Transfer tax, stamp duty on deeds, inheritance allowances and tenancy deposits are set or run by Spain's 17 regions; VAT, non-resident income tax, the Civil Code, tenancy law and mortgage law are national. On a €300,000 resale home, transfer tax (ITP) at the general rate ranges from €12,000 (4%) in the Basque Country to €30,000 (10%) in Catalonia; a new home pays 10% VAT instead (7% IGIC in the Canary Islands) plus the region's stamp duty (AJD). Each of the 74 guides below answers one question, with its official sources and their date.
Foreign buyers
Buying property in Spain as a foreigner: the rules
Spanish law has no general ban or licence for foreigners who buy a home: the Civil Code gives foreigners the same civil rights as Spaniards, subject to special laws and treaties.
NIE number for property buyers in Spain
The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero, foreigner identity number) is the personal number Spain gives to a foreigner who has economic, professional or social ties with the country, such as buying a home. It is also a foreign individual's tax number.
Applying for a NIE from abroad: Canada and the UK
If you live abroad, article 205.4 of Real Decreto 1155/2024 sends your NIE request through the Spanish consular office of your country.
Spain's golden visa has ended: what changed
Spain's "golden visa" for investors, which allowed residence for a €500,000 property purchase, no longer exists for new applications. Ley Orgánica 1/2025 of 2 January emptied articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 with effect from 3 April 2025.
Non-resident property tax in Spain: imputed income
A non-resident who owns a Spanish home and does not let it is still taxed each year on a notional income, the renta imputada (imputed income).
Modelo 210: the non-resident tax return explained
Modelo 210 is the single self-assessment form a non-resident without a permanent establishment files with the Spanish tax agency (AEAT) for income from a Spanish home: imputed income when it is not let, rent, or the capital gain on a sale.
Renting out a Spanish home as a non-resident: tax
If you live outside Spain and let a Spanish home, the rent is taxed in Spain under the non-resident income tax. A Canadian, American or British owner pays 24% on the gross rent, with no deduction for expenses.
Selling Spanish property as a non-resident: 3% withholding
When a non-resident sells a Spanish property, the buyer must withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the tax agency on modelo 211 within one month of the transfer. The 3% is an advance, not the tax.
Tax representative for non-resident owners in Spain
Under article 10 of the non-resident income tax law, a tax representative living in Spain is compulsory for a taxpayer who is not resident in another EU member state in only some cases.
Spain-Canada tax treaty and Spanish property
The convention between Spain and Canada, signed in Ottawa on 23 November 1976, says that income from real estate and gains on selling real estate may be taxed by the country where the property is.
The Spain–UK tax treaty and your Spanish property
The convention between Spain and the United Kingdom signed in London on 14 March 2013 lets Spain tax income and capital gains from Spanish property (articles 6 and 13) and lets it tax the value of that property (article 21).
UK buyers in Spain after Brexit: what changed
Since the United Kingdom left the EU, a UK resident who owns a Spanish property is treated by Spain as a resident of a non-EU country.
Tax residency in Spain: the 183-day rule explained
Under article 9 of Spain's personal income tax law (IRPF, Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas), you are tax resident in Spain if you stay more than 183 days in a calendar year, or if the main base of your activities or economic interests is in Spain.
Wealth tax for non-residents who own Spanish property
A non-resident who owns property in Spain is liable to Spanish wealth tax (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio) only on assets located in Spain, a regime the law calls obligación real. The state allowance is €700,000, so many owners owe nothing.
Declaring a property purchase above €500,000 (form D-2A)
If you are not resident in Spain and buy Spanish real estate for more than €500,000, you must report the purchase to the Spanish Investment Registry on form D-2A within one month of the investment.
Military zones: when non-EU buyers need an authorisation
In certain parts of Spain, a foreigner who is not a national of an EU Member State needs a military authorisation from the Ministry of Defence before buying land or a building.
Buying in Spain without travelling: power of attorney
You can buy a Spanish home without being there on the day: you sign a power of attorney (poder) naming a representative in Spain, who then signs the public deed (escritura pública) for you before the Spanish notary.
Getting a Spanish mortgage as a non-resident
Ley 5/2019, Spain's national mortgage-credit law, protects every individual who borrows against a home, or to buy one, in Spain: the text has no condition about residence or nationality.
Cash limits when paying for property in Spain
Under article 7 of Ley 7/2012, a payment of €1,000 or more cannot be made in cash when one party acts as a business or professional.
Proposed tax on non-EU buyers in Spain: status, not law
Proposed, not law. On 15 October 2026 no Spanish law taxes, bans or limits the purchase of a home by a buyer from outside the EU simply because of where the buyer lives.
Purchase taxes by region
ITP: transfer tax on a resale home in Spain, by region
The Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales Onerosas (ITP, property transfer tax) is due when you buy a resale home in Spain, and the buyer pays it.
VAT and stamp duty on a new home in Spain
A new home bought from a developer in Spain is charged VAT (IVA) at 10% under article 91.Uno.1.7º of Ley 37/1992, or 4% for certain protected housing.
Canary Islands: IGIC on a new home and ITP on resale
In the Canary Islands, a new home is not charged Spanish VAT. It is charged IGIC (Impuesto General Indirecto Canario, the Canary Islands general indirect tax), whose general rate is 7%.
Catastro reference value: tax base on a Spanish purchase
When you buy a property in Spain, the tax base for the transfer tax (ITP) and for stamp duty (AJD) is no longer simply the price.
Stamp duty (AJD) on a Spanish mortgage: the lender pays
If you take a mortgage to buy a home in Spain, the stamp duty on the mortgage deed (Actos Jurídicos Documentados, AJD) is owed by the lender, not by you.
Reduced transfer tax for young buyers in Spain, by region
Fifteen Spanish regions cut the transfer tax (ITP, paid on a resale home) or the stamp duty (AJD) for young buyers, but each region sets its own age limit, price cap and income test, and the conditions are cumulative: you must meet all of them, not one.
Property transfer tax in Andalusia: 7% ITP and AJD
In Andalusia, buying a resale home costs a flat 7% transfer tax (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP), paid by the buyer. A new home from a developer carries 10% VAT (IVA, a national tax) plus 1.2% stamp duty (Actos Jurídicos Documentados, AJD) instead of ITP.
Buying in Catalonia: ITP from 10% to 13%, and 20%
Catalonia has the highest entry rate among the regions covered by Payotte: resale homes pay 10% ITP up to €600,000, and the effective rate climbs with the price to a top band of 13%, using an average-rate scale.
Madrid property tax: 6% ITP and the AJD scale
In the Community of Madrid the transfer tax on a resale home is 6% of the taxable value (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP), one of the lower general rates among the regions on the common tax system.
Valencian Community: 9% ITP since June 2026, 11% over €1m
The Valencian Community applies a 9% transfer tax (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP) to resale property for transactions falling due from 1 June 2026, and 11% on the entire value if that value is above €1 million.
Balearic Islands transfer tax: 8% to 13% and AJD 2%
On Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, buying a resale home triggers a transfer tax (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP) charged at an average rate that rises from 8% to 13% with the value of the property: 8% up to €400,000, 9% and 10% in the middle bands, 12% above €1 million and 13% above €2 million.
Canary Islands purchase taxes: ITP 6.5%, IGIC 7%
The Canary Islands have their own indirect tax, the Impuesto General Indirecto Canario (IGIC), instead of Spanish VAT.
Murcia property transfer tax: 7.75% ITP since July 2025
The Region of Murcia taxes the purchase of a resale home with a flat 7.75% transfer tax (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP). That rate has applied since 25 July 2025, when Ley 3/2025 amended article 6.1 of the regional tax decree.
Basque Country and Navarre: 4% home transfer tax
The Basque Country and Navarre are not under the common regional tax system: each of the three Basque provinces (Álava, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa) and Navarre has its own foral tax law.
Buying
Buying a home in Spain: the steps from NIE to registry
A purchase of a home in Spain runs in a fixed order: NIE, checks on the property, optional arras contract, signing of the escritura pública (public deed) before a notary, payment of the transfer tax within 30 working days, then registration in the land registry.
Total buying costs in Spain: every line, who pays
On a resale home the buyer's main cost is the regional transfer tax (ITP), set by each autonomous community: €21,000 in Andalusia (7%) and €18,000 in the Community of Madrid (6%) on a €300,000 price at the general rates.
Arras deposit contract in Spain: if someone walks away
In Spain, a buyer who pays arras (a deposit, also called señal) under a sale contract can later withdraw only by losing it, and a seller can withdraw only by returning it doubled. That is the rule of art.
Notary fees in Spain: the official scale for a sale
Spanish notary fees for a sale are not negotiated freely: they follow the national scale in Real Decreto 1426/1989, applied to the price, with a 5% rebate and a possible extra discount of up to 10%.
Land registry fees in Spain: scale, cap and reductions
The fee of the Registro de la Propiedad (land registry) for recording a purchase follows the national scale in Real Decreto 1427/1989, whatever the region.
Nota simple: the Spanish land registry extract explained
A nota simple (simple note) is an extract from the Spanish Registro de la Propiedad (land registry) that names the property, its registered owners and the charges against it. It costs €9.02 per property, plus taxes and withholdings, according to the registrars' online office.
Catastro and the cadastral reference: the 20-character code
Every property in Spain has a referencia catastral (cadastral reference), the official and compulsory identifier of the property in the Catastro (the national cadastre). It has 20 characters.
Energy performance certificate in Spain: sale rules
Under Spain's national energy-certification decree, Real Decreto 390/2021, an existing home that is sold needs a registered certificado de eficiencia energética (energy performance certificate), and a copy of it, with the energy label, must be annexed to the sale contract.
Habitability certificate and occupation licence in Spain
There is no single national rule in Spain on proving that a home is fit to live in. The cédula de habitabilidad (habitability certificate) and the licencia de ocupación or licencia de primera ocupación (occupation licence) are regional and municipal matters.
Community debt certificate: what a Spanish buyer inherits
When you buy an apartment in a Spanish building with a comunidad de propietarios (community of owners), you become liable for the community's unpaid charges for the current year plus the three previous calendar years, even if your title is registered.
Buying off plan in Spain: guarantees on your deposits
If you pay money to a developer for a Spanish home that is not yet built, the national Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (LOE, Act 38/1999) requires the developer to guarantee the return of those sums plus legal interest, by a surety insurance contract or a joint bank guarantee, and to collect them in a special bank account.
Checks before buying a home in Spain, with sources
Before paying a deposit on a Spanish home, check eight things, each against its own public source: who owns it and what charges it carries (nota simple), whether the cadastral description matches, unpaid IBI and community debts, the urban-planning status, the energy certificate, the licence of occupation, the tourist-letting position, and the seller's tax residence, which decides whether you must withhold 3% of the price.
Financing
How a mortgage works in Spain: Ley 5/2019 explained
A residential mortgage in Spain is governed everywhere in the country by one national statute, Ley 5/2019 on real-estate credit contracts.
Euribor and Spain's official mortgage reference rates
The Banco de España publishes a table of official mortgage market reference rates, month by month. On 15 October 2026 the latest 12-month Euribor in it is 3.247% for September 2026, up from 2.954% in August and 2.855% in July.
Fixed or variable mortgage in Spain: the legal differences
Spanish law does not tell you which type of rate to choose; it regulates what each type costs you to leave and what the lender must explain.
Who pays the mortgage costs in Spain: lender or borrower
Since Ley 5/2019, a mortgage lender in Spain bears the notary fees for the mortgage deed, the registry fees for registering the mortgage and the gestoría (administrative agent) fees, while the borrower pays the valuation (tasación).
Early repayment fees on a Spanish mortgage: the legal caps
You may repay a Spanish mortgage in whole or in part at any time, and the lender may charge only what article 23 of Ley 5/2019 allows.
ICO guarantee for first-home buyers in Spain: conditions
The Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO, the state financial agency) runs a guarantee line for first-home mortgages.
Property valuation (tasación) for a Spanish mortgage
Before a Spanish bank signs a mortgage, the property must be valued (tasación) by an approved valuer independent of the lender, and the borrower pays for it (Ley 5/2019, arts. 13 and 14.1.e).
Selling
Selling a home in Spain: what the seller pays
Selling a home in Spain triggers one municipal tax (plusvalía municipal, a tax on the rise in land value), one national income tax on any gain, and a set of paperwork costs.
Plusvalía municipal: the Spanish land value tax
The plusvalía municipal (formally the Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana, a tax on the rise in value of urban land) is charged by the town hall when a property changes hands.
Capital gains tax on selling a home in Spain
A gain on selling a home in Spain is taxed by Spain whoever the seller is. A resident pays personal income tax (IRPF) at 19%, 21%, 23%, 27% or 30% depending on the size of the gain.
Main home reinvestment exemption in Spain
If you sell your main home (vivienda habitual) in Spain and put the whole amount received into a new main home, the gain is excluded from income tax (art. 38 of Ley 35/2006).
Over-65 exemption on selling a main home in Spain
A person over 65 who sells their main home (vivienda habitual) in Spain does not pay income tax on the gain: article 33.4.b of Ley 35/2006 declares it exempt.
Renting
Renting a home in Spain: tenant rights and contract terms
A residential lease in Spain is governed by a national law, the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU, Urban Leases Act), so the core protections are the same in every region.
Rental deposit (fianza) in Spain: amount, filing, return
For a home, Spanish law requires a cash deposit (fianza) of one month's rent, set by article 36.1 of the national tenancy law, the LAU.
Letting agency fees in Spain: why the landlord pays
Since 8 October 2026, article 20.2 of Spain's national tenancy law (LAU) states that property-management and contract-formalisation expenses "no podrán ser repercutidos al arrendatario, ni directa ni indirectamente, bajo ningún concepto o denominación" (cannot be passed on to the tenant, directly or indirectly, under any name).
Rent increases in Spain: the IRAV index and the 2% rule
A Spanish landlord may raise the rent of a home during the lease only on each anniversary and only if the contract says so: article 18.1 of the national tenancy law (LAU) provides that, "en defecto de pacto expreso", no update applies.
Stressed housing market areas (zonas tensionadas) in Spain
A stressed housing market area (zona de mercado residencial tensionado) is a place that a regional housing authority has formally declared under article 18 of Law 12/2023, and it is the declaration, not the national law alone, that switches on rent limits.
Letting your property in Spain: landlord obligations
A landlord who lets a home in Spain for people to live in is bound by the national tenancy law (LAU) whatever the region: the rent, deposit, repairs and receipts follow its rules, and the tenant's lease runs for at least 5 years (7 if the landlord is a company) unless the tenant leaves.
Tourist rental registration in Spain after the 2026 rulings
Spain created a national Registro Único de Arrendamientos (single rental register) through Royal Decree 1312/2024, but the Supreme Court annulled the parts of it that set up the registration procedure, in three judgments dated 19 May, 21 May and 1 June 2026.
Tourist rentals and the community of owners in Spain
Under Spain's horizontal property law (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH), an owner who wants to let a flat to tourists must first obtain the express approval of the community of owners, a rule in force since 3 April 2025.
Rental income tax for residents of Spain (IRPF)
If you are tax resident in Spain and let out a property, the rent is taxed as real-estate capital income in the national personal income tax, the IRPF. You are taxed on the net amount, that is rent received minus deductible costs and amortisation.
Rent aid for young people in Spain (Plan 2026-2030)
Spain's State Housing Plan 2026-2030, approved by Royal Decree 326/2026 (published in the BOE on 23 April 2026, in force from 24 April), includes an aid for young renters: people under 35 can receive up to €300 a month, never more than 60% of the rent, for two years, renewable by the region for up to two more.
Owning
IBI: Spain's annual property tax explained
The Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI, the municipal property tax) is paid every year by whoever owns the property on 1 January.
Community of owners in Spain: fees, votes and levies
Owners of flats in a Spanish building share its common costs through a comunidad de propietarios (community of owners), under the national Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (LPH, Act 49/1960).
Inheritance tax in Spain for non-residents
Spain taxes the people who receive an inheritance, not the estate. Rates run on a national scale from 7.65% to 34%, multiplied by a coefficient that rises with the heir's existing wealth and distance from the deceased.
Will and succession law for a Spanish property: EU 650/2012
When someone who owns a home in Spain dies, which country's law governs the whole estate is decided in Spain by Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, in force for deaths on or after 17 August 2015.
Gift tax on giving a property in Spain
When a property in Spain is given away, three taxes can arise at once. The person receiving the gift pays gift tax under Ley 29/1987, with the rules of a region where applicable. The recipient also owes the municipal land-value tax, the plusvalía municipal.
Modelo 720: declaring foreign property from Spain
Modelo 720 is a Spanish information return, not a tax, on assets held outside Spain. It binds people and companies resident in Spain, so an American, Canadian or British owner of a home in Spain who lives abroad does not file it for that home.