RDL 29/2026: 10% VAT on short-term lets and PIT

On 7 October 2026 the Official Gazette published two royal decree-laws, not one. The tax statute is RDL 29/2026 (BOE-A-2026-20823): PIT, VAT, IBI and SOCIMI. General entry into force: 8 October. The civil statute is RDL 28/2026 (BOE-A-2026-20822): successive extension of ordinary residential leases (LAU art. 10). It applies from 15 November and is pending parliamentary confirmation.

Tax Agency summary: RDL 29/2026 measures. This is not personalised advice and not a binding tax assessment.

VAT: 10% on short-term lets from 1 December

Until 30 November 2026 the letting of dwellings without hotel-industry services remains exempt (art. 20 Spanish VAT Act).

From 1 December 2026 lettings of furnished apartments or dwellings cease to be exempt where hotel-type services are supplied or the stay is 30 nights or fewer for the same tenant and the property is not the landlord’s main home. They move to the reduced 10% rate (art. 91.Uno.2.2.º Spanish VAT Act).

The 10% rate also applies to renovation or repair works on dwellings intended for ordinary residential letting (bank payment, building at least 2 years old, materials ≤ 40% of the base).

Super-reduced rate on deliveries by developers of social housing with a permanent or indefinite qualification.

Who is affected: anyone letting on short-stay platforms without hotel services, if the stay is 30 nights or fewer and it is not their main home. Check duration, habitual residence and services before changing the VAT rate.

PIT: rental relief from 8 October

From 8 October 2026 the reductions on net rental income from dwellings are reordered (for landlords who are not large holders).

If the same landlord’s new contract cuts the rent by more than 5%, the high bands apply. If the rent rises, the low bands apply. If it does not rise, the middle band remains.

A tenant of their main home may deduct 10% of the rent paid if their tax base is below €33,007.20, subject to conditions (including not owning another home within 50 km, with exceptions).

These rules do not settle your PIT: the contract, the area and large-holder status still have to be checked.

Tourist IBI surcharge and SOCIMI

In a stressed-market area, an IBI surcharge on residential property used as tourist accommodation: up to 50% of the net liability; 100% if the owner holds 2 or more properties; 150% if 4 or more. Set by municipal by-law.

SOCIMIs face a special 25% levy on undistributed profits from residential letting or assignment (including tourist use).

RDL 28/2026: extension of ordinary residential leases (civil)

This is not VAT or PIT. After the minimum term (5 years; 7 if the landlord is a legal person), the contract is extended for successive periods of the same length. If the landlord does not renew, there is compensation.

In force on 15 November 2026. Parliament has been dissolved: until the Permanent Deputation confirms it, do not treat it as final.

Two more developments this week (non-tax)

Both apply from 5 October. Neither is a tax rule: one is employment law and the other affects road freight transport.

RD 723/2026: written information before the job starts (employment)

Royal Decree 723/2026 of 9 September (BOE-A-2026-19200, published on 15 September) has been in force since 5 October. It partly transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1152 and replaces RD 1659/1998.

Every employer must give each worker written information on the essential terms of the contract before it starts, if the relationship lasts more than 4 weeks. If the contract already covers them, that is enough. If it covers them only in part, the missing items are handed over.

What is new: employers must report algorithmic or automated systems that decide working hours, tasks or pay; the equality plan and the harassment protocol, if the company has them; the collective agreement, with its code and publication date; and the body that collaborates with Social Security (mutual insurance fund).

It can be on paper or in electronic form, and the employer must keep proof that it was delivered. If anything changes, the worker is informed by the day the change takes effect at the latest. For contracts already in force, it is handed over on the worker's request, within 30 working days.

An equality plan is mandatory from 50 employees; below that it is voluntary. The decree only requires telling workers whether one exists.

At Contaldia we have prepared an information annex, a voluntary equality plan and a harassment protocol for our own team.

DeCA: the road transport control document is now digital (transport)

The electronic Administrative Control Document (DeCA) has been compulsory in digital form since 5 October 2026 (Law 9/2025, transitional provision 8; Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport, BOE-A-2026-12784).

It is not a tax matter. It has nothing to do with VAT, VeriFactu or e-invoicing. It is the control document carried on board for public road freight transport within Spain (and cabotage), checked by the transport inspectorate, not by the Tax Agency.

It must be formalised by the actual carrier and the contractual shipper: whoever hires the transport, be it the shipper itself, an agency or a freight forwarder. If it is not issued or not on board, liability is joint.

Requirements: a native PDF with a QR code that leads to a single HTTPS URL, from which the PDF downloads without logging in. It is generated before departure and kept for one year. If the route changes, the entry is struck through with the reason in the same PDF, or a new one is issued and the original kept. The driver carries a copy with the QR.

It does not apply to international transport that only crosses Spain, or to parcel delivery of a few packages.

In Odoo, the standard delivery slip is not enough on its own: it lacks the actual carrier, the licence plates and a QR with a fixed URL. It affects clients who hire domestic road transport or who are carriers themselves.

At Contaldia we review each case (length of stay, landlord’s main home, large holder, stressed-market area). This does not replace an analysis of your position or a tax assessment. Write to us at info@contaldia.com · 931 94 94 80.