Spain · Owning a home
Spain's wealth tax (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio) reaches people who live abroad only through what they own in Spain, valued on 31 December each year. Each owner has a €700,000 allowance under State rules and some regions set their own, so a home owned in halves by a couple pays nothing unless a half, with that owner's other Spanish assets, exceeds the allowance. The separate Temporary Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes, which still applies for 2026, starts only above €3.7 million of net assets.
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 →If you live outside Spain you are taxed under 'real obligation': only on assets located in Spain, such as a home, a Spanish bank account or shares in Spanish companies (art. 5, Ley 19/1991). The tax is strictly individual, with no joint filing, so each spouse counts only his or her own share (Agencia Tributaria manual).
Only debts linked to those assets reduce the total. A Spanish mortgage on the home counts, and so does a personal loan if you can show it paid for the Spanish property (Spanish mortgages).
A home is valued at the highest of three figures (art. 10): the cadastral value on the IBI bill (how IBI works); a value set or checked by the administration for another tax, which for homes bought since 2022 can be the Catastro's reference value; and the price you paid, including the taxes and costs of buying.
The State allowance (mínimo exento) is €700,000 per person, and it applies to non-residents too (art. 28). A separate exemption covers a main home up to €300,000 (art. 4), but the Agencia Tributaria defines a main home as one you have lived in continuously for three years. A home used for holidays or winters while you live in the UK or the US does not fit that definition, so its full value counts.
Moving to Spain (retiring to Spain) reverses both points: a resident is taxed on assets worldwide, and the Spanish home can then be exempt up to €300,000.
A return is needed only if tax is payable after reliefs, or if your assets are worth more than €2,000,000 before debts (art. 37). It is filed online on Modelo 714; returns for 2025 were due between 8 April and 30 June 2026.
Without regional rules, the amount above the allowance is taxed on this scale (art. 30).
| Taxable amount | Rate on that slice |
|---|---|
| Up to €167,129.45 | 0.2% |
| €167,129.45 to €334,252.88 | 0.3% |
| €334,252.88 to €668,499.75 | 0.5% |
| €668,499.75 to €1,336,999.51 | 0.9% |
| €1,336,999.51 to €2,673,999.01 | 1.3% |
| €2,673,999.01 to €5,347,998.03 | 1.7% |
| €5,347,998.03 to €10,695,996.06 | 2.1% |
| Above €10,695,996.06 | 3.5% |
Wealth tax and income tax together may not exceed 60% of the income tax bases, and the cap can remove at most 80% of the wealth tax (art. 31). On 29 October 2025 the Supreme Court held that denying this cap to non-residents was discriminatory (judgment 1372/2025), and the Agencia Tributaria now applies it to them.
Since 11 July 2021 every non-resident, not only residents of the EU, may use the rules of the region where the greatest value of their Spanish assets lies (additional provision 4, as amended by Ley 11/2021). The choice is all or nothing: that region's allowance, scale and reliefs come together.
Andalucía, Madrid and Murcia have a relief that lasts while the solidarity tax exists: it removes the wealth tax down to what the solidarity tax would charge, which is nothing below that tax's threshold.
| Region | Allowance | Scale | General relief | Illustrative tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State rules | €700,000 | 0.2%–3.5% | None | €732.87 |
| Andalucía | €700,000 | State scale while the solidarity tax applies | Down to the solidarity tax | €0 |
| Comunitat Valenciana | €2,000,000 since 11 Aug 2026 | 0.25%–3.5% | None | €0 |
| Región de Murcia | €700,000 | 0.2%–3.5% | Down to the solidarity tax | €0 |
| Comunidad de Madrid | €700,000 | State scale | Down to the solidarity tax | €0 |
| Cataluña | €500,000 | 0.21%–2.75%; 3.48% above €20m | None | €1,747.58 |
| Illes Balears | €3,000,000 | 0.28%–3.45% | None | €0 |
| Canarias | €700,000 | State scale | None | €732.87 |
Illustrative arithmetic only, before the 60% cap. Galicia gives a 50% relief, Extremadura 100%, La Rioja follows Madrid's rule and Castilla-La Mancha applies State rules.
The Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas was created for 2022 and 2023 (art. 3, Ley 38/2022). Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 extended it until wealth taxation is revised as part of the reform of regional funding. No such revision had been published by 2 November 2026: the BOE's consolidated text shows no change since December 2024, and the Agencia Tributaria took returns for 2025 in July 2026.
It follows the wealth tax's own rules, so non-residents pay only on Spanish assets, with a €700,000 allowance. The first €3,000,000 above the allowance is taxed at 0%, the slice up to €5,347,998.03 at 1.7%, up to €10,695,996.06 at 2.1% and the rest at 3.5%, and wealth tax paid for the same year is deducted. Returns are due between 1 and 31 July of the following year, and taxpayers resident outside the EU, as UK and US residents are, must first appoint a representative resident in Spain (art. 3.Seis).
The UK–Spain double taxation convention covers Spain's capital tax and allows Spain to tax a home situated there (arts 2 and 21). The 1990 US–Spain treaty, in the text the IRS publishes, lists only income and corporation taxes (art. 2), so it does not deal with wealth tax.
People who move to Spain and opt for the special regime for workers posted there, often called the Beckham law, stay liable to wealth tax on Spanish assets only (Agencia Tributaria). The regime's conditions are on our digital nomad visa page.
These are the rules as of 2 November 2026 and they are not advice. Regional figures have changed several times recently, Valencia's allowance twice since December 2025, and values, debts and reliefs carry conditions not covered here. Confirm your position with an independent Spanish lawyer (abogado) or tax adviser before 31 December, the date assets are valued.
Related pages cover inheritance tax in Spain, non-resident income tax and capital gains tax on a sale.
Weighing up a home in Spain?
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Talk to us about Spain →Yes, but only on assets located in Spain, less debts tied to them. Each owner has a €700,000 allowance under State rules, and the rules of the region holding most of the assets can change that, from €500,000 in Catalonia to €3,000,000 in the Balearics. A return is needed only if tax is payable or the Spanish assets exceed €2,000,000.
Under State rules, €700,000 per person, plus up to €300,000 for the main home of someone living in Spain. Regions set their own: €500,000 in Catalonia and Extremadura, €2,000,000 in the Valencia region since 11 August 2026 and €3,000,000 in the Balearics, with €700,000 in Madrid, Andalucía and Murcia.
Yes. Created for 2022 and 2023, it was extended by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 until wealth taxation is revised in the reform of regional funding, and no revision had been published by 2 November 2026. It charges 1.7% to 3.5% only on net wealth more than €3,000,000 above a €700,000 allowance, less wealth tax paid.
Not as a main home. The €300,000 exemption covers the home you live in, which the Agencia Tributaria defines as one occupied continuously for three years, so the holiday home of someone living in the UK or the US counts at full value. Tax is then due only above the allowance: €700,000 per owner under State rules, or the region's own figure.
Only on large fortunes, as of 2026. Its 100% relief is suspended while the State's solidarity tax exists, replaced by a relief that removes the wealth tax down to what the solidarity tax would charge. Below that tax's threshold, nothing is payable; above it, the wealth tax left to pay equals the solidarity tax amount.
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.