By destination · Benidorm · Alicante
Spanish taxes in Benidorm
Modelo 210, IBI bonifications, ITP and ISD for property owners in Benidorm — handled by a licensed colegiado who lives the Costa Blanca.
What property owners in Benidorm need to know
Benidorm concentrates a high share of British, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish second-home owners alongside a smaller but established Russian community. The town's apartment-block density and the prevalence of holiday-rental units make modelo 210 quarterly filings the standard rhythm here — pure imputed-income filings (1.1 %/2 %) cover a minority. Benidorm's IBI ordenanza is tighter than Torrevieja's, with fewer optional bonifications.
Top services for Benidorm
Regional tax framework
- ITP general rate
- 9%
- ITP reduced rate (vivienda habitual)
- 6%
- AJD (stamp duty)
- 1,4%
- ISD bonification grupo I/II
- 50%
- Autonomic law reference
- Ley 13/1997 CV
These rates reflect the autonomic (CCAA) framework in force at the time of writing. Municipal IBI rates and bonifications are set separately by each ayuntamiento and we confirm the current figures from the latest ordenanza tax before any filing.
In Benidorm: municipal taxes and paperwork
- Plusvalía settled with
- Ayuntamiento de Benidorm
- IBI billed by
- SUMA Gestión Tributaria (Diputación de Alicante)
Municipal plusvalía (IIVTNU) when you sell
Benidorm is a city of towers, and that shapes the plusvalía municipal more than owners expect: the IIVTNU taxes only the increase in the value of the land, and in a high-rise the land component attributable to a single apartment is a modest fraction of the cadastral value. The Ayuntamiento de Benidorm sets the rate and the coefficients in its ordenanza fiscal, within the 30 % ceiling of art. 108 TRLRHL, and the tax is settled with the town hall, not with AEAT. In an onerous sale the seller is the taxpayer (art. 106.1.b), but where the seller is a non-resident individual the buyer becomes the substitute taxpayer under art. 106.2. Since RDL 26/2021 the base can be computed two ways and the cheaper applies — worth checking on a flat bought at the top of a previous cycle.
Plusvalía calculator →The 3 % retention and modelo 211
If you are selling a Benidorm apartment and you are not tax-resident in Spain, the buyer must withhold 3 % of the price and pay it to AEAT on modelo 211 within about a month of the deed. That withholding is an advance against your IRNR on the gain, which you then declare on modelo 210: 19 % if you are resident in the EU or EEA, 24 % if you are not. Residents of Russia should note the split introduced by the 2023 suspension of the Spain-Russia treaty — rental income moved to the 24 % third-country rate, but the capital-gains rate on a sale is set by national law at 19 % regardless of residence, and the 3 % retention machinery is unchanged. Whichever passport you hold, the excess is only recoverable through a filed modelo 210.
Guide: selling as a non-resident →IBI: the annual bill and who issues it
Benidorm's IBI is billed by SUMA Gestión Tributaria under the collection powers the ayuntamiento delegated to the Diputación de Alicante (art. 7 TRLRHL), so the receipt carries SUMA's name and SUMA's payment references even though the rate and the bonifications are decided by the Ayuntamiento de Benidorm in its own ordenanza fiscal. Benidorm's bonification catalogue is narrower than that of some neighbouring towns, so do not assume a relief you had elsewhere carries over — read the current ordenanza. The mechanics are the same everywhere: the tax accrues on 1 January (art. 75 TRLRHL) against whoever owns the property that day, and unpaid receipts attach to the property itself under art. 64.1 TRLRHL. For a flat that is empty for most of the year, a Spanish direct debit is the only arrangement that survives a change of address abroad.
IBI calculator →NIE and empadronamiento
A NIE is unavoidable in Benidorm: the notary needs it for the deed, the bank needs it for the mortgage and the account, and AEAT needs it for every subsequent return. Form EX-15, fee €9.84 (790/012), resolved within five days, applied for by prior appointment at the Oficina de Extranjería or an authorised National Police station in Alicante province — or at a Spanish consulate before you arrive. Empadronamiento with the Ayuntamiento de Benidorm is a separate, purely municipal act: under Ley 7/1985 it registers you as habitually living in the town, and it is the certificate the town hall asks for before a health card, a school place or a residence-linked municipal benefit. It is worth being deliberate about it. In a town where many owners split the year between two countries, the padrón is one of the objective traces that a tax-residence review will look at.
Guide: how to get a NIE →Municipal rates, coefficients and bonifications are set by each ayuntamiento in its ordenanza fiscal and revised every year, so none are quoted here. We read the ordenanza in force and confirm the exact figures before any filing.
Specific questions about Benidorm
I rent my Benidorm apartment on Airbnb. Do I need a tourist licence in Comunidad Valenciana?
Yes. Comunidad Valenciana requires a vivienda de uso turístico (VUT) registration with Turisme CV before legally renting for periods under 30 days. The town hall enforces this jointly with Conselleria. Filing modelo 210 quarterly on the rental income does not exempt you from the licensing side; the two regimes operate in parallel.
Is Benidorm a good base for becoming a Spanish tax resident?
Tax residency under Spanish IRPF triggers when you spend >183 days in Spain or your centre of economic interests sits in Spain. Benidorm itself is fiscally neutral on that decision — the tax regime that applies is national IRPF + autonomic CV brackets. We model both scenarios (UK resident with Spanish property vs Spanish resident) before any client makes the move.
I'm a Russian citizen with a Benidorm apartment. How does the suspended Spain-Russia treaty affect me?
Spain suspended the application of certain articles of the Spain-Russia double-tax treaty in 2023. In practice, Russian-resident property owners now file modelo 210 at the third-country rate of 24 % on rental income with no expense deductions, and benefit from no treaty reduction on dividends or interest sourced from Spain. We've helped several Benidorm Russian-citizen clients restructure or sell since suspension.
Why is the plusvalía on my Benidorm apartment lower than on a villa sold for the same price?
Because IIVTNU taxes land, not buildings. In a Benidorm tower the cadastral land value attributable to one apartment is a small share of the total, while in a detached villa the plot carries much more of the value — so on an identical sale price the taxable base differs sharply. The rate itself is the same for both: whatever the Ayuntamiento de Benidorm has approved in its ordenanza fiscal, capped at 30 % by art. 108 TRLRHL. Your IBI receipt shows the land and building split the calculation starts from.
Recent regulatory changes
Benidorm's IBI ordenanza follows the standard Comunidad Valenciana template with limited optional bonifications compared to coastal neighbours. The municipal plusvalía was adjusted to incorporate the valor real method post-2021 Constitutional ruling. Turisme CV maintains active enforcement on VUT registrations in Benidorm.