Buying Spanish land or a house from a non-resident: the 3% you hold back, and what happens if you don't

On the Costa Blanca, in inland Andalusia, on the islands, a good share of the property for sale belongs to people who do not live in Spain: Britons, Germans, Swedes and Dutch who bought twenty years ago, or heirs living abroad. When the seller is not tax-resident in Spain, the buyer takes on a duty that does not exist in a sale between residents: keep back 3% of the price and pay it to the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria, AEAT). If the buyer does not, the property just bought stands as security for it.

This guide follows the sale from the deposit contract to the seller's refund claim, with the figures worked out, and uses two real files decided by the Spanish tax authorities: a 2025 binding ruling from the Directorate-General for Taxes and a 2024 decision of the Central Economic-Administrative Court about sellers living in Sweden. It also covers the second tax where the buyer stands in for a non-resident seller, the municipal plusvalía, and has a section for readers on the other side of the table, the non-resident selling. It is general information to prepare a purchase. Your notary (notario) or tax adviser checks the figures on a real sale.

A short glossary

The rule: the buyer withholds and pays 3%

Article 25.2 of the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act (Royal Legislative Decree 5/2004) says that when property located in Spain is sold by a taxpayer acting without a permanent establishment, "the acquirer shall be obliged to withhold and pay in 3 per cent" of the agreed price, as a payment on account of the seller's tax. Article 14 of the implementing Regulation (Royal Decree 1776/2004) sets out the mechanics, and Order EHA/3316/2010 approves form 211 and the deadline.

Three things that catch foreign buyers off guard:

• Your own residence is irrelevant. The Tax Agency says the person acquiring the property, "whether resident or not", must withhold and pay the 3%. A German buying from a Briton withholds.
• The seller's profit is irrelevant. The 3% is on the price, not the gain. A seller who bought at the 2007 peak and sells at a loss still suffers it, and later reclaims it.
• Land or house makes no difference. The rule covers real estate. A bare rustic plot, an urban building plot and a villa are treated alike.

The one exception in the rule itself, rare between private parties, is contributing the property to the capital of a company resident in Spain.

The full sum on a realistic sale

The amounts below are illustrative round numbers; the rates and rules are not.

A seller resident in the United Kingdom sells a house on urban land for €240,000. She bought it in 2006 for €150,000 and paid €12,000 in taxes, notary and registry fees at the time. On the sale she pays €3,000 in costs (her share of notary fees, energy certificate, cancelling a registry entry), and the municipal plusvalía comes to €2,500.

Step 1. The buyer withholds. 240,000 × 0.03 = €7,200. At signing, the buyer hands the seller €232,800 (less any plusvalía also held back, covered below) and keeps €7,200, which goes to the Tax Agency on form 211 within a month of the deed.

Step 2. The seller's real tax. For a non-resident, the Tax Agency calculates the gain as transfer value minus acquisition value, each adjusted by the costs and taxes attached to it. The Central Economic-Administrative Court has confirmed that plusvalía paid on the seller's behalf reduces the transfer value (the Swedish case below).

• Transfer value: 240,000 − 3,000 − 2,500 = €234,500.
• Acquisition value: 150,000 + 12,000 = €162,000.
• Gain: 234,500 − 162,000 = €72,500.
• Rate: art. 25.1.f) of the Act taxes gains arising on the transfer of assets at 19%. 72,500 × 0.19 = €13,775.

Step 3. The seller's form 210. 13,775 − 7,200 = €6,575 still to pay. According to the Tax Agency, the only deductions allowed from the tax on such a sale are donations and the buyer's withholding.

Same sale, at a loss. Had she bought in 2007 for €260,000, there is no gain, the tax is nil and the €7,200 comes back to her through form 210. She needs the copy of form 211 the buyer gives her to claim it.

A UK seller after Brexit: 19%, not 24%

British sellers often hear that non-residents from outside the EU pay 24%. The Tax Agency's rate page draws the line differently. Gains arising from the transfer of an asset are taxed at 19% for every non-resident. The general rate, used for other income such as rent, is 19% for residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and (since 11 July 2021) Liechtenstein, and 24% for everyone else. So a UK seller pays 19% on the sale gain but 24% on rental income from the same property. The 3% withholding is the same for all.

What the sum tells you about the charge on the property

Art. 25.2 adds that if the withholding is not paid in, "the transferred assets shall be charged with payment of whichever is lower of that withholding or payment on account and the corresponding tax". Applied to the example:

The table shows something rarely spelled out: the exposure of a buyer who did not withhold depends on the tax position of a stranger, the seller, which the buyer neither knows nor controls. To size the charge you would need the seller's purchase price and costs from years ago. Nobody sensible plays that game; you withhold 3% and the risk is closed. On top of the charge, the law expressly leaves penalties against the buyer as withholding agent in place.

Two real cases

The seller who could not prove residence (DGT ruling V0683-25)

In binding ruling V0683-25 of 15 April 2025, the Directorate-General for Taxes (Dirección General de Tributos, DGT) answered a seller of a house in Spain who could not prove Spanish tax residence to the buyer. The buyer withheld 3% under art. 25.2. The question: reclaim the 3% on form 210, or in the Spanish income tax return, since the seller was becoming resident that year?

The DGT's answer: the withholding is a payment on account of whichever tax applies. If the taxpayer becomes resident during the year, the gain goes into the Spanish income tax (IRPF) return and the 3% is deducted there (form 100). For a buyer, the lesson is the opposite of what sellers hope: when residence is in doubt, withhold, and let the seller sort it out through the right return.

The Swedish sellers and the plusvalía held back in the deed (TEAC 00/03152/2021)

In decision 00/03152/2021 of 21 October 2024 (joined with 00/05211/2021), the Central Economic-Administrative Court (Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central, TEAC) dealt with non-resident sellers who declared residence in Sweden and filed form 210 on 20 October 2020. The deed recorded that the buyer had kept back €2,469 of the price to pay the plusvalía. The tax office refused to let the sellers deduct that sum from the transfer value because the town hall had not confirmed payment.

The court sided with the sellers. Because art. 106.2 of the Local Finance Act makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer when the seller is a non-resident individual, and the deed showed the sum as withheld, the duty to file and pay the plusvalía lay with the buyer. The sellers had already borne the price reduction and could deduct it.

For a buyer, two takeaways. Holding the plusvalía back in the deed works and makes the duty clear. Once held back, paying the town hall is your job, not the seller's.

Form 211, step by step

Order EHA/3316/2010 says the buyer files the withholding return and pays it "within one month from the date of the transfer", to the Tax Agency office covering the area where the property is. The form 211 instructions require one return per property: buy two registered properties from the same seller and you file two forms.

In practice:

1. Before signing, collect what the form asks for: the buyer's and seller's NIF or NIE, the cadastral reference, the property address, the deed date and the price. If the seller has no NIE, sort it out with the notary before completion, not after.
2. In the deed, the notary records the price, the amount withheld and what it is for. Ask for the words "retenido el 3 % conforme al art. 25.2 TRLIRNR" to appear.
3. Within the month, file form 211 on the Tax Agency e-office, or through a gestor (a Spanish administrative agent) or lawyer acting under your power of attorney.
4. Give the seller their copy of the paid form 211.
5. Keep the receipt with your deed. When you sell in ten years, your buyer's notary will want to see that no charge hangs over the property.

A period of months runs date to date: deed on 14 November, deadline 14 December.

Doing it from abroad

Most foreign buyers do not file form 211 themselves. What has to be in place before completion:

• An NIE. Form 211 asks for the buyer's tax identification number, so have it issued before completion and give it to the notary with your passport.
• A power of attorney (poder notarial) if you will not be in Spain, either signed before a Spanish notary or consul, or before a notary in your country with an apostille. It should cover signing the deed and filing tax returns on your behalf.
• A plan for the money. The withheld 3% has to leave a bank account and reach the Tax Agency inside the month. The simplest route is that the 3% passes through your gestor's or lawyer's client account, with written instructions.

If you are the non-resident seller

• Expect 97% at the notary, not 100%, and less again if the plusvalía is held back.
• Make sure the buyer files form 211 within the month and sends you the copy. Without it you cannot credit the 3% against your tax. Put that duty in the arras contract.
• File your own form 210. Order EHA/3316/2010 and the form 210 instructions give you three months once the buyer's one-month window has passed, whatever the result. Deed on 14 November 2026: buyer's form 211 by 14 December; your form 210 from 15 December 2026 to 14 March 2027.
• Keep your purchase deed and invoices for improvements. They set the acquisition value; without them the gain is overstated.
• If you are actually resident in Spain, get the Tax Agency's residence certificate before the sale, or the 3% will be withheld anyway. If you become resident in the year of sale, ruling V0683-25 tells you to recover the 3% through your Spanish income tax return.
• Changes from 2027. Order HAC/623/2026 of 12 June 2026 amends the rules for form 210, adding among other things a field for the cadastral reference. Its content changes apply to returns filed from 1 January 2027. The new filing windows it brings in, according to the Tax Agency's note, concern deemed income from urban property and rental income (1–20 April 2027 for the last quarter of 2026), not the gain on a sale, which keeps the three-month window above.
• Your home country may also tax the gain and give credit for the Spanish tax. That is a question for an adviser where you live.

The exception: a seller who says they are resident

If the seller is tax-resident in Spain, there is no withholding, but they must prove it with a certificate from the competent tax authority, as the Regulation requires. If you skip the withholding on the seller's word and they turn out to be non-resident, you carry the "liabilities that fall on you as withholding agent".

The TEAC dealt with a seller who claimed residence without a certificate (decision 00/00146/2021): the burden of proving residence lies with whoever claims it. An NIE, a town-hall registration (padrón) or a utility bill is not a tax residence certificate. Ask for the certificate when the arras are signed, not the day before completion.

The plusvalía: you pay this one too

The municipal tax on the increase in value of urban land (IIVTNU, known as plusvalía) is owed on a sale by the seller. Art. 106.2 of the consolidated Local Finance Act (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004) provides that where the taxpayer is an individual not resident in Spain, the person acquiring the land is the substitute taxpayer. The town hall bills you, and saying it is the seller's tax gets you nowhere.

When it applies and when it does not:

• Only land of an urban nature. A property classed as rustic in the Cadastre (Catastro, the State's land survey register) pays none. A house on urban land does. The cadastral class decides, not what the seller uses the land for.
• It can be nil. Since Royal Decree-Law 26/2021, art. 104.5 of the Local Finance Act takes a sale out of the tax if it is shown that the land did not increase in value between the seller's purchase and sale, and art. 107.5 lets the taxpayer ask for the base to be calculated on the actual gain where that is lower than the statutory coefficients give. Whoever claims it has to prove it.
• You need the seller's purchase deeds to prove there was no increase or to opt for the actual-gain calculation. Ask for them with the arras.

In practice the notary holds back the estimated plusvalía in the deed, as in the Swedish case: €2,469 kept by the buyer, who then had to file and pay it. Each town hall sets its own filing deadline and method in its tax by-law (ordenanza fiscal); check yours, or ask the municipal tax office or the provincial collection agency that handles it.

Navarre and the Basque Country

Non-Resident Income Tax is one of the taxes that Navarre and the three Basque provinces administer under their own agreements with the State (Convenio and Concierto Económico), with their own rules and forms. In Bizkaia, for example, Foral Order 1879/2015 of 2 October approved a Bizkaia form 211 for withholding on property bought from non-residents.

If you buy in Navarre, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa or Álava, ask the notary before signing which tax authority receives the withholding, on which form and by when, and have it stated in the deed.

What if it goes wrong

You did not withhold, or withheld but never filed form 211. File it now, before the Tax Agency asks. Under art. 27.2 of the General Tax Act, as amended by Law 11/2021, a late return filed without a prior demand carries a surcharge of 1% plus a further 1% for each full month of delay, with no late-payment interest, up to twelve months; after twelve months the surcharge is 15% plus interest. The surcharge is cut by 25% if the conditions of art. 27.5 are met.

Two full months late on the €7,200 in the example: 1% + 2% = 3%, or €216; with the 25% reduction, €162. If you did not withhold and the money is already in the seller's account, you pay form 211 out of your own pocket and then pursue the seller through the civil courts, possibly in another country. That is why the withholding is agreed in writing beforehand.

You paid the full price and the seller has vanished. Your maximum exposure is the lower of the withholding and the seller's tax. Even if you know the seller sold at a loss, the Tax Agency will not recognise that unless someone files form 210. The prudent route is to file form 211 late and claim from the seller.

You are buying, and the notary finds an earlier sale by a non-resident with no withholding. The charge follows the property, including against later buyers. Ask the current seller for the form 211 receipt from their own purchase, or a Tax Agency certificate that nothing is owed. Failing that, agree an additional sum held back as security until it is cleared.

The town hall bills you plusvalía the seller already paid, or that does not apply. Appeal within the deadline and to the body stated on the notice, with the seller's purchase and sale deeds. If the land is rustic in the Cadastre, attach the cadastral certificate.

What to do, in order

1. Ask about the seller's tax residence before the arras. If resident, ask for the certificate. If not, plan to withhold 3% and, on urban land, the plusvalía.
2. Check the land class in the Cadastre. Rustic or urban decides whether plusvalía applies.
3. Write the withholding into the arras contract, with the duty to file form 211 and hand over the copy, and who bears the plusvalía. See the arras contract.
4. Get the seller's purchase deeds and improvement invoices.
5. Sort the NIE, power of attorney and payment route before completion.
6. At the deed, have the notary record the amounts withheld and how they are paid.
7. Within the month, file form 211 with the right authority (State or regional) and keep the receipt.
8. Send the seller their copy.
9. File or pay the plusvalía within the town hall's deadline, as substitute taxpayer.

A TerrenoCheck report shows, with the source and date of each map layer, the cadastral reference, land class, planning status and natural hazards for the plot you pin, from €29. The seller's tax residence and tax bill appear on no map: only their certificate and their form 210 settle those. Pin the plot on the map → · See a sample report

Buying at auction follows different payment and charge rules; see buying land at auction in Spain.