After an intense month of January in professional offices, it ended with a pleasant surprise for non-resident taxpayers in Spain, with the introduction of modifications to the ministerial orders that approve the self-assessment forms 123, 210, 216, by means of Order HDA/56/2024, of 25 January, published in the BOE on 31 January 2024.
As a prelude to the explanation of the changes introduced by Order HDA/56/2024, of 25 January, it is worth reviewing the entire methodology of Form 210. This form must be used to declare any type of income obtained by a non-resident taxpayer (income, imputed income from real estate, and capital gains).
This form can be used both to declare each accrual of income separately and to declare several items of income obtained in a given period as a group, in accordance with the following rules:
- a) Income derived from transfers of real estate: Each accrual of income shall be declared separately. Exceptionally, when the property transferred is jointly owned by a married couple in which both spouses are non-residents, a single self-assessment may be made. In the case of losses, this self-assessment must also be submitted if you wish to exercise your right to a refund of the withholding that has been made.
- b) Rest of income: Several incomes obtained by the same taxpayer may be grouped together provided that they correspond to the same income type code, they come from the same payer, the same tax rate is applicable to them and, in addition, if they derive from an asset or right, they come from the same asset or right. However, in the case of income from rented or sublet property not subject to withholding tax, it may be grouped together with the same requirements except for income from the same payer, although when declaring income from property from several payers it will be necessary to indicate a specific code for the type of income, 35 (income from property not subject to withholding tax with grouping of payers).
Under no circumstances may the grouped income be offset against each other.
Having set out all the information related to Form 210, it is worth mentioning the modification that affects non-resident taxpayers, introduced by Order HDA/56/2024, of 25 January. This modification is related to the deadline for filing Form 210 for the lease or sublease of real estate rented by a non-resident taxpayer.
As from 2024, non-resident taxpayers with property rented in Spain will be able to file annually from 1 to 20 January of the following year, instead of continuing to do so on a quarterly basis, as they had been doing until the aforementioned modification. In other words, in the case of annual grouping of income derived from the lease or sublease of real estate, accrued from 1 January 2024, the filing period will be from 1 to 20 January of the year following the accrual year, i.e. from 1 to 20 January (15 January if the tax is to be paid by direct debit) of the 2025 tax year.
In this way, the discrimination that non-resident taxpayers in Spain had to file Form 210 on a quarterly basis is eliminated, with respect to a tax resident in Spain, who does so on an annual basis, for the same taxable event (the leasing or subleasing of real estate).
Leticia Cayuela Mayor.
