Buying and owning a home in Marbella as a non-resident.

01

Before you buy: NIE, bank account and power of attorney

These are best sorted out before you sign the deposit contract, because without them you will not reach the deed.

• NIE. Without it you cannot sign the deed or pay the taxes. It is requested on form EX-15 at a police station or immigration office in Spain, or at the Spanish consulate in your country. It does not make you resident: it only identifies you.
• Spanish bank account. Not compulsory, but in practice it is how the price is paid traceably and how the yearly bills are paid by direct debit.
• Power of attorney. If you cannot attend completion, you can grant one before a notary in your country, with the apostille under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (or legalised, if your country is not a party) and an official translation where needed. We prepare the text in English and Spanish.

02

Where the money comes from, and how it is paid

The bank, the notary, the land registrar and the lawyer acting in the purchase are bound by Law 10/2010 on the prevention of money laundering to know where the money comes from: the sale of another home, savings, an inheritance, a loan. The deed must also identify how the price is paid (transfers with their accounts, cheques with their details); the Notarial Law requires it and, if it is missing, the Land Registry suspends registration. We gather that documentation with you from the start, so that on completion day there are no unanswered questions and no funds held up at a bank.

03

Annual taxes as a property owner

Being a non-resident owner has an annual cost, whether or not you let the property:

• Non-Resident Income Tax. If you do not let it, the tax authorities attribute to you a notional income of between 1.1 % and 2 % of the cadastral value, taxed at 19 % if you live in another EU or EEA state with which there is an effective exchange of tax information, or 24 % in all other cases. It is filed on form 210; following Order HAC/623/2026, the income for 2026 is declared between 1 April and 31 December 2027.
• IBI (the annual property tax) and the refuse collection charge, like any other owner.
• If you let, you are taxed on the rent received. EU and EEA residents may deduct expenses with a tax residence certificate from their country; everyone else is taxed on the gross income. Since the June 2026 reform, if you group the year's rental income in a single return, it is filed in the first twenty days of April of the following year, with transitional rules for 2026; if you do not group it, you still file quarterly.

04

UK, EU and other buyers: what changes

Since 1 January 2021, UK residents are taxed like any resident outside the EU: 24 % instead of 19 %, with no deduction of rental expenses. The double taxation convention remains in force, and your Spanish return should be coordinated with your UK one. Someone resident in Sweden, the Netherlands or Germany, by contrast, pays 19 %.

Outside the EU and the EEA, the law requires a tax representative in Spain in certain cases; even where it is not compulsory, having someone here to receive notices from the tax authorities avoids surcharges. And owning a home in Marbella gives no right of residence: a British national may stay in Spain for 90 days in any 180-day period. When you sell, the buyer will withhold 3 % of the price, as we explain on our purchase and sale page.