Non-resident income tax (Modelo 210). Non-resident owners may owe tax on imputed income for the days a home is available for their own use, even if it produces no rent. The imputed income is 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value, depending on the property’s cadastral history: ask your tax adviser which applies. The rate is 19% for tax residents of another EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and 24% for everyone else, including residents of the United Kingdom since Brexit (Agencia Tributaria (opens in a new tab)). On a hypothetical cadastral value of €120,000, for a full year, that is about €251 (EU) or €317 (UK) a year at 1.1%, and €456 or €576 at 2%. Filed annually.
Rental income is taxed at the same rates; owners resident in the EU or EEA may deduct proportional expenses, others generally cannot.
IBI, the council tax, is set by the municipality and charged on the taxable base derived from the cadastral value. Estepona’s tax ordinance set the urban rate at 0.662% in 2023 (municipal tax ordinance 2023 (opens in a new tab)); check the current ordinance. For any home you consider, ask for the latest IBI bill: it shows the taxable base, the charge and any relief applied.
Estepona also subsidises the IBI bills of eligible residents registered on the municipal roll (empadronados). In 2025 the subsidy averaged 20% across 37,988 bills (Ayuntamiento de Estepona (opens in a new tab), August 2025), and the 2026 budget keeps it, with €6.6 million set aside (Ayuntamiento de Estepona (opens in a new tab), January 2026). It is not a reduction for every owner: an owner who is not on Estepona’s municipal roll should not expect it.
Community fees depend on the development, its facilities and its budget. Examples from listings checked in October 2026:
| Area | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Forest Hills, Altos de Estepona | €90 |
| La Concha-Resina Golf, Selwo | €150 |
| Huerta Nueva, Estepona Pueblo | €200 |
| Buenas Noches, Playa Bahía Dorada | €214 |
| Altos de Estepona | €247 |
| Guadalobón, Costa Natura | €277 |
| Nueva Atalaya, Benamara - Atalaya (water included) | €400 |
If you plan to let the property. Do not assume a home can legally be used for holiday letting. It must be compatible with planning rules, registered with the Andalusian tourism register after a declaración responsable (Junta de Andalucía (opens in a new tab)), and allowed by the building. Since April 2025, starting new holiday letting in a building with a community of owners requires the prior express approval of three fifths of the owners and of the ownership shares, with transitional protection for activity already carried on lawfully (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (opens in a new tab), articles 7.3 and 17.12).
On sale, non-residents pay capital gains tax at 19% on the taxable gain. When buying from a non-resident, the buyer withholds 3% of the price as an advance payment of the seller’s tax (Agencia Tributaria (opens in a new tab)). The municipal plusvalía is normally the seller’s tax, but when the seller is a non-resident individual the buyer is responsible for it as substitute taxpayer (Ley de Haciendas Locales (opens in a new tab), article 106.2).
General information, not advice. Rules change and each case differs. Confirm your position with a Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you commit.
