When you sell your Spanish property, your buyer keeps 3% of it — here's why, and how to get it back
You agree a price, you go to the notary, and 3% of what you were owed never reaches your account. Your buyer didn't keep it. The law made them hand it straight to Hacienda, on your behalf.
Pedro Torres6 min read
You've agreed the sale price, picked a date, and are counting the proceeds. Then, at the notary, you discover your buyer is withholding 3% of that price and sending it straight to the Spanish tax office — not because they distrust you, but because the law requires them to.
It happens whether you made a large profit, a small one, or none at all. It is not your final tax bill. It is a deposit against it — and most sellers never learn what the real number underneath it is.
Why your own buyer is forced to withhold money from you
When a non-resident without a permanent business presence in Spain sells Spanish property, the buyer — by law, not by choice — must withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the tax agency as an advance against the seller's tax. It applies to the price, not the profit, so it is withheld even in a sale with little or no gain.
If your buyer fails to withhold and pay this, the law allows the tax office to charge the property itself — now in the new owner's hands — for the smaller of the unpaid withholding or your actual tax. It is one more reason a serious buyer insists on getting this right, and one more reason to confirm it actually happened.
The real tax is 19% of your gain — not 3% of your price
Your actual capital gains tax is 19% of the real gain — the sale price minus your verified acquisition cost (what you paid, plus the purchase tax, notary and registry fees you paid at the time, plus the cost of any improvements you can document). This 19% rate applies to the gain itself, regardless of nationality or residence — it is not restricted to EU or EEA sellers.
That 19% is a different, lower rate than the 24% general non-resident rate that applies to other income. Capital gains on a property sale get their own, more favourable rate — whoever is selling.
| Scenario | 3% withheld at the notary | 19% actually owed | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought for €200,000, sold for €300,000 | €9,000 | 19% of ~€100,000 gain ≈ €19,000 | You owe roughly €10,000 more |
| Bought for €280,000, sold for €300,000 | €9,000 | 19% of ~€20,000 gain ≈ €3,800 | You reclaim roughly €5,200 |
Simplified own example before deducting documented purchase costs and improvements, which would lower the taxable gain further.
Two deadlines, two different people responsible for them
Your buyer pays the 3% to the tax office within one month of the sale (Modelo 211) — that part is their legal duty, not yours. You, separately, file your own return declaring the real gain (Modelo 210), in a three-month window that opens one month after the sale — in practice, roughly between months 1 and 4 after you sign.
That return is where the reconciliation happens: if 19% of your real gain is less than the 3% already withheld, you claim the difference back. If it is more, you pay the balance. Either way, nobody calculates this for you automatically — you file it, or you leave money with the tax office that was yours to reclaim.
Why does my buyer withhold 3% when I sell my Spanish property?
Spanish law requires the buyer to withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the tax office, as an advance payment against the non-resident seller's capital gains tax — regardless of the actual profit made.
What is the real capital gains tax rate for non-residents selling in Spain?
19% of the actual gain — the sale price minus the documented acquisition cost and improvements — not 24%, and not restricted to EU or EEA sellers. This rate applies to property sale gains specifically.
How do I get back the difference if too much was withheld when I sold?
By filing your own Modelo 210 declaring the real gain, within the three-month window that opens one month after the sale. If 19% of your real gain is less than the 3% withheld, the difference is refunded to you.