Non-resident tax in Villajoyosa

Villajoyosa, officially La Vila Joiosa, is known for the painted fishermen's houses stacked above the river mouth and for the chocolate factories that still scent the air near the station. It is a working town of 37,449 residents rather than a resort, which is precisely why many foreign owners choose it: the tram reaches Benidorm in minutes, the Playa Centro is a long sandy beach with a promenade, and prices are gentler than across the headland. Non-resident homes cluster in two places: the town itself, with flats in the old quarter and along the seafront, and the newer apartment developments towards La Vila Joiosa, Paradís and Les Torres to the east, built mostly in the 2000s.

Owners from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland are the main foreign groups. Alongside them, Villajoyosa has a strong contingent of Spanish second-home owners from Madrid and the interior, and British, Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian owners who prefer a Spanish town with services over an urbanisation. Foreign buyers account for 43.3% of purchases across Alicante province. Market prices average €3,092/m² (September 2026). Alicante-Elche (ALC) is about forty minutes away.

The non-resident tax on a home that is not let, the imputed income, is a percentage of the valor catastral declared each year on Modelo 210. Villajoyosa's percentage is 2%, because its last general ponencia de valores took effect in 2006; the rule for the 2023–2026 tax years reserves 1.1 % for municipalities revalued from 2012 onwards and applies 2 % to all others. Values from a 2006 revaluation are higher than the 1990s values of Benidorm or Alicante, which is why Villajoyosa's average, at €77,400 in the 2026 Catastro statistics, is above theirs.

On that average, the calculation is: €77,400 × 2% = base; × 19 % = €294.12 a year for an EU or EEA resident holding the whole property for the whole year; × 24 % = €371.52 for a UK, Swiss, US or other non-EU resident. A new apartment at Paradís will usually show a valor catastral above the average and an old flat in the centre well below it. Use the figure on your own IBI receipt. The tax is notional: it is due for a flat that stayed empty all year, and each co-owner declares separately.

Post-Brexit, a British owner pays 24 % with no deductions and generally declares the flat to HMRC as foreign property income, offsetting the Spanish tax; an Irish owner is an EU resident at 19 %; a US owner pays 24 % and should bear in mind FBAR and Form 8938 if a Spanish account is used. The Modelo 210 for 2025 is filed in the course of the next calendar year; Orden HAC/623/2026 narrows that to 1 April – 31 December of the following year from 2026 income onwards.

Villajoyosa's IBI is collected by Suma Gestión Tributaria (Diputación de Alicante), by delegation of the Ayuntamiento. The town's voluntary payment period is 27 July – 8 October. Urban property is taxed at 0.58%. Pay by direct debit, accepted from a SEPA account abroad, and the surcharge on a receipt missed while you are away never arises.

The receipt is issued under the Valencian name La Vila Joiosa and shows the valor catastral that forms the base of your Modelo 210, along with the referencia catastral. Duplicates are available from the collector online with a digital certificate, or Fiscasa can retrieve the cadastral data from the address.

Holiday lets near Playa Centro and Paradís change the maths. Days with a paying guest are taken out of the imputed income and taxed as rental income instead, on an annual Modelo 210 (since 2024): EU and EEA residents pay 19 % after deducting pro-rata expenses, non-EU residents 24 % on the gross.

In Villajoyosa, as in the rest of the Comunitat Valenciana, a tourist let starts with registration in the regional tourism registry. Decreto Ley 9/2024 (August 2024) made the town hall's urban-compatibility report a prerequisite, gave registrations a five-year life before renewal, and ruled that lets longer than ten days to the same tenant are not tourist lets. A national Registro Único de Arrendamientos number has also been compulsory in platform listings since 1 July 2025. Unregistered lets can be fined; check the current regulation before advertising.

• Your first year: the tax runs from the day after the deed, pro rata, and is declared the following year.
• One return per co-owner, each with a NIE and a share.
• Four back years can be claimed by the AEAT. If you file late of your own accord the surcharge is 1 % plus 1 % per complete month, 15 % and interest beyond twelve months, and it shrinks by a quarter when the notice is paid on time.
• Representative: not needed by EU/EEA residents; the AEAT has taken transfers from abroad since 2023.
• Folder: IBI receipts, deed, NIE certificates and yearly filing receipts together; they are asked for at resale.