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El Cerebro

Mortgage and housing

Costs of buying a home

The taxes on a home purchase, calculated with the rates of each autonomous community and with the rule cited next to the figure.

What it does

It takes a price, an autonomous community and whether the home is second-hand or new, and calculates the ITP, the indirect tax and the AJD that apply to it according to that community's row, plus an estimate of notary, registry, tax adviser and valuation costs. Each tax comes out separately with its effective rate. Below it are the rule that sets it, the conditions of the young-buyers reduction in its literal wording and the notice that the price is only the hypothetical base. The rates are not written into the calculator: they are read from each community's official file, along with its source.

Key concepts

  • The price is an assumption, not the taxable base: article 10 of the TRLITPAJD requires the ITP to be calculated on the cadastral reference value when that value is higher than the price or than the declared value. This calculator does not know that value, so the figure is what comes out of taking the price as the base. Before using it, you have to check the real taxable base.
  • ITP: Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, which on the purchase of a second-hand home taxes the transfer. It is paid by whoever buys, and each community sets its rate, with bands and, sometimes, with a single flat rate.
  • VAT or IGIC on a new home: a new home carries indirect tax at 10 % (Ley 37/1992, art. 91.Uno.1.7.º) and IGIC in the Canary Islands. On a second-hand one there is none: the tax paid is the ITP, and the sale is exempt from AJD.
  • AJD: the Impuesto sobre Actos Jurídicos Documentados, which applies to the deed. On a second-hand home the sale is not taxed; the deed of the loan is taxed, and who pays it is another story (see below).
  • Marginal scale and total value scale: two different legislations written with the same word "bands". In the marginal one, each band has its own rate and applies to the part of the price that falls inside it. In the total value one, the rate of the band the price falls into applies to the entire price: that is what the Comunitat Valenciana does with the 11 % above one million euros, which taxes the whole value and not just the excess. Doing it band by band would be out by thousands of euros.
  • Deductions on the tax amount: there are communities that do not change the rate but deduct from the tax amount, such as Aragón with its 12,5 % for young buyers, and others that deduct directly from the tax, such as Ceuta and Melilla with 50 %. The deduction applies to what has already been calculated, not to the price.
  • The young-buyers reduction is not assumed: the calculator does not ask for age, income or whether it is a first home, because those would be two more fields for a filter the sentence already does better. If you tick the box, you are declaring that you meet the conditions, and the figure applies them; if the price exceeds the community's cap, the reduction does not apply and the calculator says so with the cap figure alongside.
  • What is not calculated: notary and registry fees (RD 1426/1989 and 1427/1989) are not estimated. They depend on deductions and on the negotiation, and an estimated fee is a guess. They are worked out at the tax adviser's office, with the invoice.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really have to pay ITP on this price?

That is the question you have to ask before looking at the result. The ITP is settled on the cadastral reference value if that value is higher than the price or than the declared value, according to article 10 of the TRLITPAJD. The calculator uses the price you type as the hypothetical base because it does not know the cadastral value, and it warns you of that next to the figure. If the difference between the two is large, the figure that comes out here is not the one you are going to pay.

Who pays the mortgage costs?

It is not the same as the purchase costs. Since RDL 17/2018, the AJD on the deed of the loan is paid by the bank, and since Ley 5/2019 (art. 14.1.e) so are the notary for the loan —except for the copies, which are paid for by whoever requests them—, the registry and the tax adviser. The valuation is paid for by the borrower. With the exception of the three foral territories (Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa), where the AJD on the mortgage deed is paid by whoever applies for the loan and not by the bank. This does not enter the account because the calculator does not ask about the mortgage: those are data for a different calculation.

Why does the rate rise in some communities past one million euros?

Because there are two ways of scaling it and each community chooses one. The Comunitat Valenciana, for example, applies the 11 % to the entire value when the price exceeds one million, not just to the excess. The calculator reads that difference from each community's official row and applies it as it stands; that is why the result may not match a mental rule of "the first band at one rate and the rest at another".

What happens if I do not meet the young-buyers conditions?

Nothing happens: the calculator calculates the general rate. If you tick the young-buyers box without meeting them, you are declaring something untrue and the result comes out lower than it should. The exact conditions of each community are in the detail, in their literal wording, so that you can read them before declaring.

And if my community has no young-buyers reduction?

Then the calculation is the general one and there is nothing to declare. Some communities have an aid for young buyers with conditions that the calculator does not apply, because they depend on data this page does not ask for (the assets of all the purchasers, or the size of the municipality). The detail tells you it exists and refers you to its rule, so that you can look at it yourself.

What is the difference between a second-hand home and a new one?

On a second-hand one you only pay the ITP: there is no VAT and the sale is exempt from AJD. On a new one you pay the indirect tax (VAT at 10 % or IGIC) and the AJD on the deed, according to the rate of each community. In the foral territories and in Ceuta and Melilla, the tax on a new home is not verified in this calculator, so when you choose "new" it warns you that it cannot give you the figure.

Are the rates up to date?

Each community sets its own, and this calculator reads the official file with the effective date and the source of each community alongside. The main source is the Ministry of Finance publication "Regional taxation. 2026 measures", and for the foral territories, Ceuta and Melilla, their own consolidated rule. Each entry says where its number comes from; if the law changes, the file is updated and so is the calculator.

Why are notary and registry costs not calculated?

Because they depend on the deductions that apply and on what is negotiated with each professional, and because an "approximate" fee is a guess that looks like a figure and is not one. What you can do is write your estimate in the other costs field: if you fill it in, they are added to the taxes. If you do not, the calculator warns you that it does not include them.

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