How P2P Interest Is Taxed in Spain: IRPF, Modelo 720 and Defaults

For a Spanish tax resident, interest earned through a crowdlending platform is ordinary investment income: it goes into the annual Renta declaration, it is taxed at the savings rates, and because a foreign platform does not withhold Spanish tax, the declaring is up to you. None of this is complicated, but two details, the rate scale that changed in 2025 and the Modelo 720 question, are widely misreported, so they deserve a careful walk-through.

The standing caveat first: this is general information, not tax advice. Figures below describe the position for 2025 income, declared in 2026, as we understand it. For your own declaration, check the current AEAT guidance or speak to an asesor fiscal.

What kind of income it is, and at what rates

Interest from lending money is a rendimiento del capital mobiliario, income from ceding your own capital to third parties, and it is taxed in the base del ahorro, the savings base of the IRPF. The scale for 2025 income:

19% up to €6,000 · 21% from €6,000 to €50,000 · 23% from €50,000 to €200,000 · 27% from €200,000 to €300,000 · 30% above €300,000.

Note the last figure: the top rate rose from 28% to 30% with effect from 1 January 2025 (Ley 7/2024). Articles still quoting 28% are describing the pre-2025 scale. The brackets apply to your whole savings base together, interest, dividends and capital gains combined, and marginally: only the part above each threshold pays the higher rate.

The foreign-platform difference: no retención

A Spanish bank or a Spanish-domiciled platform withholds 19% at source, so part of the tax is prepaid before the money reaches you. A platform domiciled abroad is not a Spanish withholding agent: your interest arrives gross, nothing is prepaid, and the full amount is settled through the annual declaration, the Modelo 100, filed in the Renta campaign. For 2025 income the online filing window is expected to run from early April to 30 June 2026; confirm the exact dates in the AEAT calendar when the campaign opens.

What you declare is the gross interest credited during the calendar year. The platform's annual account statement is your source document, and the one to keep.

Modelo 720: mostly no, with one real catch

Modelo 720 is the informative declaration of assets held abroad, due when a category of foreign assets exceeds €50,000. Whether P2P investments fall under it is the most-asked question in this area, and the answer has two parts.

The loan claims themselves: generally no. The Dirección General de Tributos has taken the position (consulta vinculante V1342-18) that participations in loans through a foreign crowdlending platform which are not represented by securities do not fall within the Modelo 720 reporting categories. Most plain crowdlending claims are exactly that, contractual loan participations, not securities. Structures differ, though, and securitised instruments can be a different case, so this is a point to confirm for your specific holdings rather than assume.

The cash balance: potentially yes. Money sitting uninvested in a foreign platform account is a different animal from the loan claims, and a balance that pushes the relevant category over €50,000 can be reportable. If you hold meaningful uninvested cash abroad at year-end, this is worth a conversation with an adviser, because Modelo 720 penalties are not the place to improvise.

Defaults: deductible, but the mechanics are specific

When a borrower defaults, Spanish law does allow the loss to be recognised, as a pérdida patrimonial, but not merely because the loan is late. Under article 14.2.k) of the IRPF law, the loss becomes imputable when one of the defined events occurs: a judicially approved debt reduction (quita) takes effect, the borrower's insolvency process concludes in defined ways, or one year passes from the start of judicial enforcement proceedings without the claim being satisfied. A platform marking a loan "defaulted" starts none of these clocks by itself.

Two further points worth knowing: the loss belongs to the general base, not the savings base, with offset against other general-base income capped at 25% and a four-year carry-forward for the rest; and if the money is later recovered, the recovered amount is taxed as a gain in the year it arrives. The practical takeaway is unglamorous: keep the documentation of any recovery process, and treat the deduction as something to confirm with an adviser rather than claim casually.

The Swiss angle, and why "they will not know" is the wrong plan

CrowdHive operates from Switzerland. Switzerland's 35% withholding tax applies to specific categories such as bond interest and Swiss bank deposits; ordinary loan claims are typically not among them, so plain crowdlending interest normally arrives without Swiss withholding, and under the Spain-Switzerland double taxation convention interest is in any case generally taxable in your state of residence, Spain. The platform's own tax documentation is the authoritative reference for its specific structure.

Separately: Spain and Switzerland both participate in the automatic exchange of financial account information, and have exchanged data annually since 2018. The AEAT very plausibly already receives information about Spanish residents' foreign platform accounts. Declaring properly is not only the lawful route; it is also the only realistic one.

The short version

• P2P interest is savings-base income: 19% to 30% depending on your total savings income, declared in the Modelo 100.
• A foreign platform withholds nothing for Spain, so declare the gross interest yourself; keep the annual statement.
• Modelo 720: plain loan claims generally fall outside it per DGT doctrine, but an uninvested cash balance above the threshold can be reportable, and securitised structures may differ.
• Defaults are deductible only once specific legal events occur, in the general base, with a 25% offset cap and four-year carry-forward.
• Automatic information exchange means the tax office likely knows the account exists. Plan accordingly.

And the framing that matters more than any of it: tax is applied to the return you actually earn, after defaults and idle cash. The discipline in Your First 30 Days on CrowdHive and the honest cost picture in Fees, Bonuses and Referrals determine that number; the Agencia Tributaria only takes its share of it.

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CrowdHive is a crowdlending platform operated by BellaVista Invest One AG (UID CHE-373.552.596), Zug, Switzerland, affiliated with the SRO VQF and supervised under Article 24 AMLA in respect of its anti-money-laundering obligations. CrowdHive is not a bank, balances are not covered by esisuisse or any depositor protection scheme, and lending involves the risk of partial or total loss of capital. This article is general information about Spanish tax rules as understood for 2025 income declared in 2026; it is not tax advice, not legal advice and not a substitute for consulting a tax professional about your individual situation. Rules, figures and filing dates may change.