Selling property in Spain as a non-resident: the taxes

Selling property in Spain as a non-resident: the 3% the buyer keeps back, capital gains tax at 19%, the plusvalía municipal, reinvestment and who pays what.

Last checked 17 October 2026

What you will learn

• Why the buyer keeps back 3% of the price, and how to recover it
• How the capital gain and the plusvalía municipal are calculated
• Who pays what at the notary when the seller lives abroad

When you are selling property in Spain as a non-resident, three tax steps follow the sale. The buyer keeps back 3% of the price and pays it to the Spanish Tax Agency on your behalf. You then declare the capital gain at 19% on form 210. And the town hall charges its own tax on the increase in land value, the plusvalía municipal. Here is how each step works, when the reinvestment relief applies, and who pays what at the notary.

The 3% the buyer keeps back

When the seller is a non-resident without a permanent establishment in Spain, the buyer must keep back 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the Tax Agency, under article 25 of the non-resident income tax law. This applies whether the buyer lives in Spain or not. The buyer pays it on form 211 within one month of the sale and gives the seller a copy, according to the Tax Agency's form 211 instructions.

If the buyer does not pay it, the property itself remains liable for the lower of the 3% and the seller's tax, which is why the buyer's lawyer insists on it. In practice the 3% is deducted at the notary from the money you receive.

The 3% is a payment on account, not the final tax. If your real tax is lower, you claim the difference back; if it is higher, you pay the rest.

Capital gains tax at 19%

The gain is the difference between what you sold for and what you bought for, each adjusted. The purchase value is the price you paid, plus the cost of improvements (not repairs or upkeep), plus the costs and taxes of buying: notary, registry, and the transfer tax or VAT and stamp duty you paid. Mortgage interest does not count. The sale value is the price minus the costs and taxes of selling that you paid. If the home was let, the depreciation that could have been deducted is subtracted from the purchase value, even if it was never claimed. These rules are set out in the Tax Agency's manual for non-residents.

The rate on the gain is 19% for every non-resident, wherever they live. If you inherited the property or received it as a gift, the value used for inheritance or gift tax is your purchase value. For homes bought before 31 December 1994, a transitional reduction may lower the part of the gain made before 20 January 2006, within limits.

You file form 210 for the gain within three months after the buyer's one-month period ends, so in practice within four months of the sale, whatever the result, according to the form 210 instructions. The 3% kept back by the buyer is deducted in it, and if it is more than the tax, the excess is refunded.

Reinvestment relief, for EU and EEA residents

A gain can be excluded from tax if the property was your main home in Spain and you reinvest what you receive in a new main home. This relief is open only to residents of another EU member state or of an EEA state that exchanges tax information with Spain (Iceland, Norway and, since 11 July 2021, Liechtenstein). If you reinvest only part, only that part of the gain is excluded. The buyer still keeps back the 3%, and you still file form 210. It does not help with a holiday home, because it was never your main home.

The plusvalía municipal

The town hall charges a tax on the increase in value of the urban land under the property, the IIVTNU, known as the plusvalía municipal. In a sale the taxpayer is the seller. When the seller is an individual who is not resident in Spain, the Local Finance Law makes the buyer pay it in the seller's place, as substitute, so it is normally deducted from the price at completion, like the 3%.

There are two ways to calculate it, and you pay on the lower one. The objective method takes the cadastral value of the land on the date of sale and multiplies it by a coefficient for the number of years you owned it, up to twenty years; the town sets the coefficients within the legal maximums and sets the rate, which cannot exceed 30%. The real-gain method uses the actual increase in land value between purchase and sale, based on the deeds; if that is lower, you can ask for it to be used.

If the deeds show no increase in value at all, for example because you sold for less than you paid, no plusvalía is due, but you must still declare the sale and provide both deeds. The declaration is due within 30 working days of the sale.

Selling property in Spain as a non-resident: who pays what

The seller pays the capital gains tax on form 210, with the buyer's 3% counted against it, and the plusvalía municipal, which for a non-resident is paid through the buyer. The seller also pays the agent's commission if one was agreed.

The buyer pays the purchase taxes, transfer tax or VAT and stamp duty, and keeps back the 3% and, for a non-resident seller, the plusvalía.

Both deal with the house's own debts. In the deed the seller must declare whether the community fees are paid and provide the administrator's certificate, because the property answers for unpaid fees of the current year and the three previous calendar years. Unpaid IBI also stays with the property. The IBI for the year falls on the owner on 1 January, so buyer and seller often share it by days.

Every sale has its own numbers. Before you accept an offer, have an independent lawyer or tax adviser calculate your capital gain, the plusvalía by both methods and what you will receive after the 3%, so the net figure holds no surprises. If you still own other property in Spain after the sale, the yearly rules in our guide to non-resident property tax in Spain continue to apply.

Practical step: gather now the purchase deed, the receipts for the purchase taxes and costs, the invoices for improvements and the last IBI receipt, because they decide your tax. For the house itself, see getting a house ready for the market. When you are ready to sell, see how we sell.

Written by Nicolas Strebel.