Selling a property in Spain as a non-resident: what it really costs you
By Home Kare · 8 min read · Owner’s Guide
Most owners at Hacienda del Álamo arrive with a clear picture of what buying costs. Almost nobody arrives with a picture of what selling costs, and that side of the transaction is where the surprises live.
The headline is simple enough. When a non-resident sells property in Spain, part of the sale price never reaches their bank account, a local tax bill lands afterwards, and a set of documents has to exist before a notary will do anything. None of it is difficult. All of it is easier to sort out six months before you list than six days before completion.
Here is what actually happens when you sell, and what it takes out of the price.
A note on the detail below. Tax rates, municipal charges and agency fees change, and every property’s position is different. Figures here are approximate and general, and they are current at the time of writing. Check your own numbers with a qualified adviser before you rely on them.
The 3% that leaves with the buyer
This is the rule that catches almost every non-resident seller.
When the seller is not tax resident in Spain, the buyer is legally obliged to withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it directly to the Spanish tax authority on the seller’s behalf. It is not optional and it is not negotiable. The buyer’s lawyer will do it as a matter of routine, and the notary will expect to see it.
So on a sale at 200,000 euros, roughly 6,000 leaves the table before you see a cent of it.
That 3% is not a fee. It is an advance payment against the capital gains tax you may owe. What happens next depends on your actual gain.
If you made a gain, the 3% is offset against the tax due and you pay the difference. If the 3% exceeds what you owe, you can claim the balance back. If you sold at a loss, which happens more often on this coast than people expect, the whole 3% is potentially refundable.
But you have to ask for it. The refund is not automatic, there is a filing deadline of a few months after completion, and repayments routinely take the best part of a year to arrive. Owners who never file simply lose the money.
What the tax actually is
Capital gains for non-residents are charged on the difference between what you paid and what you sold for, adjusted for the costs of acquisition and sale.
That adjustment matters and it is frequently forgotten. The purchase taxes you paid, the notary and registry fees, the lawyer, the estate agency commission on the way out: all of it reduces the taxable gain. Keep those invoices. An owner who has kept ten years of paperwork often ends up with a much smaller bill than an owner who has kept none.
The rate applied to non-resident gains has sat at 19% for some years. Confirm the current figure before you plan around it.
Plusvalía: the bill from the town hall
Separately from the national tax, the local council charges a tax on the increase in the value of the land itself. It is known as the plusvalía municipal and, unless you agree otherwise in writing, the seller pays it.
Two things worth knowing. Since the 2021 reform there are two methods of calculating it and you are entitled to the one that produces the lower figure. And if you can demonstrate that there was no increase in land value between purchase and sale, the tax should not apply at all.
Amounts vary widely depending on the land value and how long you have owned. It is rarely the largest cost, but it is one people forget to budget for entirely.
Everything else that comes off the price
Estate agency commission is the biggest single line, typically a percentage of the sale price plus IVA, and it varies by agency and by property.
Your own lawyer, if you use one, and most non-residents should.
Cancelling a Spanish mortgage, if you still have one. Clearing the debt is not the same as removing the charge from the land registry, and removing it involves the bank, a notary and the registry. Start it early: it is a classic reason for a completion date to slip.
An energy performance certificate, which is legally required before you can even advertise the property. They expire, so an old one from your own purchase may be worthless now.
A certificate from your community confirming you are up to date with fees. The notary cannot complete without it. If you have arrears, they come out of the sale. There is more on how communities work in [Community of owners in Spain].
The paperwork to have ready before you list
None of this takes long, but gathering it from another country in a hurry does.
Your title deed and a recent nota simple from the land registry, showing the property is registered in your name and free of charges you did not know about.
Proof of what you paid, including the taxes and fees, from the original purchase.
Your NIE, still valid, for every owner named on the deed.
Recent utility bills and the last IBI receipt, both in your name and paid.
The community certificate mentioned above, requested from your administrator.
Any licence or documentation relating to works you carried out, particularly if you enclosed a terrace, added a pool or built anything the deed does not mention. Undeclared works are the single most common reason a sale stalls at Hacienda del Álamo.
What slows a sale down here specifically
Two patterns come up again and again on this resort.
The first is the undeclared extension. A buyer’s lawyer compares the deed to the property and finds more square metres than the paperwork admits. Regularising it is usually possible, but it takes months, and buyers rarely wait.
The second is the absent owner. Documents need signing, powers of attorney need arranging, and the person who has to do it lives in Ireland and is not flying over for a signature. A power of attorney granted in advance solves this in an afternoon and prevents weeks of delay.
If you are letting the property while you sell, be aware that the tenancy and the sale interact. Our guide to [Letting a property at Hacienda del Álamo] covers what an existing arrangement means for a buyer.
What we would tell you
Selling in Spain is not expensive by international standards, but it is front-loaded and slow to unwind. Between the withheld 3%, the agency commission, the plusvalía and your own professional fees, plan on a meaningful slice of the price rather than a rounding error.
The owners who do best are the ones who spend an afternoon, months ahead, checking that the deed matches the property and that the file of purchase invoices still exists. The ones who lose money are the ones who never file for their refund.
And if you are still weighing whether to sell at all, the running costs on the other side of that decision are set out in [The real annual running costs of owning a property at Hacienda del Álamo].
Home Kare manages and sells property at Hacienda del Álamo for owners who are not here all year, including the paperwork nobody enjoys. If you are thinking about selling, send us your address and we will tell you what your property is worth and what condition your file is in.
→ Ask us about selling
This article is for general information and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Tax rates, municipal charges and procedures change, and every property’s position differs. Check your own circumstances with a qualified professional before acting on any of it.