Capital Gains Tax in Spain: Rates & Exemptions (2026)

Capital gains tax in Spain runs on a national scale that no comunidad autonoma sets on its own, and residents and non-residents pay it differently. This guide sets out who is liable under Ley 35/2006 (IRPF) and Real Decreto Legislativo 5/2004 (IRNR), how the taxable gain is worked out, and the current rate bands. It covers the Basque Country and Navarre’s separate tax arrangements, the main-home and over-65 reliefs, the loss-offset rule, and how to reach a Spain-qualified tax advisor who can work out the exact liability on a specific sale.

What is capital gains tax in Spain?

Capital gains tax in Spain taxes the profit from selling property, shares or other assets. Residents pay the national savings scale, 19% to 30%, under Ley 35/2006; non-residents pay 24%, or 19% for qualifying EU/EEA residents, under Ley del IRNR.

Spain has no single tax called “capital gains tax.” The gain is folded into whichever income tax already applies to you: the Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Fisicas (IRPF) if you are a Spanish tax resident, or the Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes (IRNR) if you are not. Both are administered by Agencia Tributaria, Spain’s tax agency. Neither is the same tax as plusvalia municipal, the separate local tax a town hall charges on the rise in a property’s land value at sale, or wealth tax, the annual tax on what you own. Wealth tax taxes what you hold on a fixed date each year; it does not tax a sale at all. Both of those are covered further down this page.

Who pays capital gains tax in Spain: residents and non-residents?

Your tax residency status decides which tax applies, and it is worked out separately from the sale itself. Under LIRPF article 9, you are a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain during the calendar year, or if the main base of your activities or economic interests sits in Spain. The same article creates a rebuttable presumption when your non-legally-separated spouse and dependent minor children habitually reside in Spain under those criteria. A resident declares the gain on their annual Renta return alongside the rest of their savings income, at the national scale set out below.

A non-resident is taxed under a different statute, and the mechanics differ at the point of sale itself. The buyer must withhold 3% of the agreed price when the seller acts without a permanent establishment and pay it over to Agencia Tributaria as a payment on account under RDLeg 5/2004 article 25.2. The buyer files that retention on Modelo 211. No withholding or Modelo 211 is required if the seller proves Spanish IRPF or corporation-tax status with an Agencia Tributaria residence certificate, or if the property is contributed on the incorporation or capital increase of a Spanish-resident company. The non-resident seller then settles the actual tax due, and reclaims any amount withheld above that figure, on Modelo 210.

What kinds of gains does this cover: property, shares and crypto?

The national rules reach real estate, listed and unlisted shares, and investment fund units on the same basis: the profit from the sale is a gain, taxed at the rates set out below, whichever of those assets it comes from. The reporting mechanics differ by asset (a share sale is usually reported through your broker’s own records, a property sale carries the withholding mechanism above), but the rate structure itself does not change with the asset type.

Cryptocurrency sits differently. A tax advisor should confirm the gain calculation and reporting obligations for the specific cryptoasset disposal.

Gains from your own business activity or employment are taxed differently and sit outside this guide entirely: that is a separate part of the tax system with its own rules and its own advisor.

How is your taxable capital gain calculated?

The taxable gain is the transfer value you receive for the asset, minus the acquisition value you originally paid for it, minus the allowable costs of both the purchase and the sale. A higher documented acquisition cost, or a legitimate improvement cost added to it, reduces the gain and therefore the tax.

Property carries its own wrinkle for anyone who bought before certain dates, through adjustment coefficients that can reduce the taxable gain. A tax advisor can confirm whether an adjustment applies to a specific purchase date before you rely on any figure.

What are the capital gains tax rates in Spain?

Which rate applies turns on your tax residency. Where in Spain the asset sits makes no difference. A Spanish tax resident pays the national savings-income scale, which rises with the size of the gain. A non-resident pays a flat rate instead, set by nationality and, for EU/EEA residents, by whether an effective exchange of tax information exists with that state.

The resident scale is genuinely national. LIRPF article 66 sets the state half of the savings-income scale, and article 76 prints the regional half at the identical thresholds and rates directly in the state statute itself; no comunidad autonoma sets that half separately. That is different from Spain’s ordinary employment-income scale, where the regional half genuinely is set by each comunidad under a separate article and does vary by region. The capital gains scale above does not carry that variation.

Does capital gains tax vary by region in Spain?

No. Capital gains tax does not vary at the comunidad autonoma level. LIRPF article 76 fixes the regional half of the savings-income scale in the state statute itself; it does not delegate that scale to each region the way ordinary income tax works. A resident pays the same combined 19% to 30% scale whether they live in Madrid, Andalucia or any other comunidad autonoma of the common tax regime.

One genuine exception exists outside that common regime. The Basque Country’s three foral territories (Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and Navarre tax their residents under their own arrangements, separate from the common-territory system this page describes. A tax advisor working in the applicable foral territory can confirm the rate that applies there.

Can a tax advisor calculate your exact capital gains liability?

Getting this wrong is easy in either direction: understating the acquisition cost, missing a relief you qualify for, or applying the resident scale when the non-resident rate applies instead all change what you owe. A tax advisor works the calculation from your own figures, across whichever asset type applies, and checks the reliefs below against your actual case before filing.

Can you reduce your capital gains tax bill in Spain?

Two reliefs turn on your main home, and a third turns on your age and applies more broadly. Each has its own condition, and none of them overlaps with the others.

The main-home reinvestment exemption at article 38.1 excludes the gain from tax when you reinvest the proceeds of selling your habitual residence into a new one, under conditions set by regulation. This relief also extends to some non-resident sellers, though a UK resident lost access to it from 1 January 2021 after Brexit, according to Agencia Tributaria’s own guidance.

The over-65 main-home exemption at article 33.4.b is unconditional once you meet the age or dependency test: it carries no reinvestment requirement at all, unlike every other relief on this page. Do not confuse it with the reinvestment relief above, which is open to any age but requires you to buy again.

A separate, broader relief at article 38.3 reaches any patrimonial asset a taxpayer over 65 sells; the home is only one example. It lets them exclude the gain, capped at €240,000, if they reinvest the proceeds into a life annuity within six months of the sale. Withdrawing from that annuity early triggers tax on the gain it was set up to shelter.

A non-resident seller should have the application of either over-65 relief checked before relying on one.

Can you offset capital losses against gains in Spain?

Yes. Within your savings taxable base, gains and losses from the same tax year are netted against each other first. LIRPF article 49.1.b lets you offset any negative balance against your investment income, such as interest and dividends, up to a limit of 25% of that income for the year. Any negative balance still remaining is carried forward and offset in the same order over the following four years.

How is capital gains tax different from plusvalia and wealth tax?

Capital gains tax, plusvalia municipal and wealth tax are three separate taxes, and a single sale can touch all three.

Capital gains tax is a national tax on the profit from a sale, assessed by Agencia Tributaria under the rules set out on this page. Plusvalia municipal is a local tax on the rise in a property’s land value between purchase and sale, charged by the town hall where the property sits. Agencia Tributaria plays no part in collecting it, and it applies only to real estate. Wealth tax is different again: it is an annual tax on what you own on 31 December each year. It taxes no transaction at all, and it carries a default exempt minimum of €700,000 under Ley 19/1991 article 28, which each comunidad autonoma may set differently. Selling a Spanish property in a given year can trigger capital gains tax and plusvalia municipal together, and still leave you liable for wealth tax the following year on whatever you own by then.

Talk to a tax advisor about your Spanish capital gains filing

The tax advisor handling your case works out the taxable gain on your actual sale, applies the rate track for your residency status, and checks whether a relief or a loss offset reduces what you owe before filing.

Rates, allowances and legal references on this page are current as of 24 August 2026.