Over-65 exemption on selling a main home in Spain

What the law says

Article 33.4 lists gains that are “exentas del Impuesto”. Letter b) covers gains arising “con ocasión de la transmisión de su vivienda habitual por mayores de 65 años o por personas en situación de dependencia severa o de gran dependencia”. Three features stand out.

• It is an exemption of the gain, so the gain does not enter the savings base at all.
• The text contains no maximum and no condition about what you do with the money. That sets it apart from the reinvestment rule in the main home reinvestment exemption, which needs a new main home.
• It covers the main home only, as the regulation defines it.

The text does not state on which date the age of 65 is counted. If you are close to the threshold, ask the Spanish tax agency (Agencia Tributaria) before signing.

The main-home test

The definition is in article 41 bis of Real Decreto 439/2007 and is used for this exemption as well as for reinvestment.

1. The building must have been your residence for a continuous period of at least three years (art. 41 bis.1). A shorter period is accepted where you die, or where circumstances force a change of address, such as marriage, separation, a job transfer, a first job, a change of job or other justified analogous reasons.
2. You must have actually and permanently lived in it within twelve months of acquisition or completion of works (art. 41 bis.2).
3. At the time of the sale, it must be your main home, or it must have been so on any day in the two previous years (art. 41 bis.3).

Moving to a care home or to relatives: provisional. Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 (in force since 8 October 2026) rewrites article 41 bis.3 so that, for a seller over 65 or severely dependent, the main-home test runs until the date they moved to a specialised centre or to the home of a relative up to the third degree by blood or marriage. This is subject to validation by Congress; the previous decree-law with the same change was repealed on 2 October 2026. Until it is validated, the safe reading is the two-year rule above.

What the exemption does not cover

• A second home, a holiday home or a rental flat are not main homes. Their gains are taxed under the normal scale; see capital gains tax on a home sale.
• The municipal tax. The plusvalía municipal is a local tax on land value. The over-65 exemption is an income tax rule and does not remove it. Rebates on the municipal tax are for transfers on death (art. 108.4).
• Other asset classes. The exemption in article 33.4.b is tied to the main home. For other assets see the annuity route below.

Calculation, not a quote. A resident aged 70 sells a main home with a €150,000 gain. Without the exemption, with no other savings income and before the personal minimum, the tax on the savings scale would be €10,380 on the first €50,000 plus 23% of the next €100,000, a total of €33,380. With the exemption, the tax on this gain is nil.

A related route for other assets: the lifetime annuity

Article 38.3 of the same law lets a taxpayer over 65 exclude the gain from the sale of any asset when the whole proceeds go within six months into an insured lifetime annuity (renta vitalicia asegurada) in their favour. The maximum that can be placed this way is €240,000 in total. The regulation (art. 42) adds conditions:

• the contract is between the taxpayer, as beneficiary, and an insurer;
• the annuity is paid at least once a year, starts within one year of being set up, and the yearly amount cannot fall by more than 5% from one year to the next;
• the taxpayer must tell the insurer that the annuity is the reinvestment of the proceeds.

If the proceeds placed are lower than the amount received, only a proportional part is excluded. Taking back economic rights early makes the gain taxable. Because the main-home exemption has no cap, this route is mainly relevant to assets that are not a main home.

Non-residents

The IRNR law calculates a non-resident’s gain with the rules of the income tax law’s gains section (art. 24.4), a section that includes article 33.4. The texts read do not say whether a non-resident can have a “main home” in Spain for this purpose, and the separate reinvestment exemption for non-residents is limited to residents of the EU and certain EEA states. Treat the exemption as not established for a UK, Canadian or US resident until the Spanish tax agency confirms it in writing. The buyer’s 3% withholding applies on a sale by a non-resident; see selling a home in Spain: costs.

Which professional to consult

A tax adviser or a lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can document three years of residence and prepare the return: property lawyer. Keep the residence evidence you would show the tax agency.