Annual costs

HOW MUCH are the ANNUAL COSTS for a house or apartment in Spain?

• Fire insurance The prices for good Fire Insurance are comparable to those in your home country. However, it is important to work with an insurance broker you can trust, because, like anywhere, some policies may feature all kinds of “exclusions” and “conditions”.

• Utilities
  This is usually limited to water and electricity, because most apartments have air conditioning systems that also function as heating device. In Spain, you don't usually need to submit your meter readings because this will be taken care of by the utility companies themselves.

• (Municipal) Property taxes
  “I.B.I: Impuesto Sobre Bienes Inmeubles”.
  This is determined based on the Catastral Value (“Valor Catastral”), the estimate of the capital value of the property and is approximately 0.5 to 1.3%, depending on the municipality.

• Household waste tax
  “BASURA = Tasa de recogida domiciliaria de basura”
  This will vary depending on the type and location of your home, but it is not high in comparison to the degree of service you receive, because in Spain, virtually all rubbish is picked up (at no extra cost).

• Shared costs for an apartment building in co-ownership (= “Urbanizacion”)
  This will vary greatly depending on the services provided (shared pool, garden, security, gym), the size of the community, the number of co-owners, etc.
  Unlike what is probably customary in your country, these costs (IBI, Basura and shared costs) are not published in the advertisements, but we can request this information for you, so that you know what to expect.

• Personal income tax
  In Spain, non-residents (who live in Spain for less than 183 days per year) pay income tax on any income based on their property:
  • if you do not rent out your home, the taxable amount will be 1.1% of the Catastral value (= “Valor Catastral”) as assessed after 1994, or 2% of the Catastral value from prior to 1994.
    EU citizens will pay income tax of 19% on this amount.
    So, in total, this comes to just 0.21% to 0.38% of the Catastral Value
  • If you do rent out your home, this tax will be calculated as follows:
    EU citizens pay 19% Spanish income tax on this amount.