Costs and tax

What buying in Spain actually costs, on top of the asking price

Between taxes and fees, expect to add roughly 10% to 14% to the purchase price, and a modest amount every year after that. Here is the whole of it.

Hispan Estates · published 12 September 2026 · 9 minute read

The asking price is not the price. Every Irish buyer discovers this at some point, and it is far better to discover it now than at the notary. Between taxes and fees, you should expect to add somewhere in the region of 10% to 14% on top of the purchase price, and then a modest amount every year afterwards for as long as you own the place.

Here is the whole of it, in order.

What you pay when you buy

Transfer tax on a resale property

If you are buying from another owner rather than from a developer, you pay Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales, or ITP. This is by a wide margin the largest single cost on top of the price.

ITP is set by each autonomous community, so the rate depends entirely on where in Spain the property is. In 2026 the general rates run from around 6% to as high as 13% in the upper brackets of the Balearics. Some of the ones Irish buyers meet most often:

Region	General rate on resale
Andalusia (Costa del Sol)	7%
Valencia region (Costa Blanca)	10%
Madrid	6%
Catalonia	9% up to €1m, 11% above
Balearic Islands	Tiered, from 8% upwards

Two things about ITP that are not obvious. First, it is calculated on the purchase price or on the reference value the Catastro assigns to the property, whichever is higher, so a bargain does not always produce a proportionally smaller tax bill. Second, it is due within thirty days of signing the deed, and late payment attracts surcharges.

Regions also run reduced rates for particular buyers, usually tied to age, family size, disability or the property becoming a main residence. Most Irish second-home buyers will not qualify, but it is worth having someone check.

If you are buying a new build instead

New properties bought from a developer do not attract ITP. They attract VAT at 10% nationally, plus stamp duty on the deed, which varies by region and typically sits between 0.5% and 1.5%. The Canary Islands work differently again, with their own sales tax at a lower rate.

The upshot is that a new build usually carries a combined tax cost around 10.5% to 11.5%, which makes it cheaper than a resale in a high-ITP region such as Valencia and dearer than one in Madrid or Andalusia.

Notary, registry and the rest

• Notary fees. Set by an official scale and based on the price and the length of the deed. Usually a few hundred euro to around a thousand.
• Land Registry. Registering the deed in your name, typically a few hundred euro.
• Legal fees. Budget around 1% of the price, sometimes with a minimum.
• Administrative handling. The gestoria that processes filings and registrations on your behalf, a few hundred euro.
• Mortgage costs, if you use one. Valuation and the lender's own arrangement fee.

What you pay every year afterwards

IBI, the local property tax

Charged by the town hall on the cadastral value of the property, not on what you paid for it. For a typical apartment it usually lands somewhere between a few hundred euro and around a thousand a year, depending on the municipality.

Community fees

If the property is in a building or a development with shared facilities, you pay towards their upkeep. A block with a lift and a communal pool costs more to run than one without, and a development with gardens and security costs more again. Ask for the figure in writing before you commit, and ask whether any special levy has been agreed for future works.

Non-resident income tax, even if nobody rents it

This is the one Irish owners most often do not know about, and it applies whether or not the property earns a penny.

Spain treats an unrented second home as producing a notional income. The taxable amount is 1.1% of the cadastral value where that value has been revised in the last ten years, or 2% where it has not. As an Irish resident you are an EU resident for this purpose, so the rate applied is 19%.

In practice, on a property with a cadastral value of €100,000 on the 1.1% basis, that is about €209 for the year. It is declared on a form called Modelo 210, and each owner files separately for their share, so a couple owning jointly files two returns rather than one.

If you do rent the property out, you declare the actual rental income instead. EU residents may deduct allowable costs and pay 19% on the net figure.

What you pay when you sell

• Capital gains tax in Spain on the profit, at 19% for non-residents.
• A 3% retention. The buyer is obliged to withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the Spanish tax authority on account of your gain. If your actual liability is lower, you reclaim the difference, and plenty of people never get round to it.
• Plusvalia municipal, a local tax on the increase in the land value, paid by the seller.

And on the Irish side

Owning property abroad does not take you outside the Irish system. As an Irish resident you are taxable here on your worldwide income and gains, which means Spanish rental income and any eventual gain on a sale are reportable to Revenue, with relief available under the double taxation agreement between the two countries so that the same money is not taxed twice over.

How that works out in your particular case depends on your circumstances, and it is a conversation to have with an Irish tax adviser before you buy rather than after. It is not complicated, but it is not automatic either.