Key Takeaways
- ✓ If you are non-resident, the buyer withholds 3% of the sale price and pays it to Hacienda. You receive 97% at completion.
- ✓ That 3% is not the tax. It is a payment on account against capital gains tax, charged at 19% of the actual gain for non-residents.
- ✓ You reclaim the difference, or pay the balance, on Modelo 210, filed within four months of the sale.
- ✓ Plusvalía municipal is a separate town-hall tax on the land value increase, with two calculation methods since 2021. You may use the cheaper one.
- ✓ When the seller is non-resident, the buyer becomes the substitute taxpayer for plusvalía, so in practice it is retained from your money.
Two taxes catch non-resident sellers in Spain, and they are frequently confused with each other. One is national capital gains tax on your profit. The other is a municipal tax on the increase in the value of the land, charged by the town hall. They are calculated differently, paid to different authorities, on different deadlines. Here is each one, plainly. We are an estate agency and not tax advisers. Use this to know what questions to ask your gestor, not as a substitute for one.
The 3% retention: what it is and what it is not
When a non-resident sells property in Spain, the buyer is legally required to withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it directly to the Spanish tax office, using Modelo 211, within one month of the deed. You receive 97% of the price at completion and a copy of the 211 as proof the money was paid.
The two things people get wrong:
- It is not an extra tax. It is an advance payment against the capital gains tax you owe. It is credited against your bill.
- It is calculated on the price, not the profit. That is why it so often does not match what you actually owe. Sell at a loss and Hacienda still holds 3% of the whole price until you claim it back.
Insist on receiving the stamped Modelo 211 from the buyer's side. Without it you cannot evidence the payment when you file, and chasing it after everyone has gone home is miserable.
Capital gains tax: the 19%, and how the gain is calculated
Non-residents pay capital gains on Spanish property at a flat 19% of the gain. The gain is the difference between two figures, and building both correctly is where the money is.
| Side of the calculation | What you can include |
|---|---|
| Acquisition value (what it cost you) | The purchase price, plus transfer tax or VAT and AJD, notary, land registry, legal fees, and agency commission you paid on the way in. |
| Plus capital improvements | Documented structural improvements and extensions: a new bathroom where there was none, an enclosed terrace, a pool. Not repainting, not repairs, not maintenance. |
| Transfer value (what you sold for) | The sale price, minus the costs of selling: agency commission, legal fees, and plusvalía municipal where you bore it. |
| Evidence required | Invoices with your name, the property address and IVA shown. No invoice, no deduction: this is the single biggest avoidable loss. |
Then you file Modelo 210 within four months of the sale: three months after the one-month window the buyer had to pay the 3%. If 19% of your gain comes to less than the 3% withheld, you claim the difference back. If it comes to more, you pay the balance. Refunds are not fast; budget for the money being gone for a good while and do not spend it in advance.
One more thing worth checking with your adviser: the reinvestment relief that can apply to EU and EEA residents selling a habitual residence in Spain and buying another main home. It is narrow and conditional, and it does not apply to holiday homes, but it is worth asking about rather than assuming.
Plusvalía municipal: the tax people forget
The impuesto sobre el incremento del valor de los terrenos de naturaleza urbana, plusvalía municipal, is charged by the town hall on the increase in the value of the land during your ownership. Not the building. It is unrelated to capital gains tax and paid to a different authority.
Since the rules were rewritten in 2021 there are two ways to calculate it, and you may use whichever gives the lower bill:
- The objective method: coefficients applied to the cadastral value of the land, based on how many years you have owned it.
- The real-gain method: the actual difference in land value between your purchase deed and your sale deed.
And critically: if there was no increase in value, there is no tax. You have to prove it, with both deeds. Anyone who bought at the top of the last cycle and is selling for less should be checking this rather than paying the default calculation. Rates and coefficients are set by each municipality, so the figure genuinely differs between neighbouring town halls. The declaration deadline for a sale is short, typically 30 working days from the deed, so it needs handling at completion, not later.
The non-resident twist that changes who pays
Normally the seller pays plusvalía. But Spanish law makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer when the seller is a non-resident individual, because the tax office wants someone inside the country it can pursue. The town hall can pursue the buyer for it.
What this means in practice: your buyer's lawyer will almost certainly insist on retaining an estimated plusvalía amount from your proceeds at completion, and will settle it with the town hall on your behalf. That is legitimate and you should expect it. What you should not accept is a vague round number retained with no reconciliation. Agree in the deposit contract exactly how it will be calculated, who files it, and how any surplus comes back to you.
The rest of your completion-day arithmetic
Beyond these two taxes, expect the following to be settled or retained at completion: outstanding IBI (the annual council tax, usually apportioned), community fees up to date with a certificate from the administrator, rubbish collection charges, and final utility readings. If you have been letting the property, your quarterly or annual non-resident rental filings need to be in order, and a gap in that history has a habit of surfacing at exactly the wrong moment. Our guide to annual property taxes in Spain covers the ongoing side.
For the full end-to-end sequence, read how to sell property in Spain, and for the total cost picture including agency fees and legal costs, the cost of selling property in Spain. If you are not resident, selling property in Spain as a foreigner deals with powers of attorney and remote completion.
If you are selling and buying again here
A good number of our sellers are downsizing within the same town rather than leaving. If that is you, it is worth seeing what your net proceeds actually buy back into. This is the accessible end of the Orihuela Costa book, where our 48 live listings run to a €297,000 median.
€155,000Two-bed bungalow, Playa Flamenca
Orihuela Costa · Playa Flamenca
€175,000Two-bed apartment, Los Dolses
Orihuela Costa · Los Dolses
€179,900One-bed apartment, La Zenia
Orihuela Costa · La Zenia
Before you do anything else
Find your original purchase deed and every invoice from the purchase and from any improvement work. That folder is worth real money at 19%, and reconstructing it fifteen years later is close to impossible. Then get a tax adviser lined up before you accept an offer, not after.
These are the rules as they stand in 2026, and municipal plusvalía coefficients change locally. Confirm current figures with a gestor or abogado before you rely on them. When you are ready to know what your property would realistically fetch, our free valuation is the place to start, and you can browse the live market at Orihuela Costa or Torrevieja while you decide.