Spain · Selling a home
If you live outside Spain and sell a home there, Spain taxes the gain at 19% in 2026, whether you live in the UK, the US or elsewhere. The buyer holds back 3% of the price for the Agencia Tributaria (Modelo 211), you then file Modelo 210 to pay any balance or reclaim the excess, and the town hall charges its plusvalía separately. The UK and the US also tax the gain, with a credit for the Spanish tax.
Looking at a home in Spain? Four quick questions, then Rory tells you plainly what your budget reaches and whether the timing works.
See what fits →A seller who is not tax resident in Spain pays non-resident income tax (IRNR) on the gain at a flat 19% (art. 25.1.f, TRLIRNR); unlike the tax on rent, the rate is the same for UK, US and EU residents. Co-owners are separate taxpayers, so a couple each declare their own share.
The gain follows Spanish income tax rules (art. 24.4); purchase taxes (costs by region) count in your favour, as the Agencia Tributaria's manual for non-residents explains:
| Item | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Sale price | Less selling costs and taxes the seller pays |
| Purchase price | Plus purchase taxes, notary and registry fees, and improvements, but not repairs |
| Years the home was let | Cost reduced by depreciation of at least 3% a year on the building |
| Bought before 1995 | Part of the gain may be reduced, within a €400,000 cap on sale values |
The exemption for reinvesting in a new main home is open only to residents of EU and EEA countries (additional provision 7), so it does not help sellers living in the UK or the US.
Whoever buys from a non-resident must keep back 3% of the agreed price, pay it to the Agencia Tributaria on Modelo 211 within a month and give the seller a copy (art. 25.2); with mixed ownership, only the non-resident owners' share counts. If the buyer fails to pay, the home itself stays answerable for the smaller of the 3% and the tax due.
The seller then has three months, starting when the buyer's month ends, to file Modelo 210 on the gain, whether it shows tax to pay or a refund (Orden HAC/623/2026). The 3% counts towards the 19% and any excess is repaid. The yearly filing on a home you keep is separate (non-resident tax).
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | €260,000 |
| Less selling costs | €8,000 |
| Less purchase price €200,000 and €20,000 of taxes and fees | €220,000 |
| Gain | €32,000 |
| Tax at 19% | €6,080 |
| Withheld by the buyer (3%) | €7,800 |
| Refund claimed on Modelo 210 | €1,720 |
The town hall's plusvalía taxes the rise in value of the land under an urban home. The seller owes it, but when the seller is a non-resident individual the buyer becomes the substitute taxpayer (art. 106.2, RDL 2/2004), so the contract should cover it. It is declared within 30 working days, at a council rate of up to 30%.
Since a Constitutional Court ruling of 26 October 2021 (STC 182/2021), Real Decreto-ley 26/2021 lets you pay on the lower of two bases, and nothing is due if the deeds show no gain on the land (art. 104.5):
| Full years owned | Until 30 Nov 2026 | From 1 Dec 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 0.15 | 0.17 |
| 10 | 0.12 | 0.22 |
| 12 | 0.09 | 0.14 |
| 20 or more | 0.40 | 0.30 |
Councils may set lower ones. The 2024 maxima (RDL 8/2023) apply because Congress revoked the 2025 and 2026 updates; the new set comes from RDL 29/2026, in force since 8 October and, on 2 November 2026, still awaiting Congress's validation vote.
Illustrative arithmetic only: land with a hypothetical cadastral value of €40,000, held 12 years and sold in November 2026, gives an objective base of €3,600 (coefficient 0.09), or €1,080 at a 30% rate; the real-gain base applies only if it is lower.
UK residents can owe Capital Gains Tax on assets abroad (GOV.UK): for 2026–27, 18% on gains within the basic-rate band and 24% above, after a £3,000 allowance. HMRC converts the purchase price at the exchange rate when you bought and the sale price at the rate when you sold (CG78310), so the sterling gain can differ from the euro gain.
Under the UK–Spain convention Spain may tax the gain (art. 13) and the UK credits the Spanish tax (art. 22), up to the UK tax on the same gain (HMRC helpsheet HS263). Claim it through Self Assessment: HMRC's real-time service cannot take a foreign tax credit claim for overseas property.
Private Residence Relief covers a Spanish home only for tax years in which you, or your spouse or civil partner, spent at least 90 midnights there: the rule since 6 April 2015 for homes in countries where you are not tax resident (HS283; CG64582).
US citizens report worldwide gains in dollars wherever they live (IRS Publication 54); most long-term gains are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% (Topic 409). The exclusion of up to $250,000, or $500,000 for joint filers, covers only a main home owned and lived in for two of the five years before a sale (Publication 523).
The 1990 US–Spain treaty lets Spain tax the gain (art. 13) and the US credits the Spanish income tax (art. 24), claimed on Form 1116 (Publication 514). Tax that Spain would refund earns no credit, so an overpaid 3% is reclaimed in Spain. More in buying in Spain from the US.
Residents pay income tax (IRPF) on the gain as savings income (art. 46, Ley 35/2006). A resident over 65 pays no tax on the gain from selling his or her main home (art. 33.4.b), and a gain reinvested in a new main home can be exempt (art. 38.1); see retiring to Spain.
Information as of 2 November 2026, not advice; each relief has conditions not listed here. Have an independent Spanish lawyer (abogado) or tax adviser, and a UK or US adviser, check the figures before you agree a price, and see our IBI page for the yearly council bill.
Weighing up a home in Spain?
Rory speaks to every buyer before anyone is introduced: fifteen minutes, your budget and your timing, and a straight answer on whether it fits.
Talk to us about Spain →It is 19% of the gain in 2026, wherever the seller lives. The gain is the sale price less selling costs, minus the purchase price with its taxes, fees and improvements. The buyer withholds 3% of the price on account, and the seller settles up on Modelo 210.
File Modelo 210 for the sale in the three months after the buyer's one-month deadline for Modelo 211. It works out the 19% tax on your actual gain, and if the 3% withheld was more, the Agencia Tributaria repays the difference. Keep the buyer's copy of Modelo 211 and both deeds.
Yes, if you are UK resident. HMRC taxes the gain, worked out in sterling, at 18% or 24% for 2026–27 after the £3,000 allowance, with a credit for the Spanish tax up to the UK tax on the same gain. Private Residence Relief needs at least 90 midnights there in each tax year.
A town hall tax on the rise in value of the land under an urban home. The seller owes it, but when the seller is a non-resident individual the buyer pays it as the seller's substitute. The base is the land's cadastral value or the real gain, whichever is lower.
Yes. The US taxes citizens on worldwide gains, so the sale goes on your US return in dollars, with a foreign tax credit for the income tax Spain charged. The home-sale exclusion of up to $250,000, or $500,000 jointly, covers only a main home, not a holiday home.
Last checked 2026-11-02. Rules and rates change; this is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own position with an independent Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you act.