[Paul Bishop]

Hi all

I’m in the process of purchasing a property in Spain, and am due to complete in the next month.

When I attend the notary appointment to complete the sale, are all property taxes (including property transfer tax) and notary fees payable on the day, or is a certain amount of time given to pay this? Some sources have said it all needs to be paid on the day, others that I’ll be invoiced on the day and get 10 days to pay, and others that notary fees and stamp duty paid on the day – with another 30 days to pay the property transfer tax (ITP).

Can someone please shed some light on this?

Many thanks,
Paul

[Mark Stücklin]

Paul, sorry about the slow response, and I guess it’s too late for you but I hope the purchase went smoothly. As you probably found out, you have 30 days to pay the ITP transfer tax. The notary might invoice you on the day but the payment terms can differ from notary to notary. Last property I bought in Spain the notary didn’t invoice me for weeks afterwards, if I remember rightly, when the ‘copia simple’ of the deeds was ready to collect.

[Will Whitehead]

Hi Mark,

I’m UK resident and researching costs involved with purchasing a flat in Barcelona. I’d be grateful if you could confirm that my findings below are accurate and even better if there’s a legitimate workaround.

My current understanding is that the taxes and fees cost around 15%+ when buying a property and possibly even more when selling.

Also if you’re non-resident from a non-EU country, you pay 24% on total rental income, not the profit. You could actually lose money if you rent out your property when you’re away.

Finally, if you don’t have a primary property in the UK, it could be argued that your primary economic and personal interests are in Spain so the Spanish government will demand up to 37% of your wages.

I’d love to have a home in BCN but when it costs about two year’s wages in fees alone to buy and sell, it could be a deal breaker..

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Will Whitehead.

[Mark Stücklin]

Hi Will,

If you budget 15% you should be covered.

High transaction costs are a sad fact of life in Barcelona, especially now they are using an inflated ‘Reference Value‘ to calculate the ITP transfer tax you have to pay.

If your only property is in Spain but you can prove you live and work elsewhere I don’t think they would tax you like a resident, at least I’ve never heard of that happening.

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