Taxes and expenses for selling a home in 2024

The most common thing is that the expenses represent between 5% and 15% of the final sale price, although it may vary depending on the autonomous community in which the home is located and depending on the situation of the seller himself.

Expenses when selling a house before formalization

• Energy certificate

This document is mandatory to sell your property and indicates the energy consumption of the home, proving its level of energy efficiency.

To obtain it, you need a qualified technician who is responsible for measuring the values ​​of the house. The approximate average price of an energy efficiency certificate in 2024 ranges from 60 to 130 euros. What affects the cost of this document is the number of square meters: the larger the surface area, the greater the import.

• Certificate of occupancy

In some Spanish autonomous communities it is mandatory to have a certificate of habitability to be able to sell a property. This document certifies that the home meets the minimum safety and habitability requirements.

To obtain this document it is also necessary to hire a qualified technician. Its cost varies depending on the professional, the apartment and the rates of each town hall. In 2024, a mid-range between 60 and 160 euros.

• Simple note

It is advisable to have the simple note of the house since this document can be requested by both the buyer and the seller, since it is used to know if the property is free of encumbrances, if it has a mortgage, etc.

The easiest way to do this is through the web portal of the College of Registrars, the cost of which is 9.2 euros. The price of obtaining the simple note in person at the Property Registry is 3.64 euros.

• Mortgage cancellation fees

This expense must be assumed if the property to be sold has a mortgage. It is not possible to sell a property with charges, so this procedure must be carried out beforehand.

The cost of canceling the mortgage will depend on how and with whom it is done. The cheapest thing is to do it on your own (about 400 euros), while an independent agency will charge around 480 euros; A bank agency will involve facing a payment slightly higher than 1,000 euros.

The costs of selling a home during the transaction

• Earnest money contract

This document is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended. The reason is that the earnest money contract protects both the seller and the buyer in the event that one of the two parties backs out when signing the purchase and sale contract.

This document contains all the conditions agreed upon between both during the negotiation, such as the final sale price, the deadline for signing, the distribution of expenses, penalties for breach of contract…

• Notary fees

These correspond to the expenses of the public deed, including the notary’s fees. They are usually paid in full by the buyer, although the Civil Code establishes that it is the seller who must bear the costs of the public deed of sale; and the buyer those corresponding to the first and subsequent copies.

The final value of notary fees varies depending on the price of the property. Notary fees, called tariffs, are regulated by the State and they all charge the same for identical services, between 0.2% and 0.5% of the value of the property. In the case of the granting of the public deed of sale, the prices are between 600 and 875 euros, depending on the price of the home.

• Real estate fees

In the event that for the sale of your house you have opted for a real estate agency to be in charge of the operation, their corresponding fees will have to be paid. Generally, real estate agencies charge a previously established percentage of the final sale price of the home.

Taxes paid when selling a house

• IRPF 

When a property is sold, personal income tax must be paid on the capital gain obtained from the sale, so it should only be paid if it was sold for a price higher than the price paid when purchasing it and when a capital gain has been obtained.

The income obtained is presented in the income tax return for the year following the sale of the property.

To calculate it, the price at which the house was sold, the price at which it was purchased and the expenses that had to be faced to carry out these operations are taken into account.

• Municipal capital gains

The municipality to which the house belongs must be paid for the increase in value of the residence from the moment of purchase until its sale. The expense will have to be met within a period of 30 days from the date of the sale.

This tax taxes the increase in the value of the land, not the purchase price. To calculate the municipal capital gain, you must take into account the cadastral value of the land, the years of ownership of the home and the coefficient or percentage established by the city council.

If an apartment or home is sold at a price lower than the acquisition value, no capital gain must be paid.

• IBI 

It is paid annually and is the responsibility of each autonomous community, so the price will vary depending on the location of the home. However, IBI costs are limited to a minimum of 0.4% and a maximum of 1.3% of the cadastral value of the home.