Capital Gains Tax for Non-Residents Selling in Spain: the 19% Rate and How It Is Calculated

You sell your apartment in Benalmádena for €294,000. You bought it in 2014 for €180,000. You do the subtraction in the car on the way back from the notary, get €114,000 of profit, and brace yourself for the tax bill. Three weeks later your accountant calls and tells you the taxable gain is not €114,000 but €80,567, and the tax is €15,308 instead of €21,660. The difference is €6,352, and all of it was sitting in a folder of invoices you nearly threw out when you cleared the flat.

That is Spanish capital gains tax for non-residents: a tax where the rate matters least and the arithmetic matters most. The rate is set by one line of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2004 and is not negotiable. The taxable base, on the other hand, is something you build yourself over twelve years of deeds, invoices and receipts.

There is also a misunderstanding repeated on almost every estate agency website on this coast: the capital gain on selling a property in Spain is taxed at 19% for every non-resident, whether you live in Munich, Manchester or Miami. The 24% rate is real, and it genuinely costs British owners money — but it does not apply to the sale.

This guide explains how the gain is calculated, which costs add to the purchase value and which come off the sale value, which invoices the Spanish tax office accepts, why the main-home rollover relief almost never rescues a non-resident, how an inherited property works, and where the real euro difference between an EU seller and a British one actually sits. It ends with two worked cases, line by line. The mechanics of the 3% retention and Form 211 have their own article: they are mentioned here where needed, but not developed in full.

No, a British seller does not pay 24%: they pay 19%, the same as a German

Article 25.1 of the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act (Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes, or IRNR) sets the rates. Its paragraph a) gives the general rate: «24 per cent. However, the rate shall be 19 per cent where the taxpayer is resident in another Member State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area with which there is an effective exchange of tax information». That is the sentence behind the confusion. It is accurate, it is correctly quoted, and it is not about the sale.

A few lines further down, paragraph f) of the same article introduces a special rule that displaces the general one: «19 per cent in the case of […] capital gains arising on transfers of assets». That paragraph carries no residence condition at all. It does not say «for residents of the European Union». It simply says 19%.

The Spanish tax agency confirms this in its own rate table, where «other capital gains» appear at 19% on a separate line, without the 19%/24% split shown on the general line. And the 2026 edition of its Non-Residents Tax Manual says it in six words: «the applicable tax rate is 19%», with no territorial caveat.

The UK double tax treaty does not change it either

The Spain-UK double taxation convention signed in 2013 says at article 13 that gains from the disposal of immovable property situated in the other State may be taxed in that other State. It confirms that Spain taxes, and leaves the rate alone: a treaty allocates taxing rights between countries, it does not raise or lower Spain’s domestic rate.

What it does do is stop you paying twice. The tax paid in Spain is then credited in your UK return, and HMRC lets you set it against the Capital Gains Tax due there. That side of the equation depends on your UK position and is outside the scope of this article; if you are mid-move, the context is in the post-Brexit guide for British citizens on the Costa del Sol.

Where residence does decide the outcome is in rental income, deemed income, expense deductions, rollover relief and the exemption for movable goods. All of that is set out in euros further down. The 19% group is the European Union, Iceland, Norway and — since 11 July 2021, when Law 11/2021 removed it from the list of jurisdictions without effective information exchange — Liechtenstein.

How the gain is calculated: the two values that matter

The formula fits on one line: capital gain = sale value − purchase value.

Non-resident tax has no separate rules for this. Article 24.4 of its act refers straight across to articles 34 to 38 of Personal Income Tax Law 35/2006, so exactly the same arithmetic applies to you as to a Spanish resident. The difference lies in the rate, the form you file and the reliefs you can reach — not in the maths. And neither value is the price written on the escritura, the public deed signed before a Spanish notary:

Purchase value (you want this high)	Sale value (you want this low)
Add: purchase price on the deed	Starting point: sale price on the deed, unless it is below market value
Add: transfer tax (ITP), VAT or stamp duty paid on purchase	Deduct: estate agency commission, including its VAT
Add: inheritance and gift tax paid, if you inherited or were gifted the property	Deduct: municipal land-value tax (plusvalía municipal), if you actually bear it
Add: notary, land registry and gestoría (the administrative agent who files the paperwork) on purchase	Deduct: energy performance certificate and any notary fees you pay on the sale
Add: the cost of capital improvements	Does not deduct: the registry cost of cancelling your own mortgage
Does not add: mortgage interest, expressly excluded by the law	Does not deduct: removals, home staging or cleaning before viewings
Deduct: minimum depreciation of 3% a year for every year it was let

The depreciation they deduct even if you never claimed it

If the property was ever let, the purchase value is reduced by the amount of depreciation, and the tax agency applies the minimum depreciation: 3% a year on the building value, regardless of whether you actually deducted it in those years.

This catches a lot of owners. You let the flat for four summers, filed nothing, and the depreciation is still subtracted. In the main case below that is €21,184 of purchase value gone, which is €4,025 of extra tax. If you are weighing up letting before selling, put that number alongside the holiday lets versus long-term rentals comparison.

The buyer pays the plusvalía, but you are the taxpayer

The plusvalía municipal is a town hall tax on the increase in land value since you acquired the property. It is separate from the state capital gains tax, and there is a rule here that almost nobody knows and that costs non-residents real money. Article 106 of the Local Finances Act makes the seller the taxpayer, but then adds that «the person […] acquiring the land shall be treated as substitute taxpayer […] where the taxpayer is an individual not resident in Spain». The party obliged to pay the town hall is the buyer, even though the tax remains yours.

And there is the trap: you may only deduct the plusvalía «to the extent it is borne by the transferor». If the buyer pays it and does not pass it on to you, you have not borne it and you cannot deduct it. Getting that pass-through written into the deed is what makes the figure deductible. In the main case it is €3,900, meaning €741 of tax.

Market value beats the declared price

The law takes the amount actually received as the sale value «provided it is not lower than normal market value, in which case the latter shall prevail». Under-declaring on the deed does not reduce the tax: it triggers a valuation review in which the administration sets the market value and assesses on that, with interest and a penalty. Start from a proper market valuation and understand why a formal appraisal, a market valuation and the cadastral value are three different figures. The administration uses its own.

Which invoices the tax office accepts, and which it rejects

This is the part of the article worth the most money, because it is the only part you can still act on if you have not sold yet. The law only allows «the cost of investments and improvements» to raise the purchase value. Not «works». Improvements. The settled position of the Directorate-General for Taxation and the Central Economic-Administrative Court separates the two categories like this:

• Improvement or extension: work that increases capacity, floor area or habitability, or extends useful life. Adding an installation that was not there before.
• Repair and maintenance: work that keeps the property in usable condition. Replacing something worn out that was already there.

The practical test is easy to remember: installing for the first time is improvement; replacing what was already there is maintenance. Writing «full refurbishment and improvement» on the invoice does not turn a change of bathroom fittings into an improvement.

Expense	Adds to purchase value?	Why
Installing ducted air conditioning where there was no cooling at all	Yes	New installation that increases habitability
Swapping the air conditioning unit for a newer one	No	Replacement of something existing
Enclosing a terrace with a licence and adding built area	Yes	Extension
Replacing single-glazed aluminium windows with thermally broken frames	Yes, with caveats	Envelope improvement if it raises the energy rating; document it with the certificate before and after
Installing a lift in a building that had none (community levy)	Yes	New installation; keep the administrator’s certificate showing your share
Community levy for façade repair or roof waterproofing	No	Building maintenance
Full kitchen and bathroom refit keeping the same layout	Usually not	Treated as renewal of finishes; the part that creates a new installation can be argued separately
Building a pool or a legalised covered porch	Yes	Extension with a licence
Paint, tiling, laminate flooring, sanitaryware, taps	No	Maintenance and finishes
Furniture, appliances and decoration	No	Not part of the property
Mortgage interest	No	Expressly excluded by article 35.1.b) of the Income Tax Law

What the invoice must contain to count

Article 106.4 of the General Tax Act says deductible costs are evidenced «primarily by means of the invoice», and adds a sentence worth reading twice: «the invoice does not constitute privileged evidence […] once the administration reasonably questions its effectiveness, it falls to the taxpayer to provide evidence of the reality of the transactions».

In other words: the invoice alone is not enough if the tax office challenges it. You need the invoice and you need to be able to show the work was done and that you paid for it. A full Spanish invoice must carry:

• A sequential number and series, and the issue date.
• Name, address and tax number of both the issuer and the recipient. If your NIE — the foreigner’s identification number every property owner in Spain must have — is not on the invoice, that invoice is not yours for tax purposes.
• A detailed description of the work. «Sundry works» describes nothing.
• Net amount, VAT rate and the VAT charged shown separately.

What the tax office will not accept, or will only accept after a fight:

• A till receipt or simplified invoice. These can be issued up to €400 generally and up to €3,000 in certain sectors, but they do not identify the recipient. Always ask for a full invoice from the start.
• An invoice in someone else’s name. If your son, your tenant or a relative’s company commissioned the work, it is not your cost.
• Cash payment. It is not that paying cash is forbidden — it is that you cannot prove it. Without a traceable bank transfer the invoice is exposed to that second paragraph of article 106.4.
• A quote with no subsequent invoice, which evidences an intention rather than a cost, and unlicensed work where a licence was required: justifying an extension that appears neither at the Land Registry nor at the Cadastre is a battle you will usually lose.

The folder you should have: purchase deed, the transfer tax assessment or the VAT invoice if it was a new build, notary, registry and gestoría fee notes, works invoices with their bank payment evidence, licences, energy certificates before and after any window replacement, administrator’s certificates for new-installation levies, and your filings for the years the property was let. Any terms you do not recognise are in the property glossary.

The full case, line by line

A British citizen resident in Surrey sells his 80 m² apartment in Benalmádena in 2026, bought in June 2014. It was let on long-term contracts from 2015 to 2020 and used personally since then.

Item	Amount
PURCHASE VALUE
Purchase price on the deed (June 2014)	€180,000
Transfer tax at 8% paid on purchase	+€14,400
Notary	+€850
Land Registry	+€550
Gestoría	+€350
Improvement: ducted air conditioning, 2017 (there was no cooling)	+€6,800
Improvement: terrace enclosed with a licence, 2019	+€9,400
Minimum depreciation: 3% a year on €117,690 of building value, 6 years let	−€21,184
Computable purchase value	€191,166
SALE VALUE
Sale price on the deed (2026)	€294,000
Agency commission, 5% + 21% VAT	−€17,787
Plusvalía municipal, paid by the buyer and passed on in the deed	−€3,900
Notary costs borne by the seller	−€400
Energy performance certificate	−€180
Computable sale value	€271,733
GAIN AND TAX
Capital gain (€271,733 − €191,166)	€80,567
Tax at 19%	€15,308
3% retention already paid over by the buyer on Form 211	−€8,820
Payable with Form 210	€6,488

Now the comparison that justifies keeping the folder. Had this seller kept nothing and simply declared the difference between the two deed prices, the gain would have been €114,000 and the tax €21,660: €6,352 too much.

And the uncomfortable half of the same story. This owner also held €7,700 of invoices for painting, a boiler and bathroom fittings — all correct, all with VAT, all in his name — and not one of them counts: they are maintenance. They would have been worth €1,463 if the law allowed them. It does not. Keeping invoices pays; keeping the wrong ones pays about half of what people expect.

Here the 3% retention falls short and the seller pays the balance. The opposite is common too: if the gain is small or there is a loss, the retention on the full price can exceed the tax and Form 210 produces a refund. A refund position does not excuse you from filing — it is the only way to get the money back, and until the position is regularised the property remains charged with the tax through a marginal note at the Land Registry.

Where 24% really bites: the British arithmetic

The sale rate being identical does not mean Brexit was free. It means the bill sits somewhere else, and where it sits it is larger than most owners calculate. Since 1 January 2021 a UK resident is taxed in Spain like any third country: 24% instead of 19% on rent and deemed income, no right to deduct letting expenses, and no rollover relief.

Take the same Benalmádena apartment and assume it is let long-term at €1,100 a month for the six years after Brexit, with €5,900 a year of deductible costs across council tax, community fees, insurance, utilities, depreciation and repairs. Seller A is resident in Germany; seller B in the United Kingdom.

Same property, same numbers	Resident in Germany (EU)	Resident in the UK	Difference
Capital gain on the sale, at 19% in both cases	€80,567	€80,567	€0
Tax on the sale	€15,308	€15,308	€0
Gross rent at €1,100/month	€13,200/yr	€13,200/yr	—
Deductible expenses allowed	€5,900/yr	€0	€5,900/yr
Taxable rental base and rate	€7,300 at 19%	€13,200 at 24%	—
Annual tax on the rent	€1,387	€3,168	€1,781/yr
Six years of letting (2021–2026)	€8,322	€19,008	€10,686
Deemed income per unlet year, cadastral value €96,000 at 1.1%	€201	€253	€53/yr
Rollover relief on a main home	Available	Not available	up to €15,308
Exemption on the gain from furniture sold with the property	Yes	No	per inventory

The conclusion, with both figures side by side: Brexit has cost this seller nothing at all on the sale, and €10,686 across the six preceding years of letting. With rollover relief in play, the total difference would reach €25,994.

So the practical advice for a British owner is not «sell before the rate goes up», which is what circulates and has no basis. It is to review the tax treatment of the letting while the property is still yours. The long-term rental guide and the tourist licence guide carry the gross yields by town.

The furniture question

When you sell furnished, the law requires the price to be split between the property and the movable goods, and here residence does matter: article 14.1.c) exempts gains on movable goods obtained by residents of the EU or the European Economic Area with effective information exchange. A UK resident does not have that exemption.

It is a tempting way to reduce the property’s sale value and also the one that attracts most scrutiny. If you use it, do so with a detailed inventory, a reasonable valuation and a breakdown in the deed. Assigning €30,000 of «furniture» to a €294,000 apartment does not survive contact with an inspector.

Rollover relief, and why it almost never saves you

It exists. Law 26/2014 introduced it at the seventh additional provision, after the European Commission pressed Spain for discriminating against non-resident EU sellers, and it can take the gain to zero. It is also, in practice on this coast, the relief that applies least often. There are four conditions and all must be met:

1. You must be resident in the European Union, or in Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein. The UK dropped out on 1 January 2021. Switzerland, the United States and Canada were never in.
2. The property you sell must have been your main home in Spain — not just any property, but your vivienda habitual as defined by the income tax regulations: effective, permanent residence for at least three continuous years, occupied within twelve months of purchase.
3. You must reinvest the full amount obtained within two years of the sale. A home bought in the two years before the sale also counts, and if you reinvest only part, the relief is proportional.
4. The new property must genuinely be your main home. A second home or a buy-to-let does not qualify.

Condition 2 is what defeats almost everyone. The overwhelming majority of non-resident sales on the Costa del Sol are second homes: the holiday apartment, the flat bought to spend winters in, the property that was let and never permanently occupied. None of those is a main home, and without a main home there is no relief no matter how much you reinvest.

There is one case where it does work: the resident who leaves. Someone who lived permanently in Mijas for years, went home, and later sells what was their house. The regulations give a window: you are treated as transferring your main home when it was such at the time of sale «or had been so on any day within the two years preceding the date of transfer». After those two years, the relief disappears.

Even where the relief applies, the buyer still withholds the 3%. If you have already reinvested when you file Form 210, the relief is applied in the return itself under the relevant income code, and there is another code for a committed future reinvestment. If you already filed without claiming it, Form 228 exists, filed within three months of buying the new home. One point that gets missed: if the property you sold had a mortgage, the «total amount obtained» you must reinvest is reduced by the capital outstanding at the time of sale. You reinvest what you receive, not the gross price.

The over-65s exemption does not exist for you

This is the question retired sellers ask most often, and the answer is no. The exemption for transferring a main home when over 65 lives in article 33.4.b) of the Income Tax Law, requires the transfer of «their main home», and that condition cannot be met by someone who by definition does not live in Spain.

The decisive argument is structural: if the general cross-reference from non-resident tax to the income tax law were enough to import main-home reliefs, Law 26/2014 would not have needed to create a specific provision for rollover. The legislator had to write it precisely because the cross-reference did not reach, and wrote no equivalent for the over-65s. If your plan is to retire in Spain and become tax resident, the equation changes completely and is worth studying before you sell.

Inherited property: the inheritance tax value governs

Where the property came by inheritance or gift there is no purchase price. Article 36 of the Income Tax Law resolves it by taking «those values resulting from the application of the rules of Inheritance and Gift Tax, which may not exceed market value».

So: the value declared at the time for inheritance tax, with two ceilings — it cannot exceed market value, and if the administration reviewed and raised it, the reviewed figure governs. To that you add the costs and taxes inherent to the acquisition: the inheritance tax paid, the plusvalía municipal on the death transfer, and the notary, registry and gestoría costs of the deed of acceptance. The acquisition date is the date of death, not the date of that deed: an estate accepted five years after the death does not reset the clock.

The €17,100 mistake made at the inheritance signing

Here is the uncomfortable conclusion of this article, and almost nobody gives it to you at the moment it matters. In Andalusia, inheritance tax for Group I and II heirs — spouse, children, parents — carries a €1,000,000 allowance per heir and a 99% rebate on the resulting tax. In practice the overwhelming majority of residential inheritances on this coast pay nothing or close to it.

And yet plenty of people still declare the property at a low value «to pay less». Since the tax was already nil, they save nothing: they simply fix themselves a low purchase value that detonates the day they sell.

A villa in Mijas inherited in March 2019 and sold in 2026 for €448,000:

Item	€340,000 declared for inheritance tax	€250,000 declared for inheritance tax
Value declared for inheritance tax	€340,000	€250,000
Inheritance tax actually paid (99% rebate)	€0	€0
Plusvalía municipal on the inheritance	+€2,400	+€2,400
Notary, registry and gestoría on acceptance	+€2,900	+€2,900
Purchase value	€345,300	€255,300
Sale price in 2026	€448,000	€448,000
Agency commission 5% + VAT	−€27,104	−€27,104
Plusvalía municipal on the sale	−€5,200	−€5,200
Energy certificate	−€220	−€220
Sale value	€415,476	€415,476
Capital gain	€70,176	€160,176
Tax at 19%	€13,333	€30,433
3% retention taken by the buyer	€13,440	€13,440
Form 210 outcome	€107 refund	€16,993 to pay

A difference of €17,100, from a figure written into a deed of inheritance without thinking, which saved not one euro of inheritance tax because the tax was already rebated at 99%.

The rule runs against everyone’s instinct: if your inheritance tax comes out at zero, declare the property at its real market value, not the minimum. You are buying purchase value for free, limited only by not exceeding market value. And if you do not live here, the practical side — NIE numbers for the heirs, powers of attorney, signing remotely — is covered in buying and signing in Spain without travelling.

Bought before 1995, and other small print

Inflation indexing died in 2015

Until 2014 the purchase value was uplifted by coefficients that corrected for inflation. Law 26/2014 abolished them with effect from 1 January 2015 and they have not returned. The practical consequence: the €90,000 you paid in 1997 is worth €90,000 for tax purposes today, however much greater its purchasing power was. A good part of what you declare as a gain on a long holding is pure inflation, and it is taxed all the same.

Pre-1995 taper relief does survive

If you bought before 31 December 1994 and you are an individual, you qualify for the transitional regime of the ninth transitional provision of the Income Tax Law. And yes, it reaches non-residents: the first transitional provision of the non-resident act declares it applicable to taxpayers without a permanent establishment who are individuals. It works in four steps:

1. The total gain is calculated under the normal rules.
2. The portion accrued before 20 January 2006 is separated out on a daily basis. Only that portion is reduced.
3. That portion is reduced by 11.11% for each year of ownership before 31 December 1996 beyond the first two. If you had held the property more than ten years at that date, the portion falls out of charge entirely.
4. There is a €400,000 cap on cumulative sale value since 2015 across every asset you have applied the regime to. Above it, the reduction is pro-rated or lost.

The effect can be large: on a beachfront apartment bought in 1985 and sold today, much of the gain accrued before 2006 and reaches the maximum taper. But the daily apportionment is delicate, the €400,000 cap is cumulative across transactions, and improvements count from their own date. This is the scenario where a tax adviser pays for themselves.

The 50% exemption for 2012 purchases

A 50% exemption exists on the gain for urban property acquired between 12 May and 31 December 2012, a market stimulus from the depth of the crisis that the tax agency sets out expressly on its non-resident capital gains page. If your purchase deed is dated within those seven and a half months, it is the first thing your adviser should look at.

Deadlines: what you file and when

The chain in short. The detail of the retention and Form 211 is in the guide to selling a property on the Costa del Sol as a non-resident.

Step	Who	Form	Deadline
3% retention on the agreed price	The buyer	211	1 month from the date of transfer
Declaration of the capital gain	You, the non-resident seller	210	3 months from the end of that first month, so roughly 4 months from signing
Refund claim for rollover relief, if not applied in the 210	You, if resident in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein	228	3 months from buying the new main home

Two points that are routinely got wrong. First: the deadline is the same whether the return is payable or refundable, because the order governing the form says so in as many words — «irrespective of the outcome of the self-assessment». The four-year deadline that circulates on forums applies to other income, not to property transfers. Second: if the buyer does not pay over the 3%, the property answers for the debt, through a marginal note at the Land Registry. It is the buyer’s problem that ends up belonging to both of you.

Five mistakes that cost money

1. Believing you pay 24% because you are British, and selling in a hurry because of it. This is the most expensive error in decision terms, because it leads people to accept a price cut to get ahead of a rate that does not exist. Selling is a market decision, not a tax-rate decision.
2. Throwing out the invoices when you clear the property. Twelve years of receipts were worth €6,352 in the case above. The folder weighs two kilos and scans in an afternoon.
3. Declaring a low value for inheritance tax when the tax was already zero. Seventeen thousand euros for writing a small number where it made no difference.
4. Not recording in the deed that the plusvalía municipal is passed on to you. Without that record you have not borne it and you cannot deduct it.
5. Forgetting the letting years and confusing refurbishment with improvement. Minimum depreciation is deducted whether or not you claimed it, and a kitchen and bathroom refit that keeps the same layout is, to the tax office, renewal of finishes. It stings, but better to know before you count on the money.

Step by step before you sign

1. Find the purchase or inheritance deed and note the value stated in it. If you inherited, also find the inheritance tax assessment and the value declared there.
2. Gather the acquisition evidence: the transfer tax assessment or VAT invoice if it was a new build, and the notary, registry and gestoría fee notes.
3. Sort the works invoices into two piles using the improvement-versus-maintenance table above. Check each one carries your NIE, the issuer’s tax number, VAT shown separately and a matching bank payment.
4. Reconstruct the letting years: exact start and end dates, and the building value shown on your council tax bill, so the minimum depreciation can be worked out.
5. Check your purchase date against two key dates: before 31 December 1994 opens the taper regime; between 12 May and 31 December 2012 opens the 50% exemption.
6. Do the estimate before you accept an offer, not after. Knowing you will owe €6,500 beyond the retention changes the minimum figure you are willing to take.
7. Write into the deed who settles the plusvalía municipal and how it is passed on to you, and if you sell furnished, prepare an inventory and value it sensibly, broken out in the price.
8. Confirm the buyer has filed Form 211 and ask for a copy. It is your proof the retention was paid over and what lets you offset it on the 210, within the four months you have from signing.

One point of sequencing: do all of this before the property goes on the market. Average selling times on this coast leave no room to reconstruct twelve years of paperwork with a buyer waiting; the real timescales by town are in the analysis of where property sells fastest on the Costa del Sol.

Frequently asked questions

How much tax do you pay selling a house in Spain as a non-resident?

19% of the capital gain, which is not 19% of the sale price. The gain is the sale value minus the purchase value, both adjusted for costs, taxes and improvements. In the case worked through in this article, a €294,000 sale against a €180,000 purchase produces a tax bill of €15,308, not €21,660.

Do British sellers pay 24% capital gains tax in Spain?

No. They pay 19%, exactly the same as a German or French resident. Article 25.1.f) of the non-resident tax act sets 19% for gains on transfers of assets without attaching any residence condition. The 24% rate applies to rental income and deemed income, not to the sale.

What costs can I deduct from the capital gain?

To the purchase price you add transfer tax or VAT, notary, land registry, gestoría and the cost of improvements. From the sale price you deduct agency commission with its VAT, the plusvalía municipal if you bear it, the energy certificate and any notary costs you pay. Mortgage interest and maintenance costs do not count.

Does a renovation invoice reduce the tax when I sell?

Only if the work is an improvement or extension, not maintenance. Installing air conditioning where there was none, enclosing a terrace under licence or adding a lift all count. Painting, changing bathroom fittings or replacing a broken boiler do not. The invoice must carry your NIE, the issuer’s tax number, VAT shown separately and a bank payment behind it.

Can I avoid the tax by reinvesting in another home?

Only if you are resident in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein and the property you sell was your main home in Spain. A holiday second home never qualifies, which is why the relief is so rarely available on this coast. The reinvestment window is two years and the relief is proportional if you reinvest only part.

I am over 65 — am I exempt from the gain?

Not if you are a non-resident. That exemption sits in the Personal Income Tax Law, requires the transfer of a main home, and does not carry across to non-resident tax. The proof is that the legislator had to enact a specific provision for rollover relief: if the general cross-reference sufficed, none would have been needed. For the over-65s none was ever written.

What is the purchase value of an inherited property?

The value declared for inheritance tax, which cannot exceed market value, plus the inheritance tax paid, the plusvalía municipal on the inheritance and the notary, registry and gestoría costs of the deed of acceptance. The acquisition date is the date of death, not the date the estate was formally accepted.

Can the purchase price be adjusted for inflation?

Not since 2015. Law 26/2014 abolished the indexation coefficients with effect from 1 January of that year and they have not been reinstated. What does survive is the taper relief regime for property acquired before 31 December 1994, capped at €400,000 of cumulative sale value.

When must Form 210 be filed after a sale?

Within three months of the end of the month in which the buyer had to pay over the 3% retention, so roughly four months from signing. The deadline is identical whether the return is payable or refundable: the order governing the form says so in as many words, «irrespective of the outcome of the self-assessment».

If I sell at a loss, do I get the 3% retention back?

Yes, in full, but only if you file Form 210 within the deadline. The refund is not automatic: the retention was paid on account of a tax that turns out not to exist, and you have to claim it. Until the position is regularised, the property stays charged with the tax through a marginal note at the Land Registry.

Keep reading

• Selling a property on the Costa del Sol as a non-resident
• The cost of selling a property on the Costa del Sol
• Inheritance tax in Andalusia for foreign owners
• Taxes on buying property in Andalusia
• Buying property in Spain as a foreigner
• The complete guide to buying on the Costa del Sol

Sources and methodology

The rates and calculation rules come from Royal Legislative Decree 5/2004, the consolidated Non-Resident Income Tax Act (articles 14, 24, 25 and the seventh additional provision), and from Law 35/2006 on personal income tax (articles 33 to 38 and the ninth transitional provision), consulted in the consolidated text published in the Spanish official gazette. Filing deadlines come from Royal Decree 1776/2004 and from Order EHA/3316/2010 as amended by Order HAC/623/2026. The substitute-taxpayer rule for the plusvalía municipal is article 106 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, and the invoice requirements are article 106.4 of Law 58/2003 and Royal Decree 1619/2012.

That the capital gains rate is 19% regardless of country of residence is confirmed both in the IRNR rate table on the Spanish tax agency website and in its Non-Residents Tax Manual, July 2026 edition. The UK treatment also rests on article 13 of the Spain-UK double taxation convention of 2013.

The improvement-versus-maintenance distinction reflects the settled position of the Directorate-General for Taxation and the Central Economic-Administrative Court. It is interpretative doctrine applied case by case: the table entries are indicative, and the same work can be classified differently depending on its real scope and the documentation behind it.

The reference prices by town — €294,000 for a Benalmádena apartment, €448,000 for a Mijas villa — come from the SolProp Costa del Sol Price Index (v2026.3, data to June 2026). This index is an in-house estimate built from asking prices and our own portfolio, and is not a record of registered transactions from the Land Registrars’ Association or the national statistics institute; the full methodology is published at the interactive map methodology. It should not be compared like for like with official statistics, which measure different things.

Both worked cases are constructed examples based on real prices and property types in the area, not the accounts of specific transactions. The notary, registry, gestoría, plusvalía municipal and energy certificate figures are typical orders of magnitude for 2026 and vary with the town, the cadastral value and the length of ownership.

This article is general information and does not replace advice from a tax adviser for your specific case. Last updated: August 2026.