The Costa del Sol Tax Guide for Foreign Buyers: ITP, IVA, IBI & Plusvalía Explained

The Spanish property purchase tax landscape is genuinely confusing because the answer to almost every question is "it depends on the region." Andalucía — where Estepona, Marbella, Málaga and the rest of the Costa del Sol sit — has its own set of rates inside a national framework. This article walks through the taxes that actually appear on a Costa del Sol buyer's settlement statement in 2026, in the order they show up.

The two paths: ITP versus IVA + AJD

Every Spanish property purchase is either a resale (sold by a private person or company that is not a developer selling new build) or a new-build first sale from a developer. The two paths attract entirely different taxes. A resale attracts ITP, the transfer tax, set by the autonomous community. A new-build attracts IVA (the Spanish VAT) plus AJD, stamp duty, both set partly nationally and partly regionally. The single biggest cost variable on a Costa del Sol purchase is which of these two paths applies — and a buyer rarely chooses, since it depends on the seller.

ITP in Andalucía — 7 % flat

Andalucía simplified its transfer tax in 2021 from a sliding scale to a single 7 % rate on the deed price, and that rate has remained in place through 2025. Specific reductions exist for buyers under 35, large families, and certain disability situations, but the working assumption for an international buyer over 35 is 7 %. The base is the deed price or the tax administration's valor de referencia, whichever is higher — a notional minimum-value figure published per cadastral reference that the regional tax office uses to stop the under-declaration of prices. Cheap-looking purchases below the valor de referencia get topped up at audit.

IVA + AJD on new builds

If you are buying a brand-new apartment or villa direct from a developer, the developer charges 10 % IVA on top of the asking price and the buyer separately pays 1.2 % AJD in Andalucía (it was 1.5 % before the 2021 reform). For a developer-built commercial premise, IVA jumps to 21 %. Garage spaces sold with a residential unit follow the residential 10 % rate; garages sold separately follow the 21 % rate. The IVA route is paid to the developer on completion; AJD is paid to the regional tax office via the same form (modelo 600) within 30 days.

Notary, Land Registry, gestoría

The notary fee is set by national tariff and scales modestly with the deed price — expect €600 to €1,500 for most Costa del Sol residential deeds. The Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) charges its own fee on the same tariff basis, usually in a similar range. A gestoría — the administrative agent that physically takes the deed to the tax office, the registry and the utility companies on your behalf — typically charges €400 to €1,000 for the full set. None of these scale dramatically with price; on a €2m purchase the proportional cost is small, on a €200k purchase it is meaningful.

Lawyer's fees and what they cover

Spanish convention is that the buyer's lawyer charges roughly 1 % of the purchase price plus IVA, often with a minimum fee around €1,500 to €2,500. What that covers, properly, is title and charge searches at the Land Registry, planning verification at the town hall, review of community minutes and any pending derrama (special assessment), drafting of the private purchase contract, presence at the notary, and post-completion filings. Anything beyond that — corporate setup, tax-residency planning, will drafting — is usually billed separately. The buyer is free to use the seller's lawyer, but our advice is universally to use independent representation.

The annual taxes that follow ownership

Once you own, three recurring taxes appear. IBI is the council property tax, levied by the town hall on the cadastral value (typically a fraction of market value). In Estepona, IBI for a mid-market villa runs €400 to €1,500 per year. Basura is the refuse collection tax, a small annual sum. For non-resident owners, IRNR — non-resident income tax — applies even if you do not rent the property out, on the basis of an imputed rental income calculated from the cadastral value. The headline IRNR rate for EU residents is 19 %, for non-EU residents (now including UK) it is 24 %, both applied to the imputed base rather than market rent.

Capital gains and the seller's retention

This matters for buyers because it directly affects how a non-resident sells out later. When a non-resident sells Spanish property, the buyer is legally required to withhold 3 % of the deed price and pay it to the tax office on the seller's account. The seller then files a capital-gains return — IRNR for individuals or corporate tax for company sellers — and either receives a refund or pays the balance. Plan for this on the way in: if you are likely to be a non-resident when you sell, the 3 % retention is a working-capital event, not a tax in addition to capital gains.

Wealth tax and the Andalucía exemption

National wealth tax exists in Spain but is administered by the autonomous communities. Andalucía applied a 100 % bonification (effectively a full exemption) from 2022 onwards, meaning residents of Andalucía pay no regional wealth tax. A complementary state-level solidarity tax on large fortunes was introduced in 2022 to capture high-net-worth taxpayers in low-or-zero-wealth-tax regions. Whether you fall inside the solidarity tax threshold depends on net wealth above the law's threshold; for most Costa del Sol homeowners this is irrelevant, but for buyers with global assets above the threshold it is worth professional advice.

Plusvalía — the municipal capital-gains tax

Plusvalía is a town-hall tax on the increase in the cadastral land value between purchase and resale, in principle paid by the seller. Following the Constitutional Court reform in late 2021, the tax base now correctly reflects gain (or zero, if there is no gain). On a purchase, plusvalía is a seller cost — but if the seller is non-resident, the buyer is jointly liable if it goes unpaid, so the lawyer typically retains the calculated amount at notary and pays it directly to the town hall.

The friendliest way to think about all of this on a 2026 Costa del Sol resale purchase: budget 11 % to 13 % of the deed price for the one-off transaction taxes and fees, then around 1 % to 1.5 % of cadastral value annually for the recurring taxes. The fixed parts are predictable; the variables that matter most are which side of the new-build / resale line you fall on, and whether you become tax-resident in Spain.