10% VAT on Málaga holiday lets: what the fallen decree means

The housing decree set 10% VAT and a 31-night cap on holiday lets, then fell in Congress on 2 October. What still applies to a Málaga VUT and what to do.

Last Tuesday Spain's Official State Gazette finally published VAT on holiday lets. Not the 21% announced in July, but 10% from 1 December 2026, alongside a 31-day cap on tourist stays, property-tax surcharges in stressed areas and seven-figure fines for platforms. Three days later, on Friday 2 October, Congress repealed the whole decree. If you own a licensed holiday let (VUT) in Málaga, here is what was about to change, what still applies and why it is worth running the numbers anyway.

Last reviewed: 2 October 2026, after the vote in Congress. This page will be updated when the repeal is published in the BOE and if the government brings the measures back.

In short: Royal Decree-law 26/2026 set 10% VAT on stays of up to 30 nights from 1 December 2026 and a 31-day limit on tourist stays from 1 October. Congress repealed it on 2 October. Today your VUT remains VAT-exempt if you provide no hotel-type services, there is no national 31-day cap, and the rules that actually govern a Málaga holiday let (the moratorium, Decree 31/2024, community votes, guest registration) have not changed.

What the decree said about holiday lets

Royal Decree-law 26/2026, published on 30 September and in force on 1 October, was mostly a residential-rental decree, but it carried a chapter on tourist homes. According to the published text and the specialist press:

• 10% VAT from 1 December 2026. Renting furnished homes stopped being VAT-exempt when the same guest stayed 30 nights or fewer and the home was not the landlord's main residence. Owners already providing hotel-type services stayed at 10%, as now. The reduced rate, not the 21% of the July draft.
• A 31-day cap on tourist stays from 1 October. Beyond that, the agreement became a seasonal lease needing a real, written reason for the temporary stay, with the burden of proof on the landlord.
• IBI surcharges in stressed areas. Councils in municipalities with a declared stressed area could add up to 50% to the property tax on tourist homes, 100% for owners of two or more and 150% from four, according to published reports.
• Platforms. A penalty regime tied to the national digital single window for rentals: failing to transmit listing data on schedule was a very serious offence, with fines of up to one million euros or 2% of global turnover.

What happened on 2 October

A royal decree-law must be ratified by Congress within 30 days. The extraordinary plenary on Friday 2 October voted on both housing decrees, 26/2026 and 27/2026, and rejected them with PP, Vox, Junts and UPN voting against. Unratified, they are repealed (article 86.2 of the Constitution) and their effects cease once the BOE publishes the resolution. The full package, including the residential-rental side, is covered in what the Maricarmen decrees mean for Málaga landlords.

That makes two attempts in 2026 to put VAT on holiday lets and neither arrived: the 21% draft of July was postponed, and the 10% decree of September lasted two days. Our holiday rental regulations summary says the same thing it said in August: when a rule is actually in force, you will see it there with its date.

What still applies to a VUT in Málaga

The repeal returns the framework to 29 September. For your tourist home that means:

• VAT. Exempt if you only let the home. 10% if you provide hotel-type services (cleaning during the stay, linen changes, breakfast). Neither 21% nor an automatic 10% for short stays.
• Length of stay. No national 31-day cap. In Andalusia, Decree 28/2016 excludes stays of more than two months from the tourist regime; they are treated as seasonal leases.
• IBI. No surcharge. Andalusia has declared no stressed areas, so even with the decree alive it would not have applied in Málaga.
• Platforms and registration. EU Regulation 2024/1028 has applied since 20 May 2026 and obliges platforms to verify and transmit registration numbers. Spain's single-registry procedure (NRUA) was annulled by the Supreme Court in May 2026, but your VUT/MA code in all advertising (article 9.4 of Decree 28/2016) and guest registration through SES.Hospedajes remain mandatory.
• Community of owners. The three-fifths rule of Organic Law 1/2025 is unchanged and has no retroactive effect on existing activity.
• Moratorium. Málaga has admitted no new tourist accommodation on residential land since 25 July 2026, with a suspension of up to three years. Registered, compliant units are untouched.
• Non-resident tax. Modelo 210 (19% on net income for EU and EEA residents, 24% on gross income for everyone else) is unaffected by any of this.

The 10% VAT will be back on the table: run the numbers now

A fallen decree does not kill the idea. It has survived a draft, a decree and two votes, and the government says its ambition "goes beyond this royal decree". An owner who manages well does not wait for the BOE to know what it would cost. And here is the part almost nobody explains: the real impact of 10% VAT is not 10% of your income.

When an activity stops being exempt and becomes taxable, the VAT you pay on your costs becomes deductible. Almost every cost of a holiday let carries 21%: the manager's commission, cleaning and laundry, replacements, small repairs, software.

A simplified example with round figures, not advice. A flat billing 3,000 euros a month at the final guest price, with a manager at 20%, 300 euros of cleaning and 200 euros of other costs, all carrying 21% VAT:

• Today, exempt: you pay close to 2,800 euros a year of VAT on commission, cleaning and the rest with no way to recover it. Your net is about 1,670 euros a month.
• With 10% VAT and the same guest price: the taxable base becomes 2,727 euros and output VAT 273 euros, but you deduct about 220 euros of input VAT and only pay the difference, about 53 euros. Your monthly net lands between roughly 1,630 and 1,680 euros depending on how your manager calculates the commission.

In other words, with the guest paying the same, the impact sits between zero and about 3% of turnover, not 10%. The real cost would have been administrative (invoices, quarterly VAT returns, VAT books) and commercial, if the market did not absorb a price increase. If you want this applied to your own property with your real costs, ask for it in the free study and we return it in the same document as the income forecast.

Two honest caveats. For a non-resident owner, or one who also uses the home personally, the calculation has nuances (pro-rata rules, formal obligations, registration as a VAT taxpayer in Spain) that only your tax adviser can settle. And none of this is in force: it is a simulation so that the next headline does not catch you deciding blind.

The 31-day cap: the lesson that holds even though it fell

What the decree demanded for stays beyond 31 days is close to what a well-run mid-term let in Málaga already looks like: a seasonal contract, a real written reason, a defined term. In Andalusia, stays of more than two months leave the tourist regime anyway.

If your VUT combines holiday lets in high season with mid-term stays from October to May, the 31-day cap would not have touched you. Nor will it if it returns. What is worth checking now is that your mid-term contracts state the reason for the temporary stay (remote work, relocation, a course, treatment) and are not chained without cause. Good practice today, a requirement tomorrow.

Where the opportunity is for licence holders

• Regulatory noise, fewer competitors. Every VAT announcement, decree and moratorium pushes some owners to sell or switch to long-term lets. For those who keep a registered, compliant, well-managed unit, the market narrows. According to council figures reported in July 2026, Málaga had 12,754 licensed tourist homes, of which about 8,600 were active. With new registrations suspended, that ceiling no longer rises.
• Platforms will get stricter, not looser. Decree or no decree, the EU regulation obliges Airbnb and Booking to verify registration numbers and share data. A listing with the correct VUT/MA code and up-to-date guest registration stops being paperwork and becomes a competitive edge.
• Mid-term lets are the winter insurance. Contracts of more than two months with a cause, demand from digital nomads and relocations, and a framework no reform has touched. Keeping the calendar open to both models is worth more than picking one.
• Direct bookings reduce dependence. If part of your bookings come through your own channel, every turn of the screw on platforms hurts less.

Three things to do this week

• Nothing drastic: do not deregister the VUT, do not raise prices just in case, do not change model because of a headline.
• Ask your manager or adviser for a 10% VAT simulation with your real costs. If they cannot produce one, that tells you something about your manager.
• Check that your VUT/MA code appears on every listing, that SES.Hospedajes is up to date and that your mid-term contracts state a written cause.

Frequently asked questions

Do holiday lets in Spain have to charge VAT in 2026?

No, unless the owner provides hotel-type services, in which case the rate is 10%. The 10% VAT on stays of up to 30 nights in Royal Decree-law 26/2026 was due to apply from 1 December 2026, but Congress repealed the decree on 2 October 2026. The 21% announced in July was never published.

Is there a 31-day limit on tourist rentals in Spain?

Not at national level. Royal Decree-law 26/2026 said tourist stays could not exceed 31 days from 1 October 2026, but it was repealed on 2 October. In Andalusia the rule in Decree 28/2016 still applies: stays of more than two months fall outside the tourist-home regime and are treated as seasonal leases.

Can Málaga raise the IBI on my holiday let?

There is no specific surcharge today. The repealed decree allowed surcharges of up to 50%, 100% or 150% depending on how many tourist homes the owner held, but only in municipalities with a declared stressed area, and the Andalusian government has declared none. A future surcharge would need a new law and a stressed-area declaration in Málaga.

What still applies to a Málaga VUT after the repeal?

Everything that already did: registration in the Andalusian Tourism Register under Decree 31/2024, the VUT/MA code in all advertising, guest registration through SES.Hospedajes, the three-fifths rule of Organic Law 1/2025 in communities of owners, Málaga's municipal moratorium since 25 July 2026 and the usual taxation, including modelo 210 for non-residents.

What would 10% VAT really cost me?

Less than it looks if your costs carry VAT, because once the activity is no longer exempt you can deduct the input VAT on commission, cleaning and maintenance. In an example where the guest pays the same, the net impact sits between 0% and about 3% of turnover, plus the administrative load of quarterly returns. The exact figure depends on your costs and tax position: ask your adviser or include it in our free study.

Official sources and references

• Royal Decree-law 26/2026 of 29 September (BOE, 30 September 2026), repealed by Congress on 2 October 2026
• La Moncloa: Council of Ministers press note, 29 September 2026
• Spanish Tax Agency: VAT on tourist apartment rentals
• Decree 28/2016 on tourist homes in Andalusia (articles 1.2.b and 9.4)
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 on data collection and sharing for short-term rentals

This page informs, it does not advise. Application details of the repealed decree (surcharge bands, fine amounts, the vote) come from the press and specialist law firms, checked on the day of writing; the legal text is the one in the BOE. The VAT example is a simulation. For your own case, speak to your tax adviser.

If your manager has said nothing about any of this all week, something is wrong. Switching managers takes about 10 days and keeps your calendar open, and our property management page has the published commission and the free 48-hour study, with the VAT simulation included if you ask for it.