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THE WAYPOINT SUR
Depending on the election, you may have to collect more taxes.
The calendar may become a tax form
If you let a furnished home on the Costa that is not your habitual residence, without hotel-type services, the length of each stay may soon decide whether you charge VAT. From 1 December 2026, if parliament validates the decree, stays of 30 nights or fewer by the same guest would carry 10% VAT, the rate Spain charges for a hotel room.
Confirmed 7 October 2026 against the BOE text.
This applies to resident and non-resident owners alike. Stays longer than 30 nights by the same guest, and lets in the owner's own habitual residence, stay exempt as long as no hotel-type services are offered.
What changes on 1 December
The government re-approved its two housing decree-laws on Tuesday 6 October, after Congress voted the first versions down. Real Decreto-ley — royal decree-law 29/2026 appeared in the Boletín Oficial del Estado — official state gazette on 7 October, in force from 8 October, VAT changes from 1 December.
Lets with hotel-type services (mid-stay cleaning, meals, laundry) are already taxable. A furnished home let without those services is exempt from IVA — VAT today.
From 1 December, if validated, that exemption goes for stays of 30 nights or fewer by the same guest, unless the home is the lessor's habitual residence. Owning it, or the odd fortnight there, does not count. Those stays are taxed at 10%, and no small-business threshold shelters them.
The clock
Parliament is dissolved for the 29 November election. The Diputación Permanente — standing committee of Congress must decide on validation within 30 parliamentary working days of publication. Our calculation puts the deadline around 13 or 14 November; we found no vote on Congress's agenda as of 7 October. Without validation, this decree's VAT change does not take effect; with it, the start remains 1 December.
What to ask your adviser now
Questions for your adviser or gestor — tax and paperwork agent this month:
Would these lets be caught, and does that mean registering for VAT, or amending an existing registration, on Modelo 036 — tax registration and amendment form?
Would I use the ordinary quarterly Modelo 303 — VAT return, the first covering October to December 2026, due Monday 1 February 2027? What earlier direct-debit deadline applies?
What invoices must I issue, and which business costs (cleaning, management fees, supplies) carry deductible VAT with proper invoices?
For an owner not established in the EU, does a fiscal representative apply? The UK position is unsettled in Agencia Tributaria — Spanish tax agency guidance, so ask.
Could a genuine advance actually received before 1 December, for a specific December stay that is exempt today, keep that treatment for the amount received? Reservations, card holds and refundable deposits are different, and platform payments depend on who receives the money for whom.
Any repricing is for future bookings only. Our guide to the tourist rental licence in Andalucía has a VAT section updated this week, if you would rather read before you ring.
Councils may also add a surcharge to the IBI — council property tax on tourist lets: up to 50%, with caps of 100% for holders of two or more tourist homes and 150% for four or more. It needs a declared zona de mercado residencial tensionado — stressed residential market zone and a council bylaw. As of September, Andalucía had declared none.
If working out who owns the next step is more than you want to take on, Waypoint’s Navigator service finds the right professional, makes the Spanish calls, and points you at them or takes it on. Give us a shout if you need it done the right way, quickly.
Spanish-lite
¿Mi alquiler turístico estará sujeto a IVA a partir del 1 de diciembre? — Will my holiday let be subject to VAT from 1 December?
The bottom line
The decree is in force, and its December VAT change still waits on a vote not yet on Congress's agenda. Our read: ask your adviser this month what would change for your lets, so the answer is on file either way. If doing it yourself is more than you want, Navigator can coordinate the next step.
Nearly there — A. and the WaypointSur team, counting nights with a calculator to hand.
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