# Is there VAT on holiday rentals in Spain? When it is exempt and when 10 % is charged

> An individual who rents their flat to tourists without hotel services does not charge VAT: the rental is exempt. There is only 10 % VAT if you provide hotel-type services during the stay. What counts as a hotel service and what does not.
>
> Topic: Taxes · Reviewed: 2026-09-22 · URL: https://mipisoturistico.app/en/guides/is-there-vat-on-holiday-rentals-in-spain
> Published by Mi Piso Turístico (Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional), a holiday-rental management company on the Costa del Sol.

**Short answer:** if you rent your flat to tourists **without providing hotel-type services**, the rental is **exempt from VAT**: you do not charge it to the guest, you do not file VAT returns for it and you cannot deduct the VAT on your expenses. If you provide **hotel services during the stay** (periodic cleaning and change of linen, breakfast, reception), the rental becomes a lodging service with **10 % VAT**. Cleaning on arrival and departure is **not** a hotel service.

## What counts as a hotel service?

According to the tax office, complementary services typical of the hotel industry, provided **during** the stay:

- **Periodic** cleaning of the home while the guest is there (for example, every two days).
- **Change of bed linen and towels** during the stay.
- Breakfast, meals, room service.
- Reception and permanent customer service in the hotel sense.

## What does NOT count?

- Cleaning and change of linen **on arrival and departure** of each guest.
- Cleaning of the building's common areas.
- Key handover, telephone assistance, maintenance and repairs.
- Wi-Fi, television, utensils.

With these services, which are those of any normal tourist home, the rental remains exempt.

## So an individual does not have to do anything about VAT?

No forms at all. One nuance that confuses people: until 2022, Booking and Airbnb commissions arrived without VAT and the owner had to self-assess it (the "reverse charge"). **Since 1 January 2023 that is no longer the case**: the VAT Act excluded intermediation in property rentals from that rule, and it is the platform that charges you 21 % on its invoice and declares it. You do not deduct it (your rental is exempt) and you subtract it on your income tax return as an expense. We explain it in [VAT on Booking and Airbnb commissions](/guias/facturas-del-gestor-y-iva).

## And if I hire a manager?

The manager invoices you their commission **with 21 % VAT**. You pay it and, as your rental is exempt, you do not recover it: it is one more cost that you deduct on your income tax return as part of the expense. The rental to the guest remains exempt, because for tax purposes the one providing it is still you.

## When is it worth being in the 10 % VAT regime?

Only if you are really going to provide hotel services (a building of apartments with reception and daily cleaning, for example). Then you charge the guest 10 %, but you deduct 21 % on all your purchases and works. For one flat, it is not worth the work of quarterly returns and books.

## And do the platforms charge the guest VAT?

Some charge the guest a service fee with its VAT; that is the platform's business, not yours. What you receive for the accommodation is still an exempt rental.

## Summary for an individual with one flat

- To the guest: **no VAT**.
- From the manager and the cleaners: **invoices with 21 %**, which are a cost.
- From Booking and Airbnb: **commission with 21 % VAT on their invoice** since 2023; the platform declares it, you file nothing for it and you do not deduct it.
- If in doubt, an accountant sorts it out in a half-hour consultation. It is worth doing in the first year.

## Sources

- [Spanish Tax Agency: renting a tourist dwelling and VAT (FAQ, in Spanish)](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/vivienda/alquiler-vivienda-turistica.html)
- [Law 37/1992 on VAT, article 20.One.23 (exemption for housing rentals and exception for hotel services), consolidated text (in Spanish)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1992-28740)