Property transfer tax in Andalusia: 7% ITP and AJD

Which tax applies to your purchase

Spain taxes a purchase in one of two ways, and the choice depends on who sells.

• Resale from a private owner: ITP applies. The Andalusian law sets the rate at 7% “sobre la base liquidable” for transfers of real estate (art. 41). The text has not changed since it came into force on 27 October 2021.
• New home from a developer (first transfer): VAT applies, not ITP. The national VAT law sets 10% for homes, including up to two parking spaces and annexes sold with them (art. 91, Uno.1.7º). Stamp duty (AJD) is then charged on the first copy of the notarial deed at the general Andalusian rate of 1.2% (art. 49).

Both ITP and AJD are “ceded” taxes (tributos cedidos): the state wrote the framework (the texto refundido of 1993) and each region chooses the rates. VAT is not regional in Andalusia, so 10% is the same as in Madrid or Murcia.

How the tax base is set

The tax is not simply “7% of the price”. For real estate the national rule (art. 10 of the 1993 text, as amended in 2021) takes the Catastro reference value (valor de referencia) on the date of the transaction, unless the declared value or the agreed price is higher, in which case the higher figure is the base. If the reference value does not exist or cannot be certified, the base is the highest of the declared value, the price and the market value.

So ITP in Andalusia is 7% of whichever is greater: the price in your deed or the reference value. If a reference value looks too high, the law lets you challenge it only by appealing the tax assessment or by asking to correct your self-assessment (art. 10.3). See how the Catastro reference works.

The reduced rates and their exact conditions

Article 43 of the Andalusian law lists reduced ITP rates. Each requires that the property becomes the buyer’s main residence (vivienda habitual), and each has a price cap, calculated on 100% of the full ownership of the home plus any annexes bought with it:

Points that decide real cases:

• A home bought with one or two parking spaces or other annexes is tested on the sum of their values against the cap (art. 43.3).
• If several people buy, the reduced rate applies only to the share of the person who meets the condition. For a married or registered couple buying a main residence, it is enough that one of them meets it.
• The disability condition in letter c) was amended by Ley 8/2025, in force from 1 January 2026.

The stamp duty has its own reduced rates in art. 50, mirroring the same groups: 1% for a main residence up to €150,000, 0.3% for under-35s and the other €150,000 cases, and 0.1% for the disability and large-family cases up to €250,000.

Worked example (calculation, not a quote)

These figures apply the published rates to round prices; they are not a tax assessment.

• Resale home at €300,000, general rate: 7% × €300,000 = €21,000 of ITP, assuming the price is not below the reference value.
• Resale home at €150,000, main residence, no other condition: 6% × €150,000 = €9,000.
• Resale home at €150,000, buyer aged 34, main residence: 3.5% × €150,000 = €5,250.
• New home at €300,000, general case: 10% VAT = €30,000, plus 1.2% AJD = €3,600 on a base of €300,000, so €33,600 in taxes (the AJD base is the value declared in the deed, subject to the reference-value floor of art. 30.1).

Above the caps there is no partial relief: the caps are tested on the whole value.

What non-resident and foreign buyers should know

The articles read for this guide (arts. 41, 43, 49, 50) set one rate for everybody and do not distinguish tax residents from non-residents. The reduced rates, though, depend on the home becoming your vivienda habitual, so a holiday home bought by a buyer living abroad normally pays the 7% rate (or 10% VAT plus AJD on a new build). The state definition of main residence in the personal income tax rules is the test; ask a lawyer to confirm it for your own situation.

You will also need a foreigner’s tax number; see the NIE guide.

Who files and pays

The buyer is the taxpayer for ITP “cualesquiera que sean las estipulaciones establecidas por las partes en contrario” (art. 8.a of the national text): a clause making the seller pay does not change who owes the tax to the administration. For AJD, the national text names the acquirer as taxpayer, except for the mortgage deed, where the lender is the taxpayer (art. 29, since 10 November 2018).

The tax is handled through a self-assessment (autoliquidación) with the Andalusian tax agency (Agencia Tributaria de Andalucía). The filing deadline and the electronic forms are published by that agency, which was not part of this reading: check them there or ask the professional who prepares the file. If you lose a condition attached to a reduced rate, the law requires you to file a statement within one month of the breach (art. 66 of the Andalusian law).

Areas popular with foreign buyers

Payotte’s zone data for Andalusia includes the Costa del Sol municipalities of Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola, Benalmádena, Mijas and Torremolinos, the city of Málaga, the Cádiz-province towns of Chiclana de la Frontera and San Roque, and Almería, Seville, Granada and Córdoba. The tax rules above are regional and identical in all of them; local costs such as municipal taxes differ.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can check your eligibility for a reduced rate and the reference value before you sign; see property lawyers. The notary (notario) prepares the deed and records the statements on which reduced rates depend.