On this page
So, let me answer the question before anything else. If you are a UK resident selling a property in Spain, the gain is taxed at 19%. Not 24%. Brexit did not touch that rate, and it is the same 19% a German or a Dutch seller pays.
The 24% is real, but it lives somewhere else in the tax system. I will show you exactly where, because that half truth is what keeps the myth alive.
My name is Daniel Bertomeu. I am the tax advisor of the family, AEDAF 06838. My father Juan is the lawyer, ICALI 4643, and he has been guiding foreign owners through their purchases and sales from our offices in Moraira and Dénia since 1991. A good part of our clients are British, and honestly, this 24% story lands on my desk more than almost any other.
Where the 24% story comes from
The myth did not appear out of thin air. There is a genuine 24% in Spanish non-resident tax, and Brexit really did put UK residents on the wrong side of it. The mistake is pinning it to the wrong income.
The reasoning usually goes like this. Non-residents pay 19% or 24% depending on where they live, the UK left the EU, so everything a UK owner pays must now be 24%. The rent, the empty weeks, the sale, all of it.
Well, Spanish non-resident tax does not work with one rate table. Different types of income sit under different letters of the same article of the law, at different rates. And the letter that taxes the gain when you sell never asks where you live.
When you sell, the gain is 19% for everyone
Article 25.1.f) of the non-resident income tax law sets a standalone 19% rate for capital gains. There is no residence condition attached to it. A seller from the UK, from Canada or from Switzerland pays the same 19% on the gain as a seller from Germany.
The 19 against 24 split that people half remember lives in a different letter, article 25.1.a), and it covers income like rent and imputed income. Never the gain on a sale. The tax office says the same thing in plain language on its own page about gains from property transfers: the rate is 19%, with no distinction between EU and non-EU sellers.
Let me put round euros on it. Say your gain is 100,000 euros. At 19%, the tax is 19,000 euros. If the myth were true and the rate were 24%, it would be 24,000 euros. That extra 5,000 euros exists only in the story, not in the law.
The 3% withholding, and the window that follows
Two mechanics around the sale did not change with Brexit either, and they matter more to your pocket than the rate does.
First, the buyer must hold back 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office on Form 211 within one month of completion. On a 300,000 euro sale, that is 9,000 euros that never reaches you at the notary. It is not an extra tax. It is a payment on account of your final bill. If you want to see how this plays out with your own figures, our 3% withholding explainer walks you through it step by step.
Second, you then settle the real figure with your own Form 210. The window is a peculiar one: you have three months, but they only start once one month has passed since the sale. People shorthand that as four months and end up filing late, so let me be precise. The first month belongs to the buyer and their Form 211. Your three months open after that.
Back to our example. Tax of 19,000 euros, minus the 9,000 euros already withheld, leaves 10,000 euros to pay. Now flip it. If your gain were 20,000 euros, the tax would be 3,800 euros, and with 9,000 euros already sitting with the tax office, you are owed 5,200 euros back. That same Form 210 is where you claim it.
Where the 24% is real, and it does hurt
Now the honest half of the story, because the myth survives on a real wound.
Since 1 January 2021 the UK counts as a third country for Spanish tax purposes. For rental income, and for imputed income, the small yearly tax on a home you keep for your own use, a UK resident pays 24% instead of 19%. And on rental income it stings twice, because EU and EEA residents deduct their allowable expenses and pay on the net, while a third country resident pays on the gross with no deduction at all. On the imputed income for empty weeks, the difference is the rate alone. I will be honest with you here: Spanish courts have started to question whether shutting non-EU residents out of those rental expense deductions can stand, and the matter is not settled yet, so the gross rule is the one in force today and the one your filing has to follow.
Round numbers again. A flat brings in 12,000 euros of rent a year and carries 4,000 euros of allowable expenses. A German owner pays 19% of the net 8,000 euros: 1,520 euros. A UK owner pays 24% of the full 12,000 euros: 2,880 euros. Same flat, same tenants, 1,360 euros more every single year. That is the real Brexit effect, and it lands on your yearly filings, not on your sale.
Okay Daniel, but my neighbour swears he paid 24% when he sold. Well, ask him what the 24% was actually on. In my experience it turns out to be the rental income he declared while he owned the place, or the imputed income filings for the years the house sat empty. Both of those really are 24% for a UK resident. The sale itself was not.
One more thing people forget. The double tax treaty between Spain and the UK is still in force and still does its job against paying tax twice. Brexit took the UK out of the EU rate club. It did not take you out of the treaty.
[VIDEO PLACEHOLDER]
If you are selling this year
The truth is, a sale is the one filing I would not want you doing alone from abroad. There is a withholding to track, a deadline that opens and closes on its own clock, and often a refund to claim and defend. That is desk work for a person, and it is work we do every week. Our selling a property in Spain page explains how we run the whole process, and the Form 210 for a sale starts at 450 euros plus VAT. You can see everything else on our pricing page.
If your situation is the quiet one instead, a holiday home you never rent out and the small yearly filing that comes with it, you do not need a lawyer's desk for that. Easy210, our own online tier, handles the simple yearly filing without the overhead. Rentals, several owners, years you missed, or a sale: those come to a person.
And if you want the full picture of what Spain asks of you as a non-resident owner, start with our non-resident taxes page, or go deep with the complete Modelo 210 guide.
So if the 24% figure has been costing you sleep over a sale you are planning, let it go. The rate on your gain is 19%, the same as your German neighbour's, and the real work is in the mechanics around it, not the myth.
Daniel Bertomeu, tax advisor, AEDAF 06838. The legal side of every sale at our firm is handled by my father, Juan Antonio Bertomeu Vallés, abogado, ICALI 4643, in practice since 1991, with offices in Moraira and Dénia. This article is general orientation, not advice on your specific case. The figures trace to the Spanish rules in force in July 2026, and tax rules change.
Frequently asked questions
Did Brexit raise capital gains tax for UK residents selling property in Spain?
No. The gain on a property sale is taxed at 19% for all non-residents, UK residents included. The rate comes from a letter of the law with no residence condition attached, so leaving the EU could not change it. What moved to 24% for UK residents is rental and imputed income, not the sale.
Do UK sellers still get the 3% withholding back after Brexit?
Yes, when the amount withheld is bigger than the final tax. The buyer pays 3% of the price to the tax office on Form 211 within one month of completion. You then file Form 210 for the gain, and if 19% of your gain comes to less than the 3% withheld, that filing is where you claim the difference back.
What is the deadline to file Modelo 210 after selling Spanish property?
You have three months, but they only start once one month has passed since the sale. People often shorthand it as four months, and that shorthand causes late filings, because the first month belongs to the buyer's Form 211 and your window opens after it.
Where does the 24% rate actually apply for UK residents?
To rental income and to imputed income, the yearly tax on a home kept for your own use. Since 1 January 2021 the UK is a third country for Spanish tax, so both are taxed at 24%. For rental income, EU and EEA residents pay 19% on the net after allowable expenses, while a third-country resident pays 24% on the gross with no deduction. For imputed income no one deducts expenses; the Brexit difference there is the rate alone, 24% instead of 19%.
Does the Spain-UK double tax treaty still apply after Brexit?
Yes. The treaty is still in force and still works to stop you being taxed twice on the same income. Brexit changed the rate on some of your Spanish income, but it did not take you out of the treaty.
Do I pay Spanish capital gains tax if I sell at a loss?
If there is no gain, there is no 19% to pay. But the buyer still withholds 3% of the price, because the withholding is calculated on the price, not on your profit. Your Form 210 filing is where you show the numbers and ask for that money back.
Continue reading
About this article
Written by Daniel Bertomeu, tax adviser (AEDAF #06838 · APAFCV #3080). Reviewed by Juan Bertomeu Vallés, lawyer (ICALI #4643, practising since 1991). Easy210Spain is the Form 210 filing service of Expat Abogados, an independent Spanish law firm on the Costa Blanca acting for non-resident property owners since 1991.
Meet the teamThis article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Confirm your specific situation with a qualified adviser before acting.