Selling your Spanish property: the 3% retention, and where unfiled taxes surface
When a non-resident sells in Spain, the buyer must hold back 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office. Here’s the timeline, how to get it back — and why your filing history decides how that goes.
Checked on 20 Jul 2026
General information, not legal or tax advice.
At a glance
- The buyer — not you — must withhold 3% of the purchase price and pay it to the AEAT on Modelo 211, within one month of completion
- The 3% is security against your Spanish tax position, not the tax itself
- You then declare the actual capital gain on Modelo 210 (19% for all non-residents) within three months of the buyer’s deadline
- Retention bigger than the tax due? You claim the difference back — after the AEAT reviews your position
- This review is where years of unfiled Modelo 210s surface, with surcharges, while your refund waits
Every non-resident seller of Spanish property meets the same surprise at the notary: the buyer keeps back 3% of the price. It isn’t negotiable, it isn’t the buyer being difficult, and it isn’t the tax itself — it’s Spanish law making sure a seller who is about to leave the country settles up first.
How the 3% works
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Withhold 3% of the price at completion | The buyer | At the notary |
| Pay it to the AEAT on Modelo 211 | The buyer | Within 1 month of completion |
| Declare the actual gain on Modelo 210 | You, the seller | Within 3 months of the buyer’s deadline |
| Refund (or top-up) of the difference | The AEAT | After review — typically months |
The buyer hands you a copy of the Modelo 211 receipt — you need its reference to file your own return, so don’t leave the notary without it.
The real bill: capital gains
As a non-resident you pay 19% on the gain — sale price minus what you paid, with acquisition costs and documented improvement works reducing the gain. If 3% of the price is more than 19% of your gain (common when the property barely appreciated), you’re owed a refund. If it’s less, you owe the difference.
Two separate things also apply and catch sellers out: the plusvalía municipal (a town-hall tax on the land value increase, separate from all of this) and the final year’s Modelo 210 imputed or rental income, which is still due for the part of the year you owned the place (estimate it here).
Where old sins surface
Here is the part that makes this the enforcement moment for the whole system: to pay your refund, the AEAT reviews your position — and years of unfiled Modelo 210s emerge exactly here, with surcharges and interest, while a five-figure refund sits frozen. Sellers who never knew about imputed-income filings often discover them at this desk, at the worst time.
If that might be you, the order matters: regularise the missing years first (a gestoría or filing service can do several years at once), then file the gain. And keep every paper from the purchase onwards — escritura, invoices for works, IBI receipts — because every euro of documented cost shrinks the gain the 19% applies to.
General information, not tax advice. Completion mechanics vary (part-year rules, jointly-owned properties, non-resident buyers) — for a sale, a gestor or lawyer should run the numbers.
Common questions
- Can I avoid the 3% retention when selling?
- No — it is the buyer’s legal obligation whenever the seller is non-resident, and no buyer’s lawyer will skip it. What you control is what happens next: filing the gain promptly and having your Modelo 210 history clean, so the refund isn’t held up.
- How long does the 3% refund take?
- The AEAT reviews your return and your filing history first; refunds typically take months, and longer where back-years have to be regularised. Interest accrues in your favour once the statutory period passes.
- What rate do non-residents pay on the gain?
- 19% of the gain for all non-residents, regardless of country. Documented acquisition costs and improvement works reduce the gain — which is why keeping invoices for every reform pays off literally.