Note
Over-65 exemption on the sale of a home in Spain
Quick answer
Gains on the sale of the habitual home by a person over sixty-five are exempt from personal income tax, including a transfer of bare ownership with lifetime usufruct reserved. The home must have been lived in continuously. The agency’s page does not say whether non-residents can use it, so check.
Applies toSellers aged over sixty-five who are considering selling their main home. It is not relevant to a holiday home.
On this page: 8 sections
§ 1The rule
The tax agency's manual states that the gains from the sale of the habitual home by people over sixty-five are exempt. The exemption also applies when the owner transfers the bare ownership and reserves the lifetime usufruct over the home. It is a relief from the state tax on the gain. The chapter on the whole subject is the basics of capital gains tax on a sale.
§ 2What counts as the habitual home
The agency defines the habitual home as the building in which the taxpayer has lived continuously and permanently for at least three years. A home keeps the status if it had it up to any day of the two years before the sale. The test is factual: where the person actually lived, not where the person was registered. A second home, a holiday home or a home that is let does not meet the test.
§ 3The usufruct variant
An owner may transfer the bare ownership to a child or another person and keep the right to live in the home for life. The agency says the exemption also applies in that case. When the full ownership is split between a bare owner and a usufructuary, the rules about who qualifies can be subtle, and the agency's page addresses the split. If you are considering this route, ask a lawyer and a tax adviser to look at the deed and the tax together.
§ 4Residents and non-residents
The page we read is in the agency's manual for personal income tax, the tax paid by residents. It describes the exemption for people over sixty-five and does not say whether non-residents can use it. We therefore do not state that they can. A foreign owner who lives abroad and sells a Spanish home that was never a habitual home will not meet the test in any case. An owner who lived in Spain and then moved abroad should ask an adviser how the sale is treated.
§ 5The age condition
The exemption concerns taxpayers over sixty-five. The age is measured at the date of the sale. If you are close to the age, the date of the deed matters, so ask your adviser whether to wait.
§ 6What the exemption does not cover
It does not remove the municipal tax on the rise in land value, it does not cover the costs of selling and it does not apply to other assets. It also does not remove the duty to declare the sale where the law requires it, so ask your adviser whether the sale must still be reported.
§ 7Planning questions
Ask whether the home meets the habitual home test on the sale date, whether the age condition is met, whether a usufruct is part of the plan and whether a non-resident sale changes the answer. Keep proof of residence in the home, such as bills, the registry of residents and tax returns.
§ 8Related pages
More on the three per cent retention explains the three per cent retention the buyer withholds, and reinvestment relief explained explains the relief for reinvesting in a main home.
FAQRelated questions
Does it apply to a holiday home?
No. The exemption concerns the habitual home, which the agency defines as a home lived in continuously and permanently by the taxpayer. A second home or a holiday home does not qualify as a habitual home.
Can a non-resident use it?
Unclear. The page we read never mentions residence, yet it belongs to the guidance for ordinary taxpayers living in Spain. Until an adviser confirms otherwise, do not build a sale plan on the assumption that it works for you.
Does it remove the plusvalía?
No, that is a different levy altogether. The exemption touches only the state tax on your profit, while the town charges its own land-value tax under local rules, so request that figure from the council.
Sources
- Agencia Tributaria: Sale of the habitual home by people over 65 (official source, opens in a new window), Personal income tax exemptionLast checked 17 October 2026
Tax note. Rates depend on the region, the type of property and the buyer, and they change. Figures here are dated and sourced; examples are illustrative and show their assumptions. Confirm yours with the regional tax agency or a tax adviser.