INTERES Invest in Spain

This tax is levied on a limited number of transactions, including most notably:

(*) The regional governments are entitled to apply different rates in certain cases. Indeed, many of them have set the transfer tax rate applicable to transfers of real estate at 7%, and the stamp tax rate for certain transactions at 1.5%. Nevertheless, some regions apply 2%.

Transfers of shares in Spanish companies do not usually attract indirect taxation, unless more than 50% of the capital stock is transferred (or shares increasing the stake in certain entity when the acquirer already has more that 50%) and more than 50% of the assets of the company consist of real estate in Spain. In this case, the transaction will be treated, for indirect taxation purposes, as a transfer of real estate subject to the transfer tax rate determined by the regional government in question.

If the seller is a company or a private real estate developer, transfers of buildable land lots or first supplies of buildings are subject to VAT. In the case of second and subsequent supplies of buildings by companies, traders or professionals in the course of their usual activities, they can elect to make such supplies subject to transfer tax or VAT, so long as certain requirements are met.

For more information you can download the following document: