Tax relief on renovating your main home in Spain
Not every renovation gives tax relief, and the ones that do demand specific documents. This is worth knowing before the works start, not at tax time.
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Short answer
Can you claim tax relief on renovating a home in Spain?
As a general rule, a cosmetic or improvement renovation gives no deduction in Spanish income tax (IRPF). What has had specific treatment is work that improves the energy efficiency of the property, at three levels depending on the certified result: 20 %, 40 % and 60 % of the amounts paid, each with its own annual cap and requirements. Separately from IRPF, renovation work on homes finished more than two years earlier can be invoiced at the reduced 10 % VAT rate instead of 21 %. On a full renovation of €780–1,600 per square metre over 10–14 weeks, that VAT difference is by far the biggest tax item. All of it has deadlines that shift with each new law, so check the current position on the Agencia Tributaria site.
A general guide, not tax advice: residence, region and tax year all change the answer.
IRPF
The three energy-efficiency deduction levels
The better the certified result, the higher the deductible percentage — proven with energy performance certificates (certificado de eficiencia energética) from before and after the works.
| Level | Deduction | What must be certified | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cutting heating and cooling demand | 20 % | Demand down at least 7 %, per before and after certificates | Main home, or a property let as a home |
| Cutting non-renewable primary energy use | 40 % | Consumption down at least 30 %, or reaching class A or B | Main home, or a property let as a home |
| Energy refurbishment of the building | 60 % | The same results at whole-building level, per the building certificate | Work on communal elements of a residential building |
Work that usually qualifies
- Thermal insulation of facade, roof or floor, external systems included
- Windows with thermally broken frames and low-emissivity glazing
- Heating or hot water replaced by a more efficient system, such as an air-source heat pump
- Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
- Communal elements within a building energy refurbishment
What does not qualify
An efficient appliance is not enough on its own: if the closing certificate does not record the improvement, the spend does not count. What is deducted is the measured result, not the equipment invoice.
VAT
The reduced 10 % VAT rate on renovation work
The route that affects most people: it turns on the type of work and the age of the property, not on any energy result. Not a deduction — a lower rate on the invoice.
The usual conditions
- A private individual client, and the property in private residential use
- Construction or refurbishment finished at least two years before the works begin
- Materials supplied by the contractor below the legal limit on the taxable base
Why it is often applied wrongly
The common assumption is that everything a renovation company invoices goes at 10 %. If supplied materials exceed the legal limit, the whole operation moves to 21 %. The quote should state which rate applies and why.
If you are not resident
What changes for foreign and non-resident owners
Two words matter in Spanish tax: habitual (your main home) and no residente (non-resident). They lead to different returns and different reliefs.
Non-residents file a different tax
Not tax resident here means no IRPF: you file non-resident income tax (IRNR, model 210) on Spanish-source income such as rent, plus an imputed income on a property kept for your own use. The deductions above sit in the IRPF framework — take advice before the works.
The 10 % VAT rule is about the property, not your passport
Nationality and residence do not decide the rate: the conditions above are about the property and the work. This is the relief most foreign owners can rely on — check it line by line in the quote.
Letting changes the picture
Let as a home rather than kept empty, the deductible expenses regime differs again: refurbishment is usually an improvement, depreciated over years rather than deducted in one. Say so at quote stage.
Managing it from abroad
All of this works remotely: a technician issues the certificates on site, invoices arrive by email, and payments have to be traceable transfers anyway. What cannot be fixed remotely is a missing pre-works certificate — order it first.
Paperwork
What to keep from day one
Relief is lost more often through missing paperwork than through failing technical requirements, and it is all collected during the works.
Documents worth keeping
- Energy certificate from before the works, by a registered competent technician
- Closing certificate after completion, within the deadline the rules set
- Itemised contractor invoices showing the VAT rate applied
- Proof of payment by bank means: transfer, card or deposit
- For building works, the community resolution and the certificate of the derrama paid
The order of the certificates
The most expensive mistake and the hardest to fix: with no starting snapshot there is no way to evidence the improvement, however good the work was.
Cash payments
They are no evidence for this kind of relief, quite apart from legal limits on them. If there is any intention to claim, every payment should be traceable from the first one.
Deadlines move
These deductions have been extended year by year, the deadlines for works and certificates moving each time: information correct a year ago may not be correct today. An adviser before signing beats one the following spring.
Frequently asked
Common questions
As a general rule no: they improve the property without changing the certified energy demand or consumption, which is what opens the deductions. They can still be invoiced at 10 % VAT if the work meets the conditions.
Three: 20 % for cutting heating and cooling demand by at least 7 %, 40 % for cutting non-renewable primary energy use by 30 % or reaching class A or B, and 60 % for energy refurbishment of the whole building. Each has its own annual cap, and deadlines have changed — verify with the Agencia Tributaria.
On renovation and repair work in privately used homes finished at least two years before the works begin, provided the contractor does not supply materials above the legal limit on the taxable base. Above it, the job is taxed at 21 %.
Not automatically. Non-residents file model 210 rather than IRPF, and these deductions sit in the IRPF framework. The 10 % VAT rate is different: it depends on the property and the work, not on your residence. Take advice before the works start.
With the certificate from the building administrator stating the amount actually paid by your flat, apportioned by your coeficiente de participación, plus the resolution approving the works. Owners get no invoice of their own, which is why that certificate matters.
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“Muy buenos profesionales, con excelente resultado.”
Esther DiezJune 2026
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