La diferencia entre AT y VUT es de IVA y riesgo: la VUT, solo con limpieza de entrada y salida, está exenta de IVA pero no deduce nada; el AT, con servicios de hostelería, tributa al 10% y deduce el IVA soportado en reforma y gastos. En un edificio de 240.000 € de bruto, el resultado antes de IVA recuperable es 121.200 € en VUT y 116.400 € en AT. Elige AT si vas a meter CAPEX serio.
A competitor who buys an entire building for tourist operation usually receives the deal sold as "tourist apartments." But that word hides two very different fiscal figures and bad choice doesn't cost a fine: net return points and thousands of EUR at output. The right question isn't "Do I rent it at Airbnb?" but "Do I structured it as tourist apartment (AT) under economic activityor as a set of Visionized housing (VUT)?".
The two figures rent at the same demand. The difference lies with what goes under: VAT, license, urban ground and, above all, how your asset will be valued by tomorrow's buyer. That guide translates the decision into euro, without jargon and with every market figure attached to its source.
The two figures, with no euphemisms
El nombre exacto cambia por comunidad autónoma —VUT en unas, VV o HUT en otras, AT como categoría aparte—, porque tras la anulación del Registro Único estatal (RD 1312/2024) por la STS 620 / 2026 (May of 2026) commands an autonomous code, and not a state registry. The economic border is the same throughout Spain and the provision of hotel services:
VUT - housing for tourist use
Accommodation rental without hotel type services. Just get-in / out cleaning, change of clothes to check-out and maintenance. Opera about residential use. For VAT purposes, free (AEAT, 2025). En propiedad horizontal, queda sujeta al veto 3/5 de la comunidad.
AT - tourist apartment (economic activity)
Exploitation continuous with hotel services: reception, regular cleaning and changing of clothing. It usually requires tertiary use accommodation and activity leave. For VAT purposes, tax to 10% y deduce el IVA soportado (AEAT, 2025).
To an entire one-owner building, this isn't a nuance issue: it's the decision that defines the business model. And here's the first structural advantage of the complete block, that scattering VUT doesn't have.
The neighbor veto: The whole building plays in another league
Reforms of the Horizontal Property Act (Ley Orgánica 1/2025as from 3's April 2025) requires a most 3 / 5 from the community To allow new housing for tourist use on free flats and to allow the same majority to restrict or prohibit them. For a VUT investor scattered in a multi-owner building, that's a regulatory risk inside his own ladder: The asset can be vetoed by its neighbours.
The A complete building of a single owner dodge that vetoNo community to vote. It's one of the best and most powerful arguments of the whole block as an asset class. We have developed it completely. The advantage of not relying on the community of neighboursand forms part of the general thesis of buy a complete building for tourist rental.
VAT: The factor that moves NOI most
Here's the most tangible financial difference. According to Tax Agency, 2025:
- VUT without hotel services → VAT free. Do not have an VAT impact on the guest but do not deduct VAT supported Reforms, furniture, supplies and management.
- AT with hotel services → VAT to 10% (No 21%) as an accommodation establishment. Impact 10% and deduces supported VAT from your investments and expenses.
¿Qué servicios cruzan la línea? La AEAT (2025) lo concreta: recepción y atención permanente, regular cleaning of accommodation during stay, regular change of bed and bathroom and extras as as laundry or luggage custody. Cleaning only at entrance / exit and technical maintenance No they count: by themselves they maintain the exemption.
Para un edificio que va a hacer una reforma seria antes de abrir, la capacidad de deducir el IVA de esa reforma —tipicamente el 21% de un CAPEX de seis cifras— puede ser la diferencia entre dos modelos enteros. Esa decisión hay que tomarla before signingNot after.
Euro cascade pre- signature: AT vs VUT on the same building
The raw person selling an announcement is identical in both figures. What changes is what gets into his pocket. Take an illustrative building from 6 units with Annual gross income 240.000 € (figure for example, and we have no market) and let's get down to the net in each figure. The decisive difference: VUT does not get VAT, AT does - but AT loads service structure and, on a tax basis, VAT is entered to Finance. To compare the owner's flow we use the net amount held by holding.
| Concept (an example building, 6) | Scattered VUT | AT economic activity |
|---|---|---|
| Annual gross income | 240.000 € | 240.000 € |
| − OTA Commission (15-18%) / direct channel | −38.400 € | −38.400 € |
| − Cleaning and laundry | −21.600 € | −26.400 € |
| − IBI, community and supplies | −18.000 € | −18.000 € |
| − Professional management | −24.000 € | −24.000 € |
| − CAPEX / Reservations / Abbreviations | −16.800 € | −16.800 € |
| Operating result (before VAT recoverable) | 121.200 € | 116.400 € |
| Retirement and expenditure) | Undeductible | + recovers 21% / 10% from Investment VAT |
Cifras de ejemplo para ilustrar la mecánica, no datos de mercado. Comisión OTA 15–18% vs canal directo Tudesvío 10% (datos internos Bliss). IVA: AEAT, 2025.
The AT loads some more of the costs of continuing services but the VAT recovery from reform and expenditure and leave an asset with a business account. The VUT is lighter to operate and, without services, prevents passed VAT - it fits well when the CAPEX is low and the strategy is heritage. No universal answer: there's an answer to you Building. The same logic of reducing from raw to net we apply the actual profitability of a tourist building.
Retirement and license: what decides if figure is feasible
Figure AT with a vocation for continuous economic activity usually requires tertiary use accommodation and a local activity licence - an autonomous tourist leave is not sufficient -. The VUT operates on residential use. That's why decision AT / VUT isn't just fiscal: it depends on the planning of the building you're buying.
If the block has residential use and you want to exploit it as AT, we have to evaluate the shift to tertiary: can be feasible but has cost, time and risk of denial that come directly into underwriting. To check this is part of the regulatory due diligence - we cover the town details Parthotel license and tourist use. The fiscal consequences of each figure we have developed at taxation of tourist rentaland if you invest from outside of Spain we should cross with tax treatment of non-resident foreign investorwhere VAT deduction and RNR tax change calculation.
The resale factor: Business under way vs. loose properties
Here's the least visible and most expensive impact. A building exploded as AT / economic activity That's how Business under way: has an audited operation account, stabilized NOI and an institutional buyer (SOCIMI, fund, family office) applying a chap. about that NOI. The scattered VUT are sold as Loan propertymore tied to the retail buyer and to the price per metro of the area.
To equal income, the asset with a clear and clear business account and leave better defends the multiple output y abre la puerta a deuda institucional que un piso suelto no alcanza. Es la diferencia entre vender seis pisos y vender un activo.
Bliss vs. generic content and fixed canon operator
Most of the AT / VUT content remains on the administrative label. And regular canon operators give you a flat income that puts ceiling To your upside without showing you the numbers. The approach of Bliss is the opposite: the cascade of euro pre- sign on the table, each figure with source, and a model that capture the upside Instead of giving it away.
| Criterion | Bliss Homes | Blog / generic advisor | Fixed canon operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT vs VUT decision with EUR cascade | That's right. | Just definition | No, you won't. |
| VAT and CAPEX model with your reform | Modeling | Generic | Opaca |
| Capture of the owner's upside | Soil and production | N / A | Canon = ceiling |
| Internal direct channel | Tudesvío 10% vs 15-18% OTAs | No | No |
| Regulation risk mapped by CAA | Yes | Surface | Just prime |
| Actual asset management | 87% occupation, improvement versus mean * | None | Yeah, impersonal. |
* Internal data from the Bliss portfolio (mean occupancy 87%, improved versus market average). Social proof of its own, with no market information.
How to decide, in three questions
1. How much CAPEX are you gonna put in?
Reforms high → VAT deduction from figure AT weighs greatly. The free VUT can suffice.
2. What's the ground say?
Tertiary use available → AT feasible output. Just residential → value cost and risk of change of use before signing.
3. What's your success?
Sale to institutional using chap rate → business currently under way (AT). Retirement piece by piece to retail → VUT can fit.
FAQ
AT or VUT for my whole building?
If the building is a single owner and you will exploit it as a continuous business with hotel-type services (reception, regular cleaning and changing of clothes), the figure of a tourist apartment (AT) as an economic activity usually better fit: you reduce supported VAT and the asset is valued as a business. If you prefer to exploit units as scattered VUT without continuous services, the operation will be lighter but lose VAT and the asset will be valued piece by piece. The decision depends on services, urban soil and exit strategy, and not fashion.
Can I deduct VAT with figure AT?
Yeah. When you provide your own hotel services (continuous reception, regular cleaning while at stay, changing bed and bathroom), the rental isn't exempt and tributes to the 10% as an accommodation establishment, according to the Tax Agency, 2025. By passing VAT you can deduct VAT supported by reform, furniture, supplies and expenses. VUT without services is exempt from VAT and therefore does not deduct VAT from its purchases.
What figure's better at the resale?
The building operated as AT / economic activity is sold as a run-up: it has an operating account, a stabilized NOI and an institutional buyer (SOCIMI) applying a chap rate. The dispersed VUT are sold as loose properties, more dependent on the retail buyer and price per metro. At equal income, clear-leave and business account assets tend to better uphold the output multiple.
What services turn a VUT into AT for VAT purposes?
Los servicios propios de la hostelería: recepción y atención permanente al cliente, limpieza periódica del alojamiento durante la estancia, cambio periódico de ropa de cama y baño, y extras como lavandería o custodia de equipaje (Agencia Tributaria, 2025). La limpieza solo a la entrada y salida, el cambio de ropa al check-in/check-out y el mantenimiento técnico NO cuentan como servicios hoteleros: por sí solos mantienen la exención de IVA.
The whole building dodge the veto of the neighbor community?
Sí. La reforma de la Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (Ley Orgánica 1/2025, en vigor desde el 3 de abril de 2025) exige mayoría de 3/5 de la comunidad para autorizar viviendas de uso turístico en pisos sueltos. Un edificio de un solo propietario no tiene comunidad que vote: no hay riesgo de veto vecinal. Es una de las ventajas estructurales del bloque completo frente a las VUT dispersas en régimen de propiedad horizontal.
Do I need tertiary ground for figure AT?
That's up to town planning. The operation as a tourist apartment with a vocation for continuous economic activity often requires tertiary care and local activity license, and not only an autonomous tourist high. The VUT operates on residential use. To check the building's urban use before buying is part of due diligence: the shift from use to tertiary can be feasible but has costs and deadlines that affect underwriting.
The only state registry NRUA decides the figure?
No. The Unique Retirement Record (RD 1312 / 2024) was annulled by the STS 620 / 2026 (May 2026). The figure of your asset is determined by the autonomous code (VUT, VV, HUT, AT by community) and by the local regulations, and not a state register. The exact status of your autonomous community's tourist decision should be verified before fiscal strategies are established.
What about platform VAT from 2028?
La Directiva UE 2025/516 (paquete VAT in the Digital Age) introduce la repercusión de IVA en estancias cortas vía plataformas a partir de 2028. Es un cambio de fondo para todo el sector de corta estancia, independiente de si tu activo es AT o VUT. No es motivo para precipitar la decisión hoy, pero sí para construir el modelo financiero con margen ante ese escenario.
The right figure's worth net yield points. Decide with numbers.
We modeling your building as AT and as VUT - with your CAPEX, your ground and your actual VAT - and we give you the pre-sign euro cascade so that you choose with data, not with an announcement label.