How much is capital gains tax in Spain for non-residents?

A flat 19% of the net gain, whatever your nationality or country of residence. The 24% rate that applies to non-EU owners on rental and imputed income does not apply to capital gains, so a UK or US seller pays the same 19% as an EU seller. The gain is the sale price minus selling costs, less the purchase price plus documented purchase costs and improvements.

How do I get the 3% retention back?

File the Modelo 210 for the sale inside its window: three months, starting one month after completion, so up to four months from the notary date. Deduct the retention shown on your copy of the buyer's Modelo 211 from the tax due. If the retention exceeds the tax, the Agencia Tributaria refunds the difference, which commonly takes six months to a year or more.

Do I pay capital gains tax in Spain if I am over 65?

Spanish tax residents aged 65 or over pay nothing on the sale of their main home, provided it was their habitual residence for at least three continuous years and they owned it outright. The exemption does not cover second homes or rental property. Non-residents get no age exemption: they pay the flat 19% regardless of age, and the 3% retention still applies.

Can I avoid capital gains tax by reinvesting in another home?

Yes, if the home you sell is your habitual residence. Spanish tax residents who reinvest the proceeds in a new main home within two years are exempt in proportion to the amount reinvested. Tax residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein get the same exemption on a former habitual residence in Spain, but the buyer still withholds 3% and the Modelo 210 must still be filed.

What is plusvalía municipal when selling in Spain?

A town hall tax on the increase in the land's cadastral value while you owned the property, charged on top of state capital gains tax. Since Real Decreto-ley 26/2021 you can pick the cheaper of two calculations, an objective coefficient method or the real land gain, at a municipal rate capped at 30%. If there is no land gain, nothing is due, but you must still declare the sale.

Capital Gains Tax When Selling Property in Spain

By David Los · September 2026 · Costs & Taxes

Selling a Spanish property triggers capital gains tax on the profit: a flat 19% for non-residents of any nationality, and a savings scale from 19% to 30% for Spanish tax residents in 2026. When the seller is a non-resident, the buyer must withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office, and the seller settles the difference with a final return. A separate municipal tax, the plusvalía, falls on the land value. This guide gives the arithmetic, the deadlines, the exemptions, and what the bill looks like at today's Costa del Sol prices.

How the taxable gain is calculated

The taxable gain is the transfer value minus the acquisition value, both adjusted in the seller's favour if the paperwork exists. The acquisition value is what you paid plus the costs and taxes of buying plus documented improvements. The transfer value is the sale price minus the selling costs you paid. Spain removed inflation correction in 2015, so the whole nominal difference is taxed and every deductible invoice is worth money.

Add to what you paid: the ITP transfer tax or VAT and stamp duty, plus notary, land registry and lawyer fees from the purchase, all backed by invoices.
Add documented improvements, such as an extension or a full reform. Maintenance, repairs and mortgage interest do not count.
Subtract from the sale price: the estate agent's commission, the plusvalía municipal you pay as seller, and your legal costs of the sale.
Bought before 1995? A transitional reduction can shrink the part of the gain built up before 2006, within a €400,000 lifetime cap on sale value. Have a gestor check it.

The acquisition value includes purchase taxes and costs (ITP or VAT, notary, registry) and documented improvements; the transfer value is the sale price minus the seller's costs; non-residents pay a flat 19% on the resulting gainSource: Agencia Tributaria, non-resident taxation manual: capital gains from property transfers · September 2026 · View market data →

The 2026 rates: 19% flat, or a scale up to 30%

Non-residents pay a flat 19% on the net gain, whatever their country of residence. The 24% rate that non-EU owners know from rental and imputed income never applies to capital gains, so a UK or US seller pays the same 19% as a German one. Spanish tax residents instead add the gain to their savings income and pay by bands, and since the 2025 tax year the top band is 30%, raised from 28% by Ley 7/2024.

Savings income band (residents)	Rate
First €6,000	19%
€6,000 to €50,000	21%
€50,000 to €200,000	23%
€200,000 to €300,000	27%
Above €300,000	30%

The scale is progressive, so only the slice inside each band pays that band's rate. Non-residents skip the scale entirely and pay 19% flat on the whole gain.

The savings scale that taxes residents' capital gains runs from 19% to 30%, with the 30% band above €300,000 introduced by Ley 7/2024 with effect from the 2025 tax yearSource: Ley 7/2024, of 20 December, BOE · September 2026 · View market data →

The 3% retention when a non-resident sells

When the seller is a non-resident, the buyer is legally required to hold back 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the Agencia Tributaria on form Modelo 211 within one month of completion. The 3% is not the tax, it is a payment on account. The seller then files a Modelo 210 declaring the actual gain, deducts the retention shown on their copy of the Modelo 211, and either pays the difference or claims a refund. The filing window is three months, counted from the end of the buyer's one month, so in practice up to four months from the notary appointment. Refunds commonly take six months to a year or more, and only move if the return is filed inside the window.

What sells	Median asking price	3% withheld at completion
Any Costa del Sol resale home	€660,000	€19,800
Apartment	€490,000	€14,700
Penthouse	€695,000	€20,850
Villa	€1,600,000	€48,000
Marbella home	€887,750	about €26,633
Estepona home	€629,000	€18,870

Own arithmetic: the 3% retention in euros at September 2026 median asking prices across the 7,848 active Costa del Sol resale listings. Money the seller does not see until the Modelo 210 is settled.

Median asking prices, September 2026: €660,000 across all 7,848 active Costa del Sol resale listings, €490,000 for apartments, €695,000 for penthouses, €1,600,000 for villas, €887,750 in Marbella and €629,000 in EsteponaSource: Hometailor market data · September 2026 · View market data →

The buyer pays the 3% retention on Modelo 211 within one month of the transfer; the seller declares the gain on Modelo 210 within three months of the end of that monthSource: Agencia Tributaria, non-resident taxation manual: forms and filing deadlines · September 2026 · View market data →

Plusvalía municipal: the town hall taxes the same sale

Plusvalía municipal is a separate local tax on the increase in the land's cadastral value while you owned the property, paid to the town hall on top of the state capital gains tax. Since Real Decreto-ley 26/2021 the seller chooses the cheaper of two calculations: the objective method, which multiplies the land's cadastral value by a coefficient for the years of ownership, or the real method, which taxes the actual sale-minus-purchase gain prorated to the land's share of the cadastral value. Each town hall sets its own rate, capped by law at 30%. No land gain means no plusvalía, but the sale must still be declared to the town hall.

Since Real Decreto-ley 26/2021 the plusvalía base is the lower of an objective coefficient calculation or the real land gain, at a municipal rate legally capped at 30%, and transfers with no land gain are not taxedSource: Real Decreto-ley 26/2021, BOE · September 2026 · View market data →

When the gain is exempt

Two main-home exemptions can cancel the state tax entirely, both with conditions.

Over 65, residents: Spanish tax residents aged 65 or over pay no capital gains tax on the sale of their habitual residence, provided they owned it outright and lived in it for at least three continuous years.
Reinvestment, residents: sell your habitual residence and reinvest the proceeds in a new one within two years, before or after the sale, and the gain is exempt in proportion to the amount reinvested.
Reinvestment, EU and EEA non-residents: tax residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein selling what was their habitual residence in Spain can use the same reinvestment exemption. The 3% retention and the Modelo 210 still apply; the exemption is claimed on that return, or refunded later through form 228.
No exemption covers holiday homes or investment property. For those, the only relief is a fully documented acquisition value.

Tax residents over 65 pay no capital gains tax on a habitual residence owned and lived in for three continuous years; EU and EEA non-residents can apply the main-home reinvestment exemption, with the 3% retention and Modelo 210 filing still dueSource: Agencia Tributaria, exemption rules for the transfer of the habitual residence · September 2026 · View market data →

A worked example at today's apartment prices

Take an apartment bought in 2016 for €350,000 with €25,000 of documented purchase costs and improvements, and sold in 2026 for €490,000, the current Costa del Sol apartment median, with €20,000 of agency commission and seller costs. The acquisition value is €375,000, the transfer value €470,000, and the taxable gain €95,000.

Seller	Tax on the €95,000 gain	How it lands
Non-resident, any country	€18,050 at the flat 19%	€14,700 already withheld as the 3% retention, €3,350 to pay with the Modelo 210
Spanish tax resident	€20,730 on the savings scale	declared in the annual IRPF return the following spring; no retention at completion

Own arithmetic at 2026 rates. The resident figure stacks the bands: 19% on €6,000, 21% on €44,000, 23% on €45,000. Plusvalía municipal comes on top in both cases and varies by town.

Plan the exit before you buy

The smallest tax bills are planned at purchase, with clean invoices and honest deeds. Current asking prices for every town are on our property price pages, and every active home is on our Costa del Sol listings. The full ownership cost picture is in our guide to the costs of owning property in Spain, and the annual filing that keeps a future sale clean is in our Modelo 210 guide.

Talk to our team before you sell or reinvest

Written and reviewed by

David Los

Founder & Head of Research, Hometailor · Last reviewed: September 2026

Born and raised in Sweden, David has spent over a decade analysing property markets on the Costa del Sol and has guided hundreds of international buyers through Spanish purchases in English, Swedish and Polish. He writes and reviews all research content at Hometailor, and triangulates everything before it publishes: independent lawyers, agents inside and outside Hometailor, and the live market data behind this site.

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