Housing rental companies must hire at least one full-time employee

Access to the special regime for entities dedicated to housing rental requires compliance with strict requirements that go beyond the mere ownership and rental of real estate. The Dirección General de Tributos (DGT) has clarified the need to have human resources so that said activity is considered, for tax purposes, an economic activity.

What the DGT has ruled

The inquiry asked whether an entity could benefit from the special regime provided for in Articles 48 and following of Law 27/2014 (Corporate Tax Law) in the 2025 fiscal year, even without having full-time staff hired. The tax authority's criterion is categorical: for real estate rental to constitute an economic activity, it is indispensable to use, at a minimum, one person employed through a labor contract and on a full-time basis.

In the case analyzed, since the inquirer did not have workers, the administration determines that the minimum requirement necessary to qualify the activity as economic is not met, which makes it impossible to apply the special regime for entities dedicated to housing rental.

What it means for you

If you manage a company whose corporate purpose is housing rental, you must know that the company's operating structure is decisive for its tax treatment. It is not enough to comply with the objective requirements of the regulations or the nature of the properties; the existence of a personnel structure is the element that validates the economic activity before the Agencia Tributaria (Tax Agency).

Companies operating without full-time employees will be excluded from this special regime, which could result in a different tax burden than the one sought through this specific Corporate Tax model.

What should be done

It is necessary to evaluate the cost structure and the organization of the company's rental activity. If the objective is to be taxed under the special regime for housing rental, the entity must ensure that it has the human resources required by the regulations to avoid contingencies in the tax settlement. It is recommended to analyze the current staff situation and the feasibility of complying with this minimum labor hiring requirement.