Cost of buying a house in Spain: who pays what, by law

Almost every buyer in Spain is told the same thing: budget the price plus about ten per cent for costs. No Spanish authority publishes that figure. Neither the tax agency, the notaries, the land registrars nor the Bank of Spain gives a total percentage, and the two parts that decide your bill are ones most buyers never look at: what the tax is charged on, and who the law says pays each item.

Here is what each cost is, where it comes from, and which of them you can push back on.

The tax is the big one, and it depends on the home

A resale home, meaning any home that is not a first sale by the developer, is exempt from VAT and carries regional transfer tax instead, known as ITP. A new build bought from the developer carries VAT plus a stamp duty on the deed. Everything else in this guide is small by comparison.

The buyer is the taxpayer for transfer tax, and the statute adds that this holds whatever the parties agree to the contrary. A clause that makes the seller pay the ITP does not bind the tax agency.

The tax may not be charged on your price

Since 11 July 2021 the transfer tax base on a home is not simply the price. It is the reference value the Spanish cadastre assigns to the property, unless the declared price is higher. If you agree a price below that reference value, you pay ITP on the reference value.

The same floor applies to the stamp duty on a new build: the value used may not be lower than the one resulting from the same rule.

You cannot challenge the reference value directly with the cadastre. The only routes are asking the tax agency to correct your own return or appealing an assessment, and the tax agency then decides on the basis of a binding report from the cadastre. In practice that means paying first and arguing afterwards.

The useful step comes before signing. The reference value of a property can be consulted and certified on the cadastre's electronic office, which requires the person asking to identify themselves, and the owner can obtain it without difficulty. Ask the seller for it. If it is above the agreed price, you know your tax base before the deposit is paid.

Transfer tax rates in the main regions

The general rates, checked in the consolidated regional laws in September 2026:

• Andalucía: 7 per cent.
• Balearic Islands: a scale from 8 to 13 per cent, applied as an average rate over the whole value rather than band by band.
• Canary Islands: 6.5 per cent.
• Catalonia: since 27 June 2025 a scale of 10 per cent up to €600,000, 11 per cent to €900,000, 12 per cent to €1.5 million and 13 per cent above, again applied as an average rate over the whole value. Buyers who qualify as large-scale owners pay 20 per cent.
• Madrid: 6 per cent.
• Murcia: 7.75 per cent, down from 8 per cent since 25 July 2025.
• Valencian Community: 9 per cent, and 11 per cent where the value exceeds €1 million, down from 10 per cent since 1 June 2026.

The Murcia and Valencia figures are still wrong on many sites. Most regions also have reduced rates for particular buyers, and those usually depend on the home becoming the buyer's main residence, so a holiday home normally pays the general rate.

A new build: VAT plus stamp duty

A first sale by the developer carries 10 per cent VAT on the price, which also covers up to two parking spaces and storage annexes sold with the home. On top of that comes stamp duty on the deed, payable by the buyer, at the regional rate. Examples: 1.2 per cent in Andalucía, 1.4 per cent in the Valencian Community, 1.5 per cent in Murcia, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia, and 0.75 per cent in the Canary Islands.

The Canary Islands sit outside VAT altogether and apply their own indirect tax, IGIC, at a general rate of 7 per cent. The lower housing rates there require the home to be the buyer's main residence.

On a new build the VAT is due with each instalment, not only at completion. How the deposit guarantee works during construction is covered in buying a new build in Spain.

Notary and registry: fixed scales, not a percentage

Spanish notaries and land registrars charge according to state tariffs, and both are sliding scales on the value. For the notary there is a mandatory 5 per cent reduction on the value-based fee, and the notary may give a further discount of up to 10 per cent, but may not waive only part of a fee.

To give an idea of scale: on a purchase at €300,000, the value-based part of the notary's fee comes to about €388 after the mandatory reduction, and the value-based part of the registry fee to about €205. Pages, authorised copies and VAT come on top, so the final invoices are higher, but these are fees in the hundreds, not thousands. A mortgage deed is a separate deed with its own fees, and under the mortgage law those are for the bank; see getting a Spanish mortgage as a non-resident.

Who pays what, according to the law

Article 1455 of the Civil Code sets the default: the costs of executing the deed are for the seller, and the first copy and everything after the sale are for the buyer, unless the parties agree otherwise. Registration is paid by the person in whose favour the property is registered, which is the buyer.

Many purchase contracts shift every cost to the buyer. Between two private individuals that is lawful, so it is a point to negotiate, not a rule to accept. Two limits do not move:

• The transfer tax stays with the buyer whatever the contract says, as above.
• When a consumer buys a new build from a developer, consumer law treats as abusive any clause that makes the buyer pay taxes for which the developer is the taxpayer, including the municipal capital gains tax known as plusvalía, and the developer's own title costs, such as the declaration of new work, the division into units and its construction loan. The same provision protects the buyer's right to choose the notary.

When the seller does not live in Spain

Two amounts leave the price at signing, even though neither is a cost of yours.

If the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer must withhold 3 per cent of the agreed price and pay it to the tax agency on form 211 within one month of the transfer. If that does not happen, the property itself stays liable for the lower of the withholding and the seller's tax, and the registry records that on the buyer's title.

The plusvalía is the seller's tax on a sale. Where the seller is a non-resident individual, the buyer becomes the substitute taxpayer and has to pay it in the seller's place, so in practice that amount is also kept back from the price. That rule does not apply where the seller is a non-resident company. The seller's side is explained in selling property in Spain: the tax.

How the price is paid

The notary must record in the deed how the price was paid, and the registry refuses a deed where the parties decline to say. Between two private individuals the anti-fraud law sets no cash limit, because it only applies where one of the parties acts as a business or professional. When buying from a developer it does apply: cash payments of €1,000 or more are prohibited, or €10,000 where the payer is a private individual who shows that their tax residence is outside Spain. Bank transfer is the only practical route in either case.

Keep every receipt for later

This is the point that pays off years later. When you sell, Spanish capital gains tax is charged on the difference between the sale value and the acquisition value, and the acquisition value includes the taxes and costs inherent in the purchase, other than interest. The transfer tax, the notary and the registry all count. A buyer who kept the receipts pays less tax on the sale than one who did not.

Questions we get

Is ten per cent a realistic budget?
It depends almost entirely on the region and on whether the home is new. Take the regional rate or the VAT and stamp duty, check the reference value, then add a few hundred euros each for notary and registry and your own lawyer. That is a real number; a flat ten per cent is not.

Do I need a NIE to pay the tax?
Yes. The tax return, the deed and the registration all require a Spanish tax number for the buyer, and for a foreign buyer that is almost always the NIE. See what is a NIE number in Spain.

Can the seller pay part of my costs?
The notary's costs of executing the deed are already the seller's by default. Anything else can be agreed, except the transfer tax, which remains yours towards the tax agency whatever the contract says.

Can I sign without travelling to Spain?
Yes, with a notarial power of attorney: see how to grant a Spanish power of attorney from abroad. The full purchase process is in buying a second home in Spain.

Why Buenaley?

Buenaley is a Spanish law firm working with international clients. On a purchase there are two things we take off your hands, in this order.

The first is the NIE. Without it the tax cannot be paid and the deed cannot be registered in your name, and it is the step that most often holds up a completion date. We handle it through our NIE service, for every buyer on the deed.

The second is the purchase itself: checking the property and its reference value before the deposit, negotiating who pays what, and making sure the withholdings are paid on time when the seller lives abroad.

• NIE applications for every buyer, started on day one
• The reference value and the tax on it confirmed before you commit
• The cost clauses in the contract checked against what the law already gives you
• The 3 per cent withholding and the plusvalía handled when the seller is not resident
• Receipts and the tax return kept together for the day you sell

Have a property in mind? Send us the listing and the region and you will hear what the purchase will really cost. Or start with the NIE application, because nothing is paid or registered without it.