BarcelonaSummer is the time of year when tourist accommodations become more troublesome than ever. In a new season that is expected to record-breakingBarcelona City Council is gathering the first results of a tax regularization plan for the sector, carried out in collaboration with the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC). This plan was launched in the third quarter of last year and has raised more than €287,000 with the first 20 cases opened. "It's an obligation to ensure they pay the taxes they owe," says Jordi Valls, Barcelona's Deputy Mayor for Economy.
Between now and 2028, the municipal government will review all tax procedures for those companies that do the most business in this sector. Specifically, it will inspect a total of 463 companies with an annual turnover of more than €1 million and verify whether they have registered for the Economic Activities Tax (IAE) and are paying their dues. To this end, the ATC has provided information on accommodations that have paid the regional tourist tax, cross-referencing this data with the legal entities registered in the IAE (Tax on Property Rentals).
In Barcelona, nearly fifty companies manage 2,561 tourist accommodations, of which 2,281 are for tourist use—apartments rented for less than a month—around 23% of the 10,000 in the entire Catalan capital. Mayor Jaume Collboni has pledged not to renew their licenses until 2028. The inspection campaign will also review the correct taxation of 280 tourist apartments—an entire apartment building.
In the first phase, which will last until next year, around one hundred ongoing investigations will be completed, affecting 1,300 tourist-use homes and 105 apartments. Between 2026 and 2028, the remaining companies will be inspected. The twenty or so cases already closed have increased the municipal IAE tax register by almost €80,000. The City Council's plan also allows for detecting whether work has been carried out without paying the tax on construction, installations, and works (ICIO), which taxes any construction, work, or installation requiring a building or planning permit, as well as regularizing the tax based on the final cost of the work.
No news on Airbnb
The ongoing dispute between Barcelona City Council and Airbnb is still far from resolved. The council has not received any response to the proposed new agreement it sent to the platform. at the beginning of July, when he gave him a 15-day notice. "There's no news," Valls emphasized. The new protocol tightens controls to combat illegal tourist apartments and requires the council to have unlimited access to data from listings published on Airbnb, including the account holders of bank accounts where payments for the accommodations are received.
What is the IAE?
It is a fee that must be paid by companies that invoice more than one million euros.
The Economic Activities Tax (IAE) is a tax levied on the development of economic activities (business, professional, and artistic) within a municipality. Companies and entities must pay the tax if their net turnover for the previous two years is equal to or greater than one million euros. For example, a company with a turnover of one million euros in 2018 must pay the tax in 2020.
The IAE declaration must be filed when starting a new activity (registration declaration), changing tax details or elements, adding premises (variation declaration), or ceasing the current activity (deregistration declaration). It must also be filed when the individual is entitled to an exemption or loses it. Declarations must be filed with the Spanish Tax Agency. Settlement and collection are handled by Barcelona City Council, while the Municipal Tax Institute is responsible for conducting the corresponding inspections.
