Basque Country and Navarre: 4% home transfer tax

Four rule books, not one

Basque and Navarrese tax law is written by the provincial councils (Diputaciones Forales) and by Navarre’s own parliament, not by the central tax administration:

• Álava: Norma Foral 11/2003;
• Bizkaia: Norma Foral 1/2011;
• Gipuzkoa: Norma Foral 18/1987;
• Navarre: Decreto Foral Legislativo 129/1999.

The three Basque norms have the same headline rates for homes. They differ in details such as the area test for the 2.5% rate. The Gipuzkoa text I read is the council’s “texto vigente”, a convenience version, not the official bulletin. VAT is the exception to this separateness: the Basque and Navarrese systems apply the same VAT rules as the state, so a new home in Bilbao or Pamplona bears the national 10% rate.

Basque provinces: how the 4% rate works

All three norms use the same structure.

1. 7% on transfers of real estate in general.
2. 4% on the transfer of homes (viviendas en general), including up to two parking spaces and, in Álava, up to two annexes in the same building transferred together. Business premises do not count as annexes.
3. The 4% needs a sworn statement (declaración responsable) to the tax authority that the buyer does not hold more than five homes with more than 50% ownership in each. If the condition is not met, the home is taxed at 6%.
4. 2.5% for homes of up to 120 m² built, and for detached or terraced houses of up to 120 m² built on a plot of up to 300 m²; and for any home bought by a holder of a large-family title. In Gipuzkoa, the area alternative is 120 m² built or 96 m² usable. The buyer must not own another home above 25% in the same municipality, the home must be the buyer’s main residence, and the deed must say these conditions are, or will be, met. The proof of residence must be filed within twelve months in Álava.
5. 1.5% (Álava) for homes in the rural areas that the provincial income tax rules designate.

So a flat of 80 m² bought as a main residence by someone with no other home in that municipality pays 2.5%, not 4%. A 150 m² flat bought by a buyer with two other homes, not a large family, pays 4%.

Navarre: 6%, 5% and 4%

Article 8.1 of Navarre’s decree sets 6% for real estate. Exceptions for homes (including inseparable annexes):

• 5% if the buyer belongs to a family unit with two or more children, acquires full ownership, the home is the family’s main residence, and no family member owns another home in Navarre above 25%. The 5% applies only to a base of up to €180,304 per family unit and home; the excess is taxed at 6%.
• 4% if the home is the buyer’s main residence in a municipality designated as at risk of depopulation by a regional order, with full ownership acquired (rewritten by Ley Foral 22/2023).

The deed duty in Navarre is 0.5% (art. 22.2), or 1% when the seller has waived the VAT exemption.

The tax base is real value, not the Catastro reference value

In common-system regions the base is the higher of the price and the national Catastro reference value. In these four territories it is different: Navarre’s art. 7 says the base is “el valor real del bien transmitido”, or the administration’s verified value if higher. Bizkaia (art. 12) and Álava (art. 28) say the same. In Álava, art. 30 adds that the value calculated under the Diputación’s valuation rules is a “valor mínimo computable”; if you think it exceeds the real value, you may self-assess on the value in the deed, subject to the administration’s right to check. This is a point to settle with the local tax office.

Worked example (calculation, not a quote)

These figures apply the published rates to round prices.

• €300,000 resale home in Bizkaia, buyer with no other home: 4% × €300,000 = €12,000.
• Same home, buyer holding six homes: 6% = €18,000.
• Same home, 100 m² built, main residence, no other home above 25% in the municipality: 2.5% = €7,500.
• €300,000 resale home in Navarre, general case: 6% = €18,000.
• Same home, family with two children, main residence: 5% × €180,304 = €9,015.20, plus 6% × €119,696 = €7,181.76, so €16,196.96.
• €300,000 new home, anywhere in the four territories: VAT 10% = €30,000; AJD at 0.5% = €1,500, on a base of €300,000.

What non-resident and foreign buyers should know

The articles read set the 4% in the Basque provinces and the 6% in Navarre without a residence test; the 4% depends on a statement about homes held and the 2.5% on the home being the buyer’s main residence. The five-homes test counts homes with more than 50% held, and does not restrict itself to Spain in the wording read, so a foreign buyer with several homes should ask. The Navarre family rate and the 2.5% rate need a main residence.

For the national steps (tax number, bank account, deed) see the NIE guide and buying property in Spain as a foreigner.

Who files

Under the national text the buyer is the ITP taxpayer; I did not re-read that point in the four foral texts. The filing is made with the tax authority of the territory where the property is located: the Hacienda of the Diputación Foral of Álava, Bizkaia or Gipuzkoa, or Navarre’s tax administration (Hacienda Tributaria de Navarra). Their forms and deadlines were not read here, so check them with the authority or the person who files for you.

Areas popular with foreign buyers

Payotte’s zone data for the Basque Country includes Bilbao, San Sebastián (Donostia) and Vitoria-Gasteiz, and for Navarre the city of Pamplona. These are in Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Álava and Navarre respectively, which is why four different norms are involved.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can check the five-homes statement and the area tests; see property lawyers. The purchase costs calculator uses the 4% Basque rate for homes.