What it costs, and how it works
Five steps from offer to keys, four parties and who each of them works for, and every tax a buyer, an owner and a seller meets. Then your own country, on its own page.
Everything happens in one room, on one day
A Spanish sale is not exchanged and completed weeks apart the way it is in Britain or Scandinavia. Contracts and keys meet at the notary on a single morning — which is why the work before that day is where a purchase is won or lost.
An accepted offer is held with a deposit while the lawyer investigates. Two to four weeks. The deposit should be refundable if due diligence turns something up. You need an NIE, the Spanish tax number, before you can sign anything.
Your lawyer pulls the nota simple from the land registry, checks that the cadastral record matches the house that is actually there, verifies building and first-occupation licences, and searches for debt: IBI, community fees, utilities.
When the searches are clean, the private contract is signed and 10 % is paid. Under the usual arras penitenciales terms a buyer who walks away loses the deposit, and a seller who walks away returns it double.
The deed is read aloud, a sworn translator attends if you do not speak Spanish, a banker’s draft is handed over and the keys change hands. Ownership passes on signature.
Transfer tax is filed and paid within 30 days — late means surcharges. The deed goes to the registry for inscription, and utilities, IBI and the community are put in your name.
Six to twelve weeks from accepted offer to keys for a cash purchase. Longer with a mortgage. Rustic land, a missing first-occupation licence, an inheritance in the chain or a seller who is not tax resident in Spain each add time.
Four parties, and who each of them works for
A sale here usually has more people in it than a sale at home. That is a feature. Each side is represented, and the representatives are used to working with each other.
The seller’s agent
Holds the mandate, prices the home, prepares the material and takes it to market. Paid out of the proceeds at completion — 4–6 % in Mallorca, 5 % as the usual starting point.
The buyer’s agent
Agents here work together. Where a second agent brings the buyer, the two split the seller’s fee. The buyer gets someone on their side at no extra cost — this is the part most foreign buyers do not know.
A lawyer on each side
Buyer and seller each appoint their own. They handle due diligence, the contract, the tax filings and completion, and they deal with each other directly. Never share a lawyer with the other side.
The notary
A public official, not anyone’s advisor. Verifies identity, reads the deed and records the transfer. The notary does not check whether the price is fair or whether the house has the licences it should.
Ask whether your agent is registered. Since November 2024 anyone practising as an estate agent in the Balearics must be on the official register, ROAIIB, under Llei 3/2024. There are fines for operating without it — and asking for the number takes one message.
The costs, and who carries them
Most of this is custom and contract rather than law, which is exactly why it belongs in writing before anyone signs.
| Cost | Normally paid by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax (ITP), or IVA + AJD on a new build | Buyer | Within 30 days of the deed |
| Notary | Buyer, by custom | Official tariff, roughly €600–1,200 |
| Land registry inscription | Buyer | Roughly €400–900 |
| Your own lawyer | Each side its own | About 1 % plus IVA |
| Agent commission | Seller | 4–6 %, split where two agents are involved |
| Plusvalía municipal | Seller | Local tax on the rise in land value |
| Energy certificate | Seller | Required before marketing |
| Mortgage cancellation, if any | Seller | Notary, registry and bank fees |
Three moments: when you buy, while you own, when you sell
These apply to the property, wherever you live. What your own country does with them afterwards is the next section.
When you buy
- Resale — ITP, the Balearic transfer tax, on a progressive scale: 8 % on the first €400,000, 9 % to €600,000, 10 % to €1m, 12 % to €2m, 13 % above. Each rate applies only to its own slice.
- New build — IVA 10 % plus AJD 1.5 % instead of ITP. A purchase pays one or the other, never both.
- The reference value rule: tax is calculated on the deeded price or the cadastral reference value, whichever is higher.
- Notary, registry and your lawyer on top.
While you own
- IBI, the annual council tax on the cadastral value, set by each town hall, plus refuse collection.
- Community fees, where the property is part of one.
- Imputed income tax (IRNR) if you do not rent it out: a notional income of 1.1–2 % of the cadastral value, taxed at 19 % for EU/EEA residents and 24 % for others. One filing a year.
- Rental income, where you let: 19 % on the profit for EU/EEA residents, who may deduct costs; 24 % on the gross rent for everyone else, with no deductions. From the 2026 tax year one return a year, filed 1–20 April.
- Wealth tax: under Balearic rules, which non-residents can apply, the first €3 million of net Spanish assets per person is exempt. Above €3 million the state solidarity tax on large fortunes can apply. Held through a company or jointly changes the picture — ask before you structure.
When you sell
- Capital gains: 19 % on the net gain for non-residents. Spanish residents are taxed on the savings scale, 19–30 %.
- The 3 % retention: where the seller is not tax resident in Spain, the buyer withholds 3 % of the price and pays it to the tax agency on account. You reclaim the difference, or pay the rest, within four months.
- Plusvalía municipal, the town hall’s tax on the rise in land value. Two calculation methods — you may choose the lower.
- Agent commission and your own lawyer.
- Purchase costs, improvements with invoices, and the plusvalía all reduce the taxable gain. Keep every invoice from the day you buy.
Rates and thresholds move with each regional budget. Reviewed September 2026 — your lawyer confirms the figure that applies to your purchase before you sign.
The people who answer these questions for a living
Everything on this page is general. Your purchase is not. These are the specialists we work with in Mallorca — each runs their own firm, invoices you directly at their own rates, and Homebase takes nothing on top of their work.
Lawyers
One on each side, never shared. Due diligence, the nota simple, the arras contract, the tax filings and completion. For a non-resident seller, they also handle the 3 % retention and the reclaim.
About 1 % plus IVA
Architects — surveys and licences
What is actually built versus what is registered, building and first-occupation licences, the cadastral match, and anything that needs regularising before a sale. Delivered as a written report you own.
Fixed fee, paid to the architect
Valuers
An independent valuation of the home as it stands, and a second one of the home as it would be after a planned upgrade. Two numbers from someone with no interest in the outcome — which is what makes them usable with a buyer or a bank.
Fixed fee, paid to the valuer
Tax advisers
Every buyer here is a Spanish transaction and a tax position at home at the same time. We work with advisers who know Spain and one other country properly — Denmark and Germany first.
Their rates, direct to you
Builders and project management
From a survey before you buy to a finished, furnished home: drawings, permits, trades, budget and site management, with the owner approving where it matters.
Project fee
Property management
Maintenance, garden, pool, suppliers, insurance, the annual filings and the paperwork that comes with owning in Spain. One team on the ground, one report to you.
Monthly fee
What happens at home is half the answer
Spain taxes the property. Your country of residence taxes you. A double taxation treaty decides which one gives way, and the mechanism differs: some countries exempt the Spanish income, others tax it and credit what you paid in Spain. Choose where you are tax resident — each page opens in a new tab.
General information, written so you know which questions to ask and who to ask. Every purchase and every sale should be checked by your own lawyer and accountant — or by one of the specialists in the Homebase network. Reviewed September 2026.
