Renting a Premises for Your Business: Modelo 115 and Modelo 180, or How to Withhold 19% From Your Landlord
You sign the lease on a premises for your practice, studio or workshop, and the landlord sends the first rent invoice. That is where an obligation starts that almost nobody mentions when you register as self-employed: you do not pay the landlord the whole invoice. You withhold part of it and pay it to the tax authority yourself, with the modelo 115 every quarter and its annual summary, the modelo 180, in January.
It is the same withholding mechanism we already explained for the modelo 111 and 190, applied to rent. This article is organised by the question you actually have: does this apply to me? When does it not? How much do I withhold, and on what? When do I declare it? What goes in the 180? What if I didn’t do it? At the end there is a map of both forms for when you have them open in front of you. We cover common territory; in the foral territories the rules are those of their own tax authority.
(Marta, the landlord Aurelio and the numbers are invented; the figures are round so the arithmetic is easy to follow.)
The basic idea: whoever pays, withholds
A withholding is an advance payment of tax by the person who receives the income, paid in by the person who pays it. Aurelio collects rent and will have to declare it on his tax return; you, when you pay him, deduct a percentage and hand it to the tax authority in his name. Rent from urban property is one of the income types the IRPF Regulation subjects to withholding, whatever its tax classification.1
Does the 115 apply to me?
It does if two conditions are both met.
1. You are obliged to withhold. The Regulation includes «taxpayers who carry on economic activities, when they pay income in the course of their activities».2 The key is that last part: premises rented for your activity. If you pay rent on your home as a private individual, you are not a withholding agent for that.
2. The rent is not exempted. There are three cases where there is no obligation to withhold, covered in the next section.
When both hold, the form is the 115, «Withholdings and payments on account on certain income from the letting or sub-letting of urban property».3 One thing to keep in mind: the 115 is not only for the self-employed; companies, homeowners’ associations and other entities must also withhold, under the same basic rules.2
Marta, a physiotherapist, rents premises. Her practice is in a unit owned by Aurelio, who charges her €800 a month plus VAT. Marta is self-employed and the premises are for her business: she is a withholding agent.
When don’t I have to withhold?
The IRPF Regulation lists three cases of urban lettings with no obligation to withhold:4
- A dwelling rented by a company for its employees.
- Rent not exceeding €900 a year paid by the tenant to the same landlord.
- A landlord registered under group 861 of the IAE (the business activities tax), or under another heading authorising the letting of urban property, and for whom, applying the group 861 rules to the cadastral value of the properties, the resulting charge is not zero.
The first two speak for themselves. The third has a catch: it is not enough that the landlord «has a company» or lets regularly; what counts is that they are registered under that heading and that, on the cadastral value of their properties, the IAE charge does not come out at zero. And they must prove it to you: the rule requires the landlord to demonstrate to the tenant that the requirement is met.4
The Order approving the 115 sets how: a tax authority certificate stating that the landlord is registered in the census under that heading, without the charge being or being able to be zero, and has not filed a deregistration. That certificate is valid for the calendar year in which it is issued, unless the landlord’s census situation changes.5
What this means for you: if your landlord says «don’t withhold from me», ask for the certificate and keep it. A verbal promise does not protect you; responsibility for the payment is yours (see below).
Marta and the storage room. Besides the premises, Marta rents a storage room from Aurelio for €60 a month: €720 a year. Taken alone that is under the €900 annual limit. But note: the rule speaks of income paid «to the same landlord», not of each contract separately. With the premises in the picture, what Marta pays Aurelio is well over €900 and, on a literal reading, the exception does not help even for the storage room.
And if the landlord is a company? Withholding applies as well: the Corporate Income Tax Regulation subjects to withholding income from the letting of urban property «even when it constitutes income from business operations», with the same exceptions, worded almost identically.6
How much do I withhold, and on what?
The rate is 19%, applied «to all the items paid to the landlord, excluding Value Added Tax».7 Two consequences:
- VAT is not part of the base. If the landlord invoices VAT, you withhold on the base, not on the total.
- Everything else is. If the invoice includes recharged costs (community charges, utilities…), they are part of what you pay the landlord and therefore part of the base.
In Ceuta and Melilla the 19% is reduced by 60% when the property is located there.7
Marta’s invoice. Aurelio invoices €800 plus €168 VAT (21%): €968. Marta withholds 19% of 800 = €152 and transfers €816 (968 − 152). She pays the €152 to the tax authority with the 115. For Aurelio it later counts as tax already withheld.
When do I declare each withholding?
The obligation to withhold arises «at the moment the income is paid or credited».8 That is, when you pay, not when you receive the invoice. The Directorate-General for Taxes applied this expressly to the 115: until the rent is paid, the obligation to withhold does not arise, and neither does the obligation to pay it in through the 115.9
One warning, because there is a difference worth knowing. That rule («when paid») is the IRPF one. If your landlord is a company, the Corporate Income Tax Regulation says something else: the obligation arises «at the moment the income becomes due […] or at the time of payment or delivery if earlier».10 For a company landlord, then, what counts is the date the rent becomes due (the one the contract sets), even if you have not paid yet. If that is your case, do not settle it with the general rule.
The 115 is filed in the first twenty calendar days of April, July, October and January, for the amounts withheld in the previous calendar quarter; if the last day falls on a Saturday or a non-working day, it moves to the next working day.11
| Quarter | Covers | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | January to March | 20 April |
| Q2 | April to June | 20 July |
| Q3 | July to September | 20 October |
| Q4 | October to December | 20 January |
Two more points on the quarter:
- There is no «zero» 115. The Regulation is blunt: «A nil return shall not be filed where no income subject to withholding was paid in the filing period». If you paid nothing in a quarter (because the rent is paid once a year, for instance), you do not file that 115.12 The DGT applied exactly this to that case: rent payable in a single annual payment gives rise to a single return, for the quarter of the payment.13
- There is a nil return if you did pay income subject to withholding but, because of its amount, there was nothing to withhold.12
The modelo 180: the annual summary
The 180 is to the 115 what the 190 is to the 111. The Regulation requires «an annual return of the withholdings and payments on account made» and, in it, a list of each recipient with their name, tax ID, income received and withholding applied.14 The Order approves the form as the annual summary of withheld lettings.15
The deadline is January: the Regulation sets the first twenty calendar days, but extends it from 1 to 31 January when the return is filed on computer-readable media or generated with the tax authority’s own modules,14 so if you generate it with the tax authority’s program you have the whole of January.
The important thing: the 180 must match your four 115s. The sum of the withholdings per recipient is the sum of what you paid in during the year.
Marta, a full year. Base rent €800 × 12 = €9,600; withholding €152 × 12 = €1,824, paid in four 115s of €456. The January 180 says: one recipient (Aurelio), €9,600 of income, €1,824 withheld.
What if I didn’t do it, or got it wrong?
Whoever is obliged to withhold takes on the obligation to pay it in, and not withholding does not excuse you: «those obliged to withhold or pay on account shall assume the obligation to make the payment to the Treasury, and failure to comply with the former cannot excuse them from the latter».16 And if you did not withhold, the landlord will deduct from their tax liability the amount that should have been withheld,16 so the cost ends up with you.
The good news is that filing late on your own initiative costs less than waiting to be asked. Without a prior requirement from the tax authority, the surcharge is 1% plus an additional 1% for each full month of delay, rising to 15% (plus late-payment interest) after twelve months.17
A map of the two forms
This part is for when you already have the 115 or the 180 open in front of you. If you only wanted to know whether it applied and what to withhold, you are done with the above.
Modelo 115 (quarterly). It is a «payment document return»:3 you identify the filer and the period (Q1 to Q4), and what you pay in is the sum of the withholdings made in the quarter. In Marta’s example, €456.
Modelo 180 (annual). A summary sheet and the list of recipients,15 with each one’s name, tax ID, income and withholding.14 It must match the sum of the four 115s.
Frequently asked questions
Do I withhold if I rent premises from a private landlord, with no company invoice?
Yes, if the premises are for your business: the Regulation obliges taxpayers who carry on economic activities to withhold when they pay income in the course of their activities, and rent from urban property is one such income.21 That the landlord is a private individual changes nothing.
Do I withhold on the VAT?
No. The withholding base is everything you pay the landlord excluding VAT.7
My landlord says I don’t have to withhold from them. Do I believe it?
Only if they give you the tax authority certificate proving it (registered under IAE group 861 with a non-zero charge) or the rent falls within another exempted case (annual rent of up to €900 to that same landlord, or housing for employees).45
Do I file the 115 for a quarter in which I paid no rent?
No: no return is due when no income subject to withholding was paid in the period.12
Do I file the 180 even if I only have one landlord?
The 180 is the annual summary of what was withheld, with one line per recipient; with a single landlord it will have a single line.14
Cuéntamo keeps track of your withholdings as you record your transactions, so the quarter’s 115 doesn’t catch you by surprise.
Rates, deadlines and exceptions in force at the time of writing, checked against the consolidated text in the BOE: the IRPF Regulation and the Order of 20 November 2000 approving the 115 and 180.
This article is checked against official sources and reviewed periodically. If you spot something out of date, write to us at [email protected].
References
Article 75.2.a) of the IRPF Regulation (in Spanish): «También estarán sujetas a retención o ingreso a cuenta las siguientes rentas, independientemente de su calificación: a) Los rendimientos procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos» («The following income shall also be subject to withholding or payment on account, regardless of its classification: a) Income from the letting or sub-letting of urban property»). ↩︎ ↩︎
Article 76.1 of the IRPF Regulation: «estarán obligados a retener o ingresar a cuenta, en cuanto satisfagan rentas sometidas a esta obligación: a) Las personas jurídicas y demás entidades, incluidas las comunidades de propietarios y las entidades en régimen de atribución de rentas. b) Los contribuyentes que ejerzan actividades económicas, cuando satisfagan rentas en el ejercicio de sus actividades»: legal entities and other entities, including homeowners’ associations and attribution-of-income entities, and taxpayers carrying on economic activities when they pay income in the course of those activities. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Sections one and two of the Order of 20 November 2000 approving the 115 and 180: the 115 «deberá ser presentado, con el ingreso del importe correspondiente, por los retenedores y obligados a ingresar a cuenta que satisfagan las rentas o rendimientos sometidos a retención o ingreso a cuenta procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos, salvo las rentas derivadas del subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos percibidas por contribuyentes del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas que tengan la consideración de rendimientos del capital mobiliario, en cuyo caso los sujetos obligados a retener o ingresar a cuenta deberán presentar el modelo específico aprobado al efecto». ↩︎ ↩︎
Article 75.3.g) of the IRPF Regulation: «No existirá obligación de practicar retención o ingreso a cuenta sobre las rentas siguientes: […] g) Los rendimientos procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos en los siguientes supuestos: 1.º Cuando se trate de arrendamiento de vivienda por empresas para sus empleados. 2.º Cuando las rentas satisfechas por el arrendatario a un mismo arrendador no superen los 900 euros anuales. 3.º Cuando la actividad del arrendador esté clasificada en alguno de los epígrafes del grupo 861 de la Sección Primera de las Tarifas del Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas […] o en algún otro epígrafe que faculte para la actividad de arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de bienes inmuebles urbanos, y aplicando al valor catastral de los inmuebles destinados al arrendamiento o subarrendamiento las reglas para determinar la cuota establecida en los epígrafes del citado grupo 861, no hubiese resultado cuota cero. A estos efectos, el arrendador deberá acreditar frente al arrendatario el cumplimiento del citado requisito, en los términos que establezca el Ministro de Economía y Hacienda». ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Section three of the Order of 20 November 2000: the proof «se efectuará mediante entrega al arrendatario o subarrendatario de certificación de la Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria en la que se acredite que el arrendador o subarrendador figura dado de alta en el censo del impuesto por alguno de los epígrafes antes citados, sin que resulte o pudiera resultar, en su caso, cuota cero, y que no ha presentado declaración de baja por los mismos». And: «Dicha certificación tendrá vigencia durante el año natural al que corresponda su expedición, salvo que se modifique la situación censal del obligado tributario». ↩︎ ↩︎
Articles 60.1.e) and 61.i) of the Corporate Income Tax Regulation (Royal Decree 634/2015): withholding must be applied to «las rentas procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos, aun cuando constituyan ingresos derivados de explotaciones económicas»; and there is no obligation to withhold when «la renta satisfecha por el arrendatario a un mismo arrendador no supere los 900 euros anuales» or in the other cases listed in article 61.i). ↩︎
Article 100 of the IRPF Regulation: «La retención a practicar sobre los rendimientos procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos, cualquiera que sea su calificación, será el resultado de aplicar el porcentaje del 19 por ciento sobre todos los conceptos que se satisfagan al arrendador, excluido el Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido. Este porcentaje se reducirá en el 60 por ciento cuando el inmueble urbano esté situado en Ceuta o Melilla, en los términos previstos en el artículo 68.4 de la Ley del Impuesto». ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Article 78.1 of the IRPF Regulation: «Con carácter general, la obligación de retener nacerá en el momento en que se satisfagan o abonen las rentas correspondientes». ↩︎
Binding ruling V1869-21 of the Directorate-General for Taxes, 15 June 2021: «mientras las rentas derivadas del contrato de arrendamiento de un inmueble no se satisfagan, no nacerá sobre las mismas la obligación de retener, y por lo tanto, tampoco existirá obligación de ingresarlas a través del modelo 115». ↩︎
Article 65.1 of the Corporate Income Tax Regulation: «las obligaciones de retener y de ingresar a cuenta nacerán en el momento de la exigibilidad de las rentas, dinerarias o en especie, sujetas a retención o ingreso a cuenta, respectivamente, o en el de su pago o entrega si es anterior». ↩︎
Section seven of the Order of 20 November 2000: filing and payment «se efectuará en los veinte primeros días naturales de los meses de abril, julio, octubre y enero en relación con las cantidades retenidas y los ingresos a cuenta efectuados por el primero, segundo, tercero y cuarto trimestre del año natural, respectivamente». And: «Los vencimientos de plazo que coincidan con un sábado o día inhábil se entenderán trasladados al primer día hábil inmediato siguiente». Same deadline in article 108.1 of the IRPF Regulation. There is a monthly regime for large companies, not covered here. ↩︎
Article 108.1, last paragraph, of the IRPF Regulation: «El retenedor u obligado a ingresar a cuenta presentará declaración negativa cuando, a pesar de haber satisfecho rentas sometidas a retención o ingreso a cuenta, no hubiera procedido, por razón de su cuantía, la práctica de retención o ingreso a cuenta alguno. No procederá presentación de declaración negativa cuando no se hubieran satisfecho, en el período de declaración, rentas sometidas a retención e ingreso a cuenta». ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Binding ruling V1326-06 of the Directorate-General for Taxes, 4 July 2006 (a professional renting premises from a company with a single annual rent due on 31 December): the obligation to withhold «nacerá en ese momento» and the return for the amount withheld must be filed in the first twenty calendar days of January; and there is no need to deregister and re-register in the census between payments. The ruling was issued under the 2004 Corporate Income Tax Regulation; the rule that no nil return is filed when nothing was paid is still in article 108.1 of the IRPF Regulation (previous note). ↩︎
Article 108.2 of the IRPF Regulation: «El retenedor u obligado a ingresar a cuenta deberá presentar en los primeros veinte días naturales del mes de enero una declaración anual de las retenciones e ingresos a cuenta efectuados. No obstante, en el caso de que esta declaración se presente en soporte directamente legible por ordenador o haya sido generado mediante la utilización, exclusivamente, de los correspondientes módulos de impresión desarrollados, a estos efectos, por la Administración tributaria, el plazo de presentación será el comprendido entre el 1 de enero y el 31 de enero del año siguiente al del que corresponde dicha declaración». It may require «una relación nominativa de los perceptores» with «Nombre y apellidos», «Número de identificación fiscal», the income received and the «Retención practicada o ingreso a cuenta efectuado». ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Section eight of the Order of 20 November 2000: approves the 180 forms «Retenciones e ingresos a cuenta sobre determinadas rentas o rendimientos procedentes del arrendamiento o subarrendamiento de inmuebles urbanos. Resumen anual», made up of a «hoja-resumen» and «hojas interiores de relación de perceptores». ↩︎ ↩︎
Articles 99.4 and 99.5 of the IRPF Act (Ley 35/2006): «En todo caso, los sujetos obligados a retener o a ingresar a cuenta asumirán la obligación de efectuar el ingreso en el Tesoro, sin que el incumplimiento de aquella obligación pueda excusarles de ésta». And: «Cuando la retención no se hubiera practicado o lo hubiera sido por un importe inferior al debido, por causa imputable exclusivamente al retenedor u obligado a ingresar a cuenta, el perceptor deducirá de la cuota la cantidad que debió ser retenida». ↩︎ ↩︎
Article 27.2 of the General Tax Act (LGT): «El recargo será un porcentaje igual al 1 por ciento más otro 1 por ciento adicional por cada mes completo de retraso […]. Si la presentación […] se efectúa una vez transcurridos 12 meses desde el término del plazo establecido para la presentación, el recargo será del 15 por ciento […]. En estos casos, se exigirán los intereses de demora». Requires no «requerimiento previo» from the tax authority (art. 27.1). ↩︎