Modelo 179 - what it means for you
Modelo 179 - A quarterly declaration of using a house for touristic purposes. The purpose of completing the form is to try to prevent tax fraud by people renting out their property as a holiday home. In particular the tax office wants to control the tourist rental houses that have proliferated under platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com or HomeAway.
January 2019 is the first month for reporting on Modelo 179 and we thought we could help clarify the position for anyone letting their property out for holidays.
It is not a Modelo with which you have to pay taxes, just report.
The ultimate goal of the tax agency is to know which homes are rented, under what format and, above all, who are their owners.
However not every owner has to complete the form - the tax agency has passed the onus to the holiday rental platforms.
Therefore, if the property management company you use puts you in touch with tourists who with to rent your property i.e. acting as an intermediary then the property management company must submit the Modelo 179.
Collaborative Platforms
What is a collaborative platform? There are 2 types of platform, one is a website which simply advertise’s holiday rentals and does not act as an Intermediary between the owner and the tenant - this type of site have no obligation to submit the report.
However, if the online platform then puts the client in contact with the party wanting to book a holiday rental, then the online platform has the obligation to submit the Modelo 179.
Throughout January 2019 Tax Authorities here in Spain will be receiving submissions for Holiday Rentals that have taken place during the whole of 2018. The information they receive will include the following:
Property address and catastral reference number.
Full name of the property owner and property manager if applicable.
The first date of each booking and number of days it was rented for
The cost for the booking as received by the property owner Contract number (if applicable)
Method of payment used.
Then ongoing the above information must be submitted quarterly every April, July, October and January for the previous three months.