Two buyers each pay €600,000 for a resale flat on the same day, one in Madrid and one in Barcelona. The Madrid buyer pays €36,000 in transfer tax. The Barcelona buyer pays €60,000.

Same price, same day, a €24,000 difference before a single notary fee has been paid.

In Spain, the region you buy in changes the cost of buying more than almost anything else. Most buyers find this out at the notary. Here are the 2026 numbers, so you find out now.

Resale Homes: Transfer Tax

On a resale property you pay transfer tax (ITP), and each region sets its own rate:

Madrid: 6%
Andalusia: 7%
Murcia: 7.75%, cut from 8% in July 2025
Valencian Community: 9% since 1 June 2026, down from 10%; 11% for properties worth more than €1 million
Balearic Islands: a progressive scale — 8% up to €400,000, 9% up to €600,000, 10% up to €1 million, 12% up to €2 million and 13% above
Catalonia: a progressive scale — 10% up to €600,000, 11% up to €900,000, 12% up to €1.5 million and 13% above; 20% for large holders

Every region also offers reduced rates, typically for young buyers, large families or people buying their main home. They are real, but most are tied to your main residence, so they rarely help someone buying a second home or an investment. In the Balearics, the value limits for these main-home reductions were raised in June 2026 to €331,859.70 in Mallorca and Menorca and €378,212 in Ibiza and Formentera.

New Builds: VAT Plus Stamp Duty

When you buy a new home from a developer, you pay VAT instead of transfer tax, plus stamp duty (AJD) on the deed.

VAT on new homes is 10% everywhere except the Canary Islands, which apply their own IGIC tax instead. The stamp duty is regional:

Madrid: 0.75%
Andalusia: 1.2%
Valencian Community: 1.4% since 1 June 2026
Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia: 1.5%

On a €600,000 new build, that means €64,500 in Madrid and €69,000 in Barcelona.

Notary, Registry and Paperwork

Notary fees in Spain are set by a government tariff that dates from 1989. Every notary in the country charges the same for the same deed, with an optional discount of up to 10%. Registry fees also follow an official tariff.

For a typical home, idealista estimates notary costs of around €600–875 and land registry costs of around €400–650, plus roughly €300 if you use a gestoría to handle the paperwork. Both fees rise with the price.

Add independent legal advice to that list. Fees vary, so ask for a written quote before you commit.

Two Traps When the Seller Is Not Resident in Spain

The 3% withholding. When you buy from a non-resident, the law makes you, the buyer, withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the Spanish tax agency on Modelo 211 within one month. If it is not paid, the property itself remains liable for the seller's tax up to that amount. Your lawyer should handle this at signing — confirm that they do.

The municipal capital gains tax. The plusvalía municipal is normally the seller's tax. But when the seller is a non-resident individual, the law makes the buyer liable to pay it as the seller's substitute. Agree in writing how it will be covered — usually by retaining the amount from the price at signing.

After You Buy: Annual Costs for Non-Residents

Property tax. Every owner pays the annual municipal property tax (IBI), set by the town council.

Imputed income tax. Non-resident owners pay tax on a Spanish home kept for their own use even if it is never rented: 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value, taxed at 19% for EU and EEA residents and 24% for everyone else, with no deductions. On a revised cadastral value of €200,000, that is about €418 a year for an EU resident and €528 for a Brazilian or American owner.

Wealth tax. Non-residents are liable for Spanish wealth tax only on assets located in Spain, with a €700,000 exempt minimum. Owners with very large Spanish holdings should also check the national solidarity tax on large fortunes, which is still being applied.

So What Does It All Add Up To?

Here is transfer tax alone on a €600,000 resale:

Madrid: €36,000
Andalusia: €42,000
Murcia: €46,500
Balearic Islands: €50,000
Valencian Community: €54,000
Catalonia: €60,000

Add notary, registry, paperwork and legal advice — and mortgage costs if you finance. As a rule of thumb, budget roughly 7–8% of the price in Madrid or Andalusia and 10–14% in Catalonia, with the higher end at higher price bands. These costs are paid in cash on top of your deposit.

What About the "100% Tax" on Foreign Buyers?

The government's January 2025 plan to tax non-EU buyers at up to 100% of the purchase price still had not been debated in Congress by March 2026, according to Reuters. No such tax exists today.

How to Use These Numbers

Don't let tax choose your region. A €24,000 saving is meaningful. It is not a reason to buy in a city you do not want to live in.

Ask for the calculation before you make an offer. Reduced rates, price bands and new-build rules can move the total by several percentage points.

Ask where the seller lives. It decides whether you are withholding 3% and who pays the plusvalía.

Plan the cash. Taxes and fees are not financed by Spanish banks, so they come out of your own pocket on signing day.

Want a cost calculation for a specific property and region? Contact us at info@weigsding-investments.com or message us on WhatsApp. We work in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French, and we work alongside Spanish lawyers and tax advisers on every purchase.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Tax rates and thresholds are those in force in September 2026 and are subject to change; reduced rates depend on personal circumstances. Take Spanish professional advice for your specific purchase.

Sources

Agència Tributària de Catalunya, transfer tax and stamp duty rates (2025–2026)
Agència Tributària de les Illes Balears, transfer tax scale; El Debate, "Guía de las nuevas rebajas de impuestos para comprar o alquilar casa en Baleares" (15 June 2026)
Junta de Andalucía, transfer tax and stamp duty rates
Comunidad de Madrid, transfer tax and stamp duty rates
Generalitat Valenciana, tax changes for 2026; Garrigues, on Valencian Law 5/2025 (4 June 2025)
Agencia Tributaria de la Región de Murcia, 2025 budget-law tax changes (29 July 2025)
Agencia Tributaria, VAT reduced rates; Modelo 211 instructions (updated June 2026); imputed income on urban property for non-residents (updated January 2026); wealth tax for non-residents; solidarity tax on large fortunes (June 2026)
Consejo General del Notariado, "What does it cost?"
idealista/news, purchase costs and taxes guide (updated 20 January 2026); on plusvalía municipal and non-resident sellers (12 July 2022)
Reuters, "Spain's 100% non-EU property tax stalls in congress" (27 March 2026)