What does it cost to buy land or a house in Spain?

Which tax applies to the purchase you are considering?

Before paying a reservation fee, establish the seller's business status and whether you are buying a completed new home, a resale or land.

An individual can count as an empresario, a business operator for VAT, when developing or urbanising property for sale, even occasionally. A company selling a used home may make an exempt supply.

ITP here means the property transfer tax, formally transmisiones patrimoniales onerosas or TPO. TPO and AJD are parts of the wider ITPAJD tax. An ordinary TPO purchase does not also attract variable AJD on that acquisition, though fixed stamped-paper charges can remain.

A genuine private sale outside business activity normally leads to ITP. Exempt business sales of used buildings or non-buildable land also generally lead to ITP. In a taxable, non-exempt property transaction, IVA and acquisition AJD can both be payable.

You pay IVA to the seller against an invoice. The buyer files and pays ITP and any acquisition AJD with the regional tax authority. Confirm that region's deadline before paying a deposit.

Primera entrega means the developer's first supply after construction or qualifying rehabilitation is complete. Continuous use for at least two years, including letting without a purchase option, can make the sale a second supply, unless the buyer was the user. Ordinary renovation is insufficient (IVA Law, article 20.Uno.22º).

Why can buying a plot cost more in tax than buying a new house?

The housing VAT rate does not follow your intention to build a home. A bare building plot in a taxable, non-exempt business sale normally carries 21% IVA, rather than the 10% applicable to a suitable home. A plot sold privately outside business activity will normally attract ITP instead.

For business supplies, article 20.Uno.20º exempts rural and other non-buildable land subject to its terms. It excludes solares, serviced building plots as defined by planning law, and other land with building authorised by a licence. Urbanised land and land undergoing urbanisation are also excluded, apart from land exclusively for public parks, gardens or roads.

Have the adviser examine the seller's involvement and the land's planning and development documents. An urbano or rústico label is not a complete VAT opinion. The guide to rustic and urban land explains the planning checks behind those descriptions.

A rural estate may combine a house, agricultural buildings and substantial land. Ask how the supply and its values are being classified; do not assume the entire transaction receives the housing rate. The same caution applies to an unfinished building or a ruin bought for demolition.

Waiving these VAT exemptions requires the buyer to act in business and meet the legal conditions for deducting VAT, taking account of the property's intended use. A private homebuyer cannot freely choose IVA instead of ITP. If offered that choice, request its legal basis in writing.

What are the regional ITP and AJD rates in October 2026?

For the common-regime regions below, the property's location determines the transfer-tax territory. Being a foreign buyer does not itself create a different general rate. The figures were checked on 19 October 2026. They are ordinary rates, not a ruling on your eligibility for relief.

Catalonia's ordinary scale charges 10% on the first €600,000, 11% on the portion from €600,000 to €900,000, 12% from €900,000 to €1,500,000 and 13% above that. Special housing acquisitions by a gran tenedor, a large residential property holder, or purchases of whole residential buildings can attract 20%, with statutory exceptions. Buying a building containing several homes needs a separate check of that regime.

The Balearic scale uses 8% to €400,000, 9% from €400,000 to €600,000, 10% from €600,000 to €1,000,000, 12% from €1,000,000 to €2,000,000 and 13% above €2,000,000. An average rate is calculated using the statutory rounding rule, then applied to the buyer's taxable base.

In both Catalonia and the Balearics, the average rate depends on the whole property's value. Buying an undivided share does not restart the brackets at that share's price: apply the resulting rate to your acquisition's tax base.

Valencia's general 9% ITP and 1.4% AJD rates apply from 1 June 2026. Article 14.Uno.a of Law 13/1997 separately provides 0.1% AJD for qualifying vivienda habitual purchases, meaning a main home meeting the legal conditions. Check eligibility; a holiday house does not automatically qualify.

The Canaries use IGIC, their own indirect tax, with a general rate of 7%, exemptions and special rates. AJD for operations subject to IGIC is 1%. Obtain a Canary-specific calculation.

For regional relief, request the provision and required evidence. Housing relief may not cover an empty plot.

Is tax calculated on the price you agree?

ITP can be charged on more than the price. The starting point for property is its valor de referencia, the cadastral reference value at tax accrual. If the declared value or agreed consideration is higher, the highest figure applies. Obtain the certificate from Catastro, the property cadastre, using the correct cadastral reference and date.

Without a certifiable reference value, the base is the highest of declared value, agreed consideration and market value, subject to checking. An absence of reference value is not an exemption. Nor does the seller's outstanding mortgage reduce the ITP base.

IVA generally uses the total consideration. Acquisition AJD has its own valuation rules, including a property-value floor referring back to the ITP valuation provision. Ask for both bases; they need not match. Recheck the relevant value if completion moves to a later date.

If the reference value is excessive, article 10 of the ITPAJD legislation provides routes through correction of the self-assessment or an appeal against an assessment. Disagreeing with the figure does not, by itself, allow you to ignore it when filing.

How should you budget for the notary, Registry and gestoría?

The notario, the public official authorising the deed, and the Registro de la Propiedad, the Land Registry, use regulated aranceles, fee tariffs. Request itemised quotes for your transaction, including copies, taxes and disbursements. No single percentage applies.

Also settle who bears each expense. Under the Civil Code default in article 1455, the seller bears the cost of executing the deed and the buyer the first copy and subsequent expenses, unless agreed otherwise. Check the applicable civil law and the contract. A clause allocating all expenses to the buyer can alter the cash requirement in a private sale. Consumer purchases from a business are subject to protections against abusive clauses transferring the business's statutory titling costs or taxes to the consumer.

A gestoría processes administrative paperwork; it is separate from your lawyer and notary. On a cash purchase you can handle post-sale procedures yourself. Otherwise, agree tasks and fees and require filing receipts. A provisión de fondos is an advance for expected bills: request the final accounts and any surplus back.

Obtain quotes for legal and technical advice, any interpreter or power of attorney, and bank or currency charges.

If the agency charges you a commission, check its service agreement before signing: the fee including taxes, when it becomes payable and refund terms if the purchase fails. Keep this separate from a reservation payment credited to the property price.

If buying free of charges while the seller has a mortgage, obtain the current payoff balance and agree how much of the price goes to the lender. Obtain a quote for removing the mortgage entry and agree who pays. Paying off the loan does not automatically remove that entry.

If you borrow under a loan within Law 5/2019, the lender bears the mortgage processing service, notarial tariff for the loan deed and registration of the security. The borrower pays the valuation; copies are charged to whoever requests them. The lender is the mortgage AJD taxpayer. Those rules concern the mortgage and do not make the bank pay the taxes or expenses of buying the property.

What other bills can come with the property?

For land awaiting development, ask the town hall about outstanding urbanisation duties, amounts and due dates. The buyer takes over the owner's duties under article 27 of the Land Law, TRLSRU. Obtain utility-connection quotations too: nearby water or electricity does not establish the connection cost.

Where there is a comunidad de propietarios, a community of owners, obtain its debt certificate and minutes showing approved derramas, special assessments, and payment dates. Do not waive the certificate. Under the state Horizontal Property Law, LPH, the property secures general community-expense arrears from the elapsed part of the purchase year and three previous calendar years (article 9.1.e). Catalonia's rule covers the elapsed part of the year and four previous years, including extraordinary expenses and reserve-fund contributions (article 553-5).

Under the state LPH, improvement assessments fall on whoever owns the property when payment becomes due, even if approved before the sale (article 17.11). Put any seller reimbursement in writing; that agreement does not change the community's statutory debtor.

Does the seller pay plusvalía municipal and the year's IBI?

Plusvalía municipal, formally IIVTNU, is a municipal tax on an increase in urban land value. In an ordinary sale the seller is the taxpayer. If the seller is a non-resident individual, the purchaser becomes substitute taxpayer under article 106.2 of the Local Finance Law. Agreeing that the seller bears the economic cost does not remove the purchaser's obligation towards the council.

Ask the ayuntamiento, the town hall, for its calculation and filing procedure. For a sale, both the taxpayer's declaration and the buyer's transfer notification are due within 30 working days (article 110). Arrange filing and payment separately from the national 3% withholding.

Compare the objective tax base with the actual increase in land value. If you prove the latter is lower, you can request that it be used as the base (article 107.5).

Land treated as rustic for IBI purposes is outside plusvalía. A transfer with no increase in value is also outside the charge when the statutory evidence requirements are met, but the transfer must be declared with the acquisition and disposal documents. Rural appearance or a claim of “no profit” is insufficient.

IBI, the annual municipal property tax, is normally assessed on the owner at 1 January. A sale during the year does not itself create separate council assessments for each owner. The private settlement is another question: the Supreme Court's judgment of 15 June 2016 allows the paying seller, absent an agreement otherwise, to recover the proportion relating to the buyer's ownership period.

Record the allocation date and what happens if the final bill is unavailable at completion. Check outstanding IBI with the council or collection body as well. The property can remain liable for unpaid IBI under article 64; one recent paid bill does not establish that older debts are clear.

What must you do when buying from a non-resident seller?

For a sale by a non-resident taxpayer without a permanent establishment, the purchaser must withhold 3% of the agreed consideration and pay it to AEAT, Spain's national tax agency, using Modelo 211. The deadline is one month from the transfer. Give the seller a copy of the filed form. This purchaser obligation also applies when the purchaser is non-resident.

The withholding comes out of the price and is credited against the seller's income tax. It is not 3% of the gain. A loss does not remove this obligation; the seller can seek any refund in their own tax settlement.

Establish each seller's tax residence and ownership share. A foreign passport does not establish non-residence, and a Spanish passport does not establish residence. With mixed ownership, identify the consideration attributable to the relevant non-resident sellers rather than treating every owner alike.

If the seller claims Spanish tax residence to avoid withholding, obtain AEAT certification confirming liability to IRPF, personal income tax, or Impuesto sobre Sociedades, corporation tax (IRNR Regulations, article 14.2.a). A private declaration or NIE, a foreigner's identification number, is not that certificate.

What does a €250,000 Andalusian purchase look like?

Example: a cash purchase of a used Andalusian home from one private non-resident individual, with no relief. The agreed and declared price is €250,000; the reference value is €275,000. These are hypothetical inputs.

The €7,500 is already inside the €250,000 price. Adding it again would overstate your budget. Any arras, a deposit paid towards the price, reduces the remaining price payment; it does not reduce the full consideration used to calculate withholding. Add the actual fees allocated to you, contracted services and any IBI reimbursement to the subtotal. Deal separately with plusvalía and your substitute-taxpayer position.

Compare different transactions in Andalucía, each with a price and AJD base of €250,000, no relief or higher taxable value. A qualifying first supply of a home produces €25,000 IVA plus €3,000 AJD: €278,000 including the price. A taxable, non-exempt business sale of a bare plot produces €52,500 IVA plus €3,000 AJD: €305,500 including the price. Fees are excluded. These are not tax options for the same sale.

What should be settled before you pay the deposit?

Create a payment schedule with the recipient, amount and date. Regional filing periods vary. Andalucía's general ITPAJD filing and payment period is two months from the day following accrual. A private contract can matter for accrual, so do not automatically start every period at the later notarial deed. VAT can fall due on receipt of advance payments: obtain invoices and deduct prior payments at completion.

Do not pay the deposit yet if:

• VAT is demanded without a written explanation of the seller's status and the asset's treatment.
• The budget applies ITP to the price without checking the reference value.
• The seller's tax residence is unresolved or nobody will handle the required withholding.
• Municipal debts or plusvalía are left for later without an agreed payer and payment mechanism.
• Charges, special assessments or urbanisation obligations remain uncosted.
• The contract allocates expenses without enough detail to assess your commitment.