In Spain, the personal income tax filing period has begun, and property owners who have been unable to collect rent from their tenants now find themselves in the absurd paradox of having to declare—and pay taxes on—income they have never actually received.
Current Spanish legislation shields “okupas” (squatters), who take over empty homes by force, and so-called “inkiocupas” (tenant-squatters), who pay the first month or two of rent and then stop paying the landlord entirely. They are protected to such an extent that the owner cannot suspend payment for utilities they are responsible for—such as electricity and water—nor attempt to evict the defaulting tenants themselves. Owners can initiate legal action for eviction, but this process involves significant costs, takes many months, and often ends in failure if the tenants are declared “vulnerable.” Meanwhile, owners must continue paying for the supplies the tenants enjoy and, even more painfully, declaring the uncollected rent as income. The only exception is if they can prove they have initiated a judicial procedure, which may ultimately prove completely futile.
Requiring thousands of owners to pay taxes on rent they haven’t collected may be legal—as the Treasury insists—but it is an insult to intelligence and justice. This situation does nothing but discourage homeowners from renting out their properties, pushing them toward other options like vacation rentals or putting them up for sale. Ultimately, it only further strains a rental market that is completely broken in Spain due to a lack of supply and a long series of political measures that are clearly counterproductive.
