Who bears the expenses of the purchase and sale of a property?

23 May, 2023
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Civil
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Amaia Forcada


Among the expenses of a purchase and sale, we find:

Notary fees (calculated on the basis of fees and the value of the property);

Registry expenses; and

Taxes derived from the sale and purchase (VAT, Transfer Tax, Stamp Duty, Municipal Capital Gains Tax…).

Apart from these expenses, there may also be others that are not obligatory, such as, for example, the agency fees, which expedite the management of the mandatory procedures (registration of the deed, payment of taxes…).

The parties are free to agree on who bears each of the expenses arising from the formalization of the sale of a property. However, in the absence of agreement, the law determines specifically what each of the parties bears.

In the territories subject to the Spanish Civil Code, the expenses of the execution of the deed are borne by the seller, and those of the first copy and others subsequent to the sale are borne by the buyer unless otherwise agreed (art. 1455 CC).

In Catalonia, on the other hand, the expenses of the granting of the deed and of the issuance of the first copy, as well as the other transfer costs are borne by the buyer, unless there is a special provision or agreement to the contrary (art. 531-6 CCCat).

On the other hand, in Navarra, the expenses of granting the deed or other document are split between the buyer and the seller (Law 573 of the Compilation of Foral Civil Law of Navarra).

As far as taxes are concerned, and unless otherwise agreed, each party will bear the taxes that correspond to it as a taxpayer in accordance with the regulations of each tax. In general terms, the capital gains tax, in case of accrual, is payable by the seller and the Transfer Tax, both in its modality of Onerous Transfer of Property and in its modality of Documented Legal Acts, will be payable by the buyer. As for the Value Added Tax, it will depend on who is the taxable person according to the type of transfer, or if the waiver to the exemption of this tax is made.

Finally, if a mortgage loan is requested from a bank for the purchase and sale of a property, it should be taken into consideration that each and every one of the costs of formalizing the loan are borne by the bank (notary, registry and administrative costs), except for the appraisal costs, which correspond to the purchaser (art. 14 of the Real Estate Credit Law). The taxes, as in the case of the purchase and sale and unless otherwise agreed, are paid by the party expressly determined by law.

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PurchaseHabitatgeTaxPublic NotaryCapital gainsTràmits

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