According to the General Directorate of Taxes, this offer of telephone assistance to address incidents during the stay in a tourist apartment is not a service inherent to the hotel industry, so it does not affect the VAT exemption if no other hotel services are provided.
Like any other activity, the rental of homes or tourist apartments is subject to tax obligations.
In the field of indirect taxation, numerous rulings from the General Directorate of Taxes (DGT) have highlighted the existing issues related to tourist rentals and the provision of services during the guest’s stay, mainly regarding the possibility of considering the service exempt under the provisions of Article 20. One. 23rd of Law 37/1992, of December 28, on Value Added Tax (VAT Law).
According to the regulation, the exemption is provided for the rental of “buildings or parts thereof intended exclusively for housing”. However, the exemption expressly excludes the rental of “furnished apartments or homes when the landlord is obliged to provide any of the complementary services inherent to the hotel industry, such as restaurant, cleaning, laundry, or other similar services”. Therefore, the question arises, in the context of tourist rentals, whether the services provided in these types of contracts can be classified as “complementary services inherent to the hotel industry”.
The difference that the application of the exemption entails is not trivial, due to the direct impact on the price at which the property can be offered, as well as the costs incurred derived from the applicable deduction regime.
The DGT has been defining “complementary services inherent to the hotel industry” as those that are “a normal complement to the lodging service,” mentioning, for example:
- The permanent and continuous reception and attention to the client in a space designated for this purpose.
- The periodic cleaning of the property and accommodation and periodic change of bed and bath linen, in particular, on a weekly basis and excluding those limited to the guest’s check-in and check-out.
- Making other services available to the client (laundry, luggage storage, press, reservations, etc.) and even, depending on the case, the provision of food and restaurant services.
Other services, such as cleaning common areas or technical assistance and maintenance, have not been considered sufficient to be regarded as “inherent to the hotel industry.”
In relation to this area, the recent DGT ruling V1096-24, of May 22, addresses the cases in which, in compliance with the requirements of the regulations of certain autonomous communities, landlords of tourist or vacation rental homes must have a 24-hour telephone assistance service available to the tenant to address and resolve any incident immediately. Specifically, the inquirer asked whether this mandatory service by legal provision can be considered as “inherent to the hotel industry” for the purpose of excluding the application of the exemption.
The DGT has confirmed that these services are not classified as such, as they are common practice in housing rental contracts. Therefore, a rental in which, in addition to the transfer of the property itself, the only service provided is 24-hour telephone assistance to address any incident, will be considered exempt.
Laura Moreno Caparros
