Modelo 115 quarterly withholding tax return on commercial property rentals

Legal basis and things to bear in mind

• Deadline: 1-20 of the month following the end of the quarter. Direct debit: until the 15th. The 4T is submitted between 1-20 January.
• Withholding rate: 19 % (art. 100 of the IRPF Regulation). It is applied by whoever PAYS the rent, not by whoever receives it: the tenant, and only if it is a legal person or entity (including a comunidad de propietarios, a homeowners' association), a taxpayer carrying on an economic activity who pays the rent in the course of that activity, or a non-resident with a permanent establishment (art. 76.1). A private individual renting a home to live in does not withhold.
• THE BASE IS NOT JUST THE RENT. Art. 100 says "all items paid to the landlord, excluding VAT": the IBI (council property tax) passed on, the community fee, special levies and utilities in the landlord's name all count. Withholding only on the headline rent is the costliest mistake, because the withholder answers for the difference, not the landlord. And you withhold in the quarter of PAYMENT, not of the invoice.
• WITHHOLDING IS NOT REQUIRED in three closed cases under art. 75.3.g): housing rented by companies for their employees; rents paid by the tenant to the same landlord that do NOT exceed 900 € a year (exactly 900 also escapes, and the limit is measured per tenant-landlord pair, not per property); and a landlord classified under IAE group 861 who, applying that group's quota rules, does not end up with a zero quota.
• THE GROUP 861 EXEMPTION IS NOT TAKEN ON TRUST. It is evidenced with an AEAT certificate stating that the landlord is registered under a group 861 heading with a non-zero quota, and that certificate is valid only for the calendar year it was issued in. If it is missing or from last year, the one who stopped withholding is the tenant, and the one who pays the assessment is the tenant.
• NOT HAVING TO WITHHOLD DOES NOT MEAN NOT HAVING TO FILE. Art. 108.1 requires a NEGATIVE return when rents subject to withholding were paid but, given their amount, no withholding was due. Only someone who paid no rent at all that quarter is excused. Concluding "no withholding, no filing" is the infringement of art. 198 of the General Tax Act.
• A CORPORATE LANDLORD DOES NOT REMOVE THE WITHHOLDING. Modelo 115 covers IRPF, corporate income tax and non-resident income tax for permanent establishments, and art. 100 withholds "whatever the classification" of the income. Renting the premises from a property-holding SL and not withholding for that reason is a frequent mistake.
• Ceuta and Melilla: the 19 % is reduced by 60 %, that is to 7,6 %, but only if the landlord benefits from the deduction for income obtained there under art. 68.4 of the IRPF Act. The property simply being located in the city is not enough.
• Two duties that come with Modelo 115 and get forgotten: telling the landlord the withholding applied at the moment of payment, with the rate used (art. 108.4), and issuing them an annual certificate of what was withheld before the IRPF filing period opens (art. 108.3).
• Annual closing: Modelo 180, the annual summary of Modelo 115, with a nominal list of each landlord, their NIF, the rent and the withholding. It must reconcile with the sum of the four quarters.
• Monthly rather than quarterly filing for large companies and those on the monthly VAT refund register (art. 108.1, second paragraph, by reference to art. 71.3.1.º and 2.º of the VAT Regulation). The paragraph on public administrations with budgets over 6 million does NOT reach rental income.