# Expenses you can deduct on your tax return for your tourist home (and how they are prorated)

> Commissions, cleaning, association fees, IBI, insurance, utilities, interest, repairs, depreciation. All of them, but only for the rented days. Full list and the three most frequent mistakes.
>
> Topic: Taxes · Reviewed: 2026-09-22 · URL: https://mipisoturistico.app/en/guides/expenses-you-can-deduct-on-your-tax-return-for-your-tourist-home-and-how-they-are-prorated
> Published by Mi Piso Turístico (Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional), a holiday-rental management company on the Costa del Sol.

**Short answer:** you can deduct **all the expenses needed to rent** the flat, but **only in proportion to the days it has been rented**. An IBI of €400 on a flat rented for 200 days is deducted at €219 (400 × 200 / 365); for the other 165 days nothing is deducted and, in addition, imputed income is declared ([Empty days](/guias/dias-vacios-imputacion)). It is the criterion set by the Supreme Court in its ruling of 25 February 2021 and the one the tax office applies. The same with the waste charge, which in Torremolinos is around €500 for a tourist home ([Waste charge](/guias/tasa-de-basura-vivienda-turistica)). The exceptions are expenses arising directly from each booking (commissions, the booking's cleaning), which are deducted in full because they are already "only for the rented days".

## List of deductible expenses

**In full (they belong to the bookings):**

- Booking, Airbnb, Vrbo and other platform commissions.
- The manager's commission, with its VAT (if you do not deduct it as a business, the VAT is more expense).
- Cleaning and laundry for each booking.
- Welcome consumables (paper, soap, coffee).
- Listing advertising, photography.

**Prorated by rented days:**

- **Association fees**, including the surcharge of up to 20 % for tourist homes.
- **IBI**, waste charge and other municipal charges.
- **Home and public liability insurance**.
- **Utilities**: electricity, water, gas, internet, pay TV.
- **Mortgage interest** (not the capital repayment) and financing costs.
- **Repairs and upkeep**: painting, fixing the washing machine, changing a tap. **Not** improvements (a new kitchen, enclosing the terrace), which are depreciated.
- **Depreciation**: **3 % of the greater of** (cadastral value of the construction, acquisition cost of the construction, excluding the land) per year, plus **10 % of furniture** and appliances.
- Fees of accountants, lawyers or administrators linked to the rental.

## How is the proportion calculated?

Rented days / 365 (or 366). The days **you** use the flat are not deductible and, in addition, generate imputed income. Keep a calendar of the year in three colours: rented, empty, used by me. It is the first thing any adviser asks for and the first thing an inspection would ask for.

## The three most frequent mistakes

1. **Deducting 100 % of the association fees or the IBI.** It is the most common adjustment in tax office checks: if the flat was rented 200 days, 55 % is deducted, not 100 %.
2. **Deducting the whole mortgage payment.** Only the interest.
3. **Confusing repair with improvement.** Replacing broken air conditioning with an equivalent one is a repair (deducted in full, prorated); installing air conditioning where there was none is an improvement (depreciated at 3 % over years).

## Is there any limit?

Interest and repair expenses **cannot leave the net income negative**: if they exceed the income, the excess is carried forward for the next four years. The other expenses can generate a negative net income that offsets other capital income.

## Which receipts do I have to keep?

Invoices (not till receipts) for everything: cleaning, repairs, furniture purchases, accountant. The Booking and Airbnb statements with the commissions. The association, IBI, insurance and utility receipts. Keep them for four years, which is the limitation period. A serious manager gives you a statement every year with income, commissions and cleanings itemised; ask for it.

## And the VAT on invoices?

If you are not registered as a business for VAT purposes (the normal case for an individual with one flat), the VAT you pay on invoices is one more cost and is deducted as part of the expense on your tax return. There is an important exception with Booking and Airbnb commissions, explained in [VAT on Booking and Airbnb commissions](/guias/facturas-del-gestor-y-iva).

## Sources

- [Spanish Tax Agency: deductible expenses from income from real estate capital (Income Tax Manual, in Spanish)](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2024/c04-rendimientos-capital-inmobiliario/rendimiento-neto/gastos-deducibles.html)