 2%.

That matters more here than elsewhere, because the values themselves are high. The average cadastral value of a home in the municipality is €143,000 (Catastro statistics 2026). Multiply it by 2% and apply 19% for a resident of the EU or EEA, and the tax comes to €543.40 per owner for a full year. A resident of the United Kingdom, Switzerland or the United States pays 24% on the same base: €686.40. Villas on the estate often carry cadastral values several times the municipal average, so start from the figure printed on your own IBI bill rather than from this example.

Since Brexit, UK residents sit in the 24% group with no deductible expenses, and they normally also report the property on the foreign pages of their Self Assessment with Foreign Tax Credit Relief for the Spanish tax; Irish owners remain EU residents at 19%. For income year 2025 the Modelo 210 for imputed income can be filed at any point during the following calendar year. From the 2026 income year the filing window narrows to 1 April – 31 December of the year after (Orden HAC/623/2026).

The local property tax (IBI) for homes in Sotogrande, La Alcaidesa and Torreguadiaro is collected by Ayuntamiento de San Roque - Oficina Municipal de Recaudación (municipal collection; the Diputación de Cádiz SPRyGT historically handled part of the collection - delegation status not confirmed). Check the current payment calendar with Ayuntamiento de San Roque - Oficina Municipal de Recaudación (municipal collection; the Diputación de Cádiz SPRyGT historically handled part of the collection - delegation status not confirmed), as it can shift from one year to the next. The urban rate applied to the cadastral value is 0.47%.

Keep the IBI bill carefully: it shows the referencia catastral and the valor catastral, and that value is the base of your Modelo 210. A direct debit is the easiest way to avoid the surcharges that follow a missed deadline when you are not in Spain. Duplicate bills can be downloaded from the collector's e-office (sede electrónica) with a digital certificate, or Fiscasa can retrieve the cadastral data from the address or the reference.

Many owners let their villa during the summer polo tournaments or the golf high season. For those weeks there is no imputed income: the notional rent only covers the days the home was not let, and the actual rent is declared separately, also on a Modelo 210. EU and EEA residents deduct expenses in proportion to the days let and pay 19% on the net; everyone else pays 24% on the gross rent. Since 2024 rental income is grouped in one annual return, and from the 2026 income year that return is filed between 1 and 20 April of the following year.

Sotogrande is in Andalusia, where tourist homes are governed by Decreto 28/2016, amended by Decreto 31/2024: the home must be registered in the Andalusian tourism registry (RTA) before it is advertised, and since February 2024 municipalities may limit tourist homes by zone. Since 1 July 2025 every advert must also show the number from the national rental register (Registro Único de Arrendamientos). San Roque has not announced the kind of caps seen in Málaga or Seville, but rules change often, so check the current regulation before you list the property.

• First year: the imputed income runs from the day after completion, pro rata; a September purchase leaves a few months to declare the following year.
• Joint ownership: a couple owning 50/50 files two Modelo 210 forms, each for half of the base.
• Years never declared: Spain can claim the last four. Regularising before any letter arrives costs 1% plus 1% per full month of delay (15% plus interest after a year), reduced by 25% if you pay when notified.
• Paying from abroad: a transfer from a UK, Irish or US account is accepted and a fiscal representative is optional for EU/EEA residents; US owners pay 24%, and a Spanish account opened for the IBI may trigger FBAR or Form 8938 reporting at home.
• Airports: Jerez (XRY), Gibraltar (GIB), Málaga (AGP). Many owners flying through Gibraltar settle the IBI and the Modelo 210 during the same autumn trip.