Selling a home
By Maxime G
By Maxime G
The 3% the buyer withholds, the tax on your gain, the plusvalía, and how to get your money back.
I'm selling my Spanish home. Why does the buyer keep 3% of the price?
Because you live abroad: the buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it to the tax office, as an advance on your tax on the gain. It is not a tax of its own. - The buyer pays the 3% within one month of the sale, with Modelo 211, and gives you its receipt number. - Your tax on the gain is 19%, wherever you live: the EU, the United Kingdom or elsewhere. - The gain is the sale price minus its costs, minus the purchase price and its costs (taxes, notary, registry, improvements; not the mortgage interest). - In the three months that follow, each seller files a Modelo 210 for the sale. When the 3% is more than your tax, you get the difference back. Good to know - Plusvalía municipal: the town's tax on the rise in the land's value. For a seller who lives abroad, the buyer pays it to the town within 30 working days and usually holds it back from the price; it counts as a cost of your sale. Nothing is due after a loss. - Bought before 1995, over 65, or reinvesting in a main home while living in the EU or the EEA? Rules of their own may lower the tax: we check them. - Your own country may tax the gain too, usually deducting the Spanish tax. We file the Spanish side; an adviser at home handles yours. - The year of the sale still has its usual return for the days you owned the home without renting it out. Work out your gain, your refund and the plusvalía with our free sale simulator.
How do I get the 3% back after selling?
By filing a Modelo 210 for the sale: each seller, within three months after the buyer's one-month window. When the tax on your gain is less than the 3% withheld, the tax office refunds the difference; after a loss, all of it. Without the return, the money stays with the tax office. Example: a sale in mid-March. The buyer pays the 3% by mid-April, and your return is due between mid-April and mid-July. - The refund goes to an account in your own name, in Spain or abroad. - You need the receipt number of the buyer's Modelo 211. - Non-resident tax rules set no deadline for the refund; six months after your filing window ends, the tax office owes you interest if the delay is its own. - If your tax is more than the 3%, you pay the difference with the return, by transfer, card or at a Spanish bank: there is no direct debit after a sale. With CasitaTax Our "Sold" plan is €299, paid once, for up to two owners. We check both deeds and the buyer's Modelo 211, and claim your refund. Estimate it with the free sale simulator.
I sold at a loss. Do I still have to file?
Yes, if you want the 3% back: the Modelo 210 for the sale is your refund claim. With no gain there is no tax on the gain and no plusvalía municipal, so the whole 3% the buyer withheld comes back to you. - The deadline is the same as for any sale: within three months after the buyer's one-month window. - Count the costs: the gain is the sale price minus its costs, minus the purchase price and its costs, so taxes, notary, registry and improvements can turn a small gain into a loss. - Each seller files their own return for their share. See your result with our free sale simulator, or ask us in the chat.