The modelo 179, the informative return on the assignment of dwellings for tourist use, no longer applies from tax year 2024. The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) now gets this data through the modelo 238, which platforms file, and through the single rental registry created by Royal Decree 1312/2024. If you own a holiday apartment in Spain, you no longer file a 179. You still have to declare the income, hold a registration number, and keep your paperwork in order.
Below we explain what the 179 was, what took its place, who is responsible for what, and how tourist rental income is taxed for residents and non-residents.
TL;DR
- The modelo 179 was an informative return filed by intermediaries, not a tax payment. The AEAT notice for 2024 onward explains that the rules changed with a new wording of article 54 ter of the tax procedures regulation.
- Platform operators now report through the modelo 238 (DAC7), with more detail than before: income, fees and days rented.
- To advertise a short-term rental you need a registration number under Royal Decree 1312/2024.
- Your own tax duty did not disappear: rental income is declared through IRPF, or through the non-resident return (modelo 210) if you live abroad.
- Non-residents generally pay on gross income, with a 19% rate for EU/EEA residents and 24% for others.
Table of Contents
- What the modelo 179 was
- What replaced it: the modelo 238 and the registry
- Old duty versus new duty at a glance
- How tourist rental income is taxed
- A checklist for owners who still think they need the 179
- Compliance before you buy
- Our perspective at Steram Flats
- How Steram Flats can help
- Common mistakes we see
- FAQ
- Sources
What the modelo 179 was
The modelo 179 was an informative return. Nobody paid tax with it. It required people and companies that act as intermediaries between the owner and the guest of a tourist dwelling to report each assignment of use to the AEAT. In practice that meant platforms, agencies and property managers. The AEAT FAQ page on the form describes the obliged parties as those who intermediate between the assigning owners and the guests.
That explains why so many owners were confused. They searched for the 179 because their manager or portal mentioned it, but the legal duty sat with the intermediary. The form also had a turbulent history in its reporting frequency and start date, which is why older articles on the web contradict each other: some say quarterly, some annual, some give a restart date in June 2021. Those pages describe a past situation.
What replaced it: the modelo 238 and the registry
Two mechanisms now do the job the 179 used to do.
The modelo 238 for platform operators
The modelo 238 is the Spanish implementation of the EU DAC7 directive. Digital platform operators report on the sellers who use them, including those renting property. According to the AEAT technical help page for the modelo 238, the return is annual and, for rentals, includes a record for each rented property. The AEAT page on the content of the modelo 238 lists the identification and financial data platforms must provide about each seller.
What this means for you as an owner:
- You do not file the 238. The platform does.
- The tax agency receives the data on your income and your rented days from a third party, so it can compare it with what you declare.
- Under-declaring is riskier than it used to be. The information arrives at platform level, per property.
The single rental registry and your registration number
Royal Decree 1312/2024, of December 23, regulates the Registro Único de Arrendamientos and creates a digital one-stop window for data on short-term accommodation rentals. Its definition of a short-term rental is broad: a rental for a brief period, for tourist purposes or not, for payment, by professional or non-professional landlords alike.
In practice, each unit needs a registration number that you obtain through the property registry process, and platforms must ask for it. A listing without a valid number can be removed after an administrative order. This number is separate from the regional tourist license, which in Andalusia and other regions remains a different requirement. If you are unsure where the two meet, our guides on what a tourist license is in Spain and on holiday home registration walk through the difference.
Old duty versus new duty at a glance
| Modelo 179 (until tax year 2023) | Modelo 238 and registry (from 2024 and 2025) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | Intermediaries between owner and guest | Digital platform operators |
| Frequency | Changed over time | Annual |
| What you do as owner | Nothing, unless you intermediated | Obtain and display the registration number, declare income |
| Data the AEAT receives | Assignments of use | Income, fees, days rented, property references |
| Consequence of gaps | Penalties for the intermediary | Possible delisting, plus tax exposure on unreported income |
Treat the table as an orientation. For your exact case, check the official pages linked above or ask a tax adviser.
How tourist rental income is taxed
Dropping a form does not change the tax. What changed is how much the AEAT knows. Here is how the income is classified.
Capital income or business activity
Per the AEAT’s summary table on tourist apartment taxation, the dividing line is the services you provide.
- Only the dwelling is made available, possibly with cleaning on arrival and departure: the income is generally real estate capital income (capital inmobiliario).
- Hotel-type services such as reception, ongoing cleaning or laundry: the income counts as economic activity, linked to IAE group 685 for extra-hotel tourist accommodation.
The distinction matters because business income opens the door to the deductions of an economic activity, while capital income is more limited. Do not assume you can add services on paper to change category. The facts of how you operate decide.
If you live in Spain
You include the income in your annual IRPF return. Your manager’s or platform’s reports will be matched against it. Keep invoices, the list of bookings and proof of expenses that the rules allow.
If you live abroad
Non-residents without a permanent establishment file the non-resident income tax return. We cover the mechanics and the deadline risk in our guide to the modelo 210 for non-resident landlords. The key rules, from the AEAT’s page on non-resident income tax for tourist apartments, are:
- Residents of EU member states, Iceland and Norway pay at a 19% rate; residents of other countries pay 24%.
- Deductions are reserved for EU/EEA-type residents who can show the expense is linked to the income in Spain. For others, tax applies to the gross income. The AEAT’s page on income from rented property states that the full amount received from the tenant counts as income.
A worked example makes the gap clear. Imagine an owner resident in Germany who earns 20,000 € from tourist lets and can document 6,000 € of deductible expenses. At 19%, tax on the net 14,000 € would be 2,660 €. An owner in a country outside the EU/EEA pays 24% on the full 20,000 €, which is 4,800 €. These are illustrative figures to show the mechanism, not a quote for your situation.
A checklist for owners who still think they need the 179
You can run through these steps in an afternoon.
- Confirm who intermediates. If you rent only through platforms, the platform reports. If an agency manages you, ask which of the reports it files.
- Check your registration number. Look at your listing. Does it show a valid number? If not, start the registry process before the platform delists you.
- Check the regional license. Your autonomous community may require its own tourist license and your building’s bylaws can ban tourist use. Verify both before you list.
- Match your tax return to your bookings. Pull platform statements for the year and compare gross income, fees and nights.
- Decide your category. Are you offering hotel-type services? If yes, discuss the business-income route with a tax adviser.
- If you are abroad, calendar the modelo 210. Missing it carries penalties.
- Keep records. Platform statements, invoices, energy certificate and license documents all belong in one folder. Our landlord rental management checklist lists the rest.
Compliance before you buy
The most expensive version of this problem appears before purchase. A flat that looks perfect on a portal may sit in a building whose community statutes prohibit holiday lets, or in a municipality that has frozen new tourist licenses. If you are buying specifically to rent short term, a lawyer-signed rental compliance audit in Spain can review the community bylaws, municipal licensing and registry status before you commit. Checking first costs far less than discovering a ban after completion.
Our perspective at Steram Flats
We work with owners and buyers on the Costa del Sol, many of them international, and the pattern repeats: people hear “modelo 179” from a friend, an old blog or a former manager, and assume a filing is due. Usually the real question is different. Is the apartment legal to rent? Is the income declared correctly in the right country and the right form?
Our view is that the abolition of the 179 is not a relief but a shift. The administration no longer needs the owner to file anything extra, because it receives the data from the platforms. That makes a clean setup more valuable: a registration number in place, a license that matches reality, and a tax return that matches the platform statements.
We also see that non-residents overestimate deductions. Many assume they can deduct everything. The rules depend on where you live, and we tell owners to ask early rather than find out after filing. Our fee model is simple: we are paid on completed transactions and for the management we actually provide, with no permanence contracts.
— YellowRock
How Steram Flats can help
If you want a partner to carry the operational side, our holiday rental management service starts from 15%. It also covers a professional photo book and parking. For licensing, energy certificates and building permits, see our services page. We work in several languages and serve non-resident and LGBTQ+ owners. If you are weighing a purchase for rental, ask us for a real profitability study before you decide. You can also compare strategies in our guide on long-term versus holiday rentals.
Common mistakes we see
- Filing nothing because “the 179 is gone”. The income remains taxable, and the platform’s data reaches the AEAT.
- Listing without a registration number. The listing can be taken down, which costs bookings in the high season.
- Confusing the registry number with the tourist license. They are two layers of regulation.
- Copying advice from a pre-2024 page. Check the date on any guide, including this one.
- Applying the resident’s deduction logic as a non-resident. The rules differ by country of residence.
- Ignoring the building. Community bylaws can override your plans even when the municipality allows tourist use.
FAQ
Do I still have to file the modelo 179?
No, not for tax year 2024 and later. The AEAT’s notice on the form points to a new wording of article 54 ter of the tax procedures regulation, and the data flow moved to platform reporting. Check the official notice if you need to file for an earlier year.
Who files the modelo 238?
Digital platform operators file it, not individual owners. It is annual and reports data per seller and, for rentals, per property. As an owner, you should expect that the information about your income and rented days reaches the tax agency without any action from you.
How is tourist rental income taxed in Spain?
Generally as real estate capital income when you only provide the dwelling. If you add hotel-type services such as reception or ongoing cleaning, it can count as business income. Non-residents file the non-resident return, at 19% for EU/EEA residents and 24% for others, per the AEAT.
Do I need a registration number to list on Airbnb or Booking.com?
Yes, under Royal Decree 1312/2024 platforms need a valid number for each unit, and listings without one can be removed after an administrative order. You obtain the number through the registry procedure. It is distinct from the tourist license that your region may require.
Sources
- AEAT: notice for tax year 2024 onward (modelo 179)
- AEAT: modelo 179 frequently asked questions
- BOE: Royal Decree 1312/2024
- AEAT: technical help for the modelo 238
- AEAT: content of the modelo 238
- AEAT: summary table on tourist apartment taxation
- AEAT: non-resident income tax for tourist apartments
- AEAT: income from rented property (non-residents)
