In this guide
When you sell your home in Spain you pay two taxes: income tax (IRPF) on the gain you make, at between 19 and 30 percent of that gain (not of the price), and the municipal plusvalia, which your town hall charges on the rise in the value of the land. If you sell your main home and you are over 65, or you reinvest in another main home within two years, the income tax can be zero.
This guide is for owners who are tax resident in Spain. If you live abroad and are selling a Spanish property, the rules are different (a 3 percent retention, form 210) and we cover them in selling as a non-resident. Everything below uses 2026 figures and is a guide, not advice: check it with your tax adviser before you sign.
What exactly do you pay when you sell?
| What | Who collects it | Based on | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income tax (capital gain) | Spanish Tax Agency | What you receive minus what the home cost you, after expenses | In the following year's tax return |
| Municipal plusvalia (IIVTNU) | Your town hall | The rise in the land value over the years you have owned it | Within 30 working days of the deed |
| Seller's costs | Technician, notary, registry, agency | Energy certificate, mortgage cancellation, agency fees | Before and at completion |
How is the capital gain calculated?
The gain is the difference between the transfer value and the acquisition value (article 35 of Ley 35/2006 del IRPF, the Personal Income Tax Act). It is not simply sale price minus purchase price: costs are added on one side and deducted on the other, and doing this properly cuts the bill.
Added to the acquisition value: the price you paid; the taxes and costs of that purchase (transfer tax or VAT, notary, land registry, gestoria); and the investments and improvements that raised the value of the home (an extension, a full renovation, a heat pump), always with a full invoice and proof of payment. Upkeep does not count (painting, replacing a boiler with an equivalent one), nor do mortgage interest, IBI or community fees. If the home was rented out, the depreciation deducted in those years is subtracted.
Deducted from the transfer value: the agency's fees, the municipal plusvalia itself, the energy certificate and the cost of cancelling your mortgage.
The savings income brackets in 2026
The gain goes into the savings income base and is taxed in brackets. The scale was set by Ley 7/2024 (a 2024 tax reform law) with effect from 1 January 2025 and still applies in 2026. It is identical in Andalusia, Madrid and every other region under the common tax regime: there are no regional differences on savings income.
| Gain bracket | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 6,000 euros | 19 percent |
| 6,000 to 50,000 euros | 21 percent |
| 50,000 to 200,000 euros | 23 percent |
| 200,000 to 300,000 euros | 27 percent |
| Over 300,000 euros | 30 percent |
The brackets are progressive: a gain of 100,000 euros pays 19 percent on the first 6,000, 21 percent on the next 44,000 and 23 percent on the rest.
When do you pay no income tax on the sale?
Three exemptions worth knowing before you put the home on the market, because some require planning:
- Over 65 and selling your main home. The whole gain is exempt, with no need to reinvest (article 33.4.b). The property must have been your habitual residence for at least three continuous years and you must have held full ownership. If a couple owns the home and only one of you is over 65, the exemption covers that half.
- Reinvesting in another main home. Put the proceeds into buying or renovating another home that will be your main residence and the gain is exempt (article 38.1). The deadline is two years, counted date to date, whether you buy before or after you sell. Reinvest only part and the exemption is proportional. With a mortgage outstanding, the amount to reinvest is the price minus what you owed. If the reinvestment falls in a different year from the sale, state in that year's return that you intend to reinvest.
- Life annuity, for the over-65s. Sell any property (including one that is not your main home) and, within six months, use the money to buy an insured life annuity in your own name: the gain is exempt up to 240,000 euros reinvested (article 38.3); anything above that is taxed proportionally.
If you bought before 1995, the reduction coefficients lower part of the gain (capped at 400,000 euros of transfer value). And if you sell at a loss you pay nothing and can set the loss against other savings gains over four years.
What is the municipal plusvalia and who pays it?
The plusvalia (formally the Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana, IIVTNU) taxes the rise in the value of the land, not the building, between the day you bought and the day you sell. The seller pays it. One exception: if the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer is liable as a substitute, which is why the amount is held back from the price at the notary in those sales. Details in the non-resident guide.
The two calculation methods
Since the reform of November 2021 you choose whichever method gives the lower bill, and the town hall must accept it:
- Objective method. Base = cadastral value of the land (it is on your IBI bill) multiplied by a coefficient that depends on how many years you have owned the property. The coefficients are legal maximums; a town hall may apply lower ones.
- Real gain method. Base = the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, applied only to the land's share (the ratio between the cadastral land value and the total cadastral value). Worth it when the property has gained little.
The town hall then applies its own rate to that base, up to a legal cap of 30 percent. The maximum coefficients in force in 2026 (a decree of December 2025 raised them, but Parliament repealed it on 27 January 2026 and the 2024 figures came back) run like this:
| Years since purchase | Maximum coefficient |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 year | 0.15 |
| 5 years | 0.18 |
| 7 years (the highest point before year 19) | 0.20 |
| 10 years | 0.12 |
| 12 to 15 years | 0.09 |
| 19 years | 0.23 |
| 20 years or more | 0.40 |
What if you sell without a gain?
If the land has not gone up in value (you sell for less than you paid, or for the same), there is no plusvalia to pay. It is not automatic: you file a declaration with the town hall, attach both deeds and show there was no increase (article 104.5 of the Ley de Haciendas Locales, the Local Finance Act).
What changes from one town hall to the next
The rate, the coefficients and the reliefs are decided by each municipality:
- Estepona applies a 20 percent rate under its 2025 tax ordinances, well below the cap, and keeps a 95 percent relief for heirs.
- The city of Madrid applies 29 percent, one of the highest, with reliefs on inherited main homes from 95 down to 40 percent depending on the land value.
- Marbella, Benahavis, Mijas and the rest each have their own ordinance. Check the current rate with your town hall before doing the sums.
What other costs does the seller have?
- Energy performance certificate. Compulsory to advertise and to sell (Real Decreto 390/2021, the energy certification rules). A qualified technician issues it; for a 90 square metre flat it costs between 84 and 105 euros according to the OCU consumer survey. It is valid for ten years (five if rated G). In Andalusia and Madrid there is no registration fee. Selling without one carries a fine of 300 to 6,000 euros.
- Cancelling the mortgage. If you still owe money, it is repaid out of the sale price at the same notary. Two costs: the bank's early repayment fee (Ley 5/2019, the mortgage credit law, caps it at 2 percent on a fixed rate and 0.25 or 0.15 percent on a variable rate, in the early years only) and the registry cancellation, around 1,000 euros between notary, registry and gestoria.
- Agency fees. There is no legal tariff; the market range is 3 to 5 percent of the price plus 21 percent VAT, agreed in writing in the listing agreement. They are deductible from your gain.
To know where your price starts, read what is my home worth.
A worked example
A flat in Estepona bought in 2012 for 200,000 euros, with 16,000 euros of taxes and costs on that purchase and a kitchen and bathroom renovation of 20,000 euros with invoices. You sell it in 2026 for 360,000 euros. The cadastral land value is 60,000 euros; you are under 65 and not reinvesting.
Municipal plusvalia (objective method). Fourteen years have passed, coefficient 0.09: a base of 5,400 euros. At Estepona's 20 percent, 1,080 euros. The same sale in the city of Madrid, at 29 percent, would be 1,566 euros.
Income tax.
- Acquisition value: 200,000 + 16,000 + 20,000 = 236,000 euros.
- Selling costs: agency fees of 5 percent plus VAT (21,780 euros), plusvalia (1,080), energy certificate (100) and mortgage cancellation (1,000): 23,960 euros.
- Transfer value: 360,000 minus 23,960 = 336,040 euros.
- Gain: 336,040 minus 236,000 = 100,040 euros.
- Tax due: 6,000 at 19 percent (1,140) + 44,000 at 21 percent (9,240) + 50,040 at 23 percent (11,509) = 21,889 euros, or 21.9 percent of the gain.
If the same owner were 66 and the flat had been their main home since 2012, the income tax would be zero and they would pay only the 1,080 euros of plusvalia.
When and how do you declare?
- Municipal plusvalia: within 30 working days of signing the deed. In Madrid and most municipalities it is a self-assessment through the town hall's online office; if there is no gain, you file a declaration instead.
- Income tax: in the following year's return. A sale in 2026 is declared in spring 2027. For reference, the Renta 2025 season runs from 8 April to 30 June 2026 (25 June if you pay by direct debit).
- Paperwork: keep the deeds, the invoices and the plusvalia receipt for at least four years; with the reinvestment exemption or the pre-1995 coefficients, indefinitely.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay income tax if I sell for less than I paid?
No. If the transfer value is lower than the acquisition value you have a capital loss, which you can set against other savings gains over the following four years. You would not pay municipal plusvalia either, but you must still declare it.
Can I deduct the estate agent's fee?
Yes. The agency's fees, VAT included, are deducted from the transfer value and reduce the taxable gain. The same goes for the municipal plusvalia, the energy certificate and the mortgage cancellation.
I am over 65 and selling my holiday home. Am I exempt?
Not under that rule: the over-65 exemption covers the main home only. For a second home you have the life annuity route: put the proceeds, up to 240,000 euros, into an insured life annuity within six months and that part of the gain is not taxed.
Do the income tax brackets change if I live in Andalusia or Madrid?
No. The savings income scale (19 to 30 percent) is the same across all regions under the common tax regime. What does change with location is the municipal plusvalia: each town hall sets its own rate, up to a cap of 30 percent.
