Clearing it all before you sell

Key rules

• Community certificate: You supply the community debt certificate or state at the notary that you are up to date. The buyer can waive the certificate in writing, but do not count on it.
• IBI proof: No law requires a certificate of no IBI debt, but the notary asks for your latest IBI receipt.
• 3% withholding: The buyer's withholding is an advance on your capital gains tax and does not pay off modelo 210 arrears.
• Debts at signing: IBI and community debts can be paid out of the sale price at signing, with the payment recorded in the deed.

Why buyers and notaries care

Unpaid IBI and community fees stay attached to the property. A buyer can be liable with the property for the current year and the three previous years. You stay personally liable for all your debts too. So buyers and notaries want proof that everything is paid.

IBI proof

Download the receipt (recibo) from your town hall as soon as you plan to sell; it is available straight away. Pay anything it shows as owed. Some notaries or buyers also want a formal certificate of debts from the town hall or its tax collector. Ask your notary early which they want.

Community debt certificate

The community's secretary or administrator issues the certificate, with the president's approval. The community has 7 natural days from your request to issue it, and in practice it takes a few days to two weeks. The notary attaches it to the deed. No fixed validity period applies, so request it at least two weeks before the signing date.

If the certificates show debts

You have two options. Pay them before signing, or agree with the buyer to clear them from the sale price at signing. If the buyer takes on a debt by agreement, the community's rights do not change.

How the 3% withholding works

If you are a non-resident, the buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it to the tax agency using modelo 211, within one month of the sale. Unpaid modelo 210 tax, such as tax on imputed income from a second home, is settled separately, before or alongside the sale.

Your own capital gains declaration after the sale is covered in capital gains tax when you sell a Spanish property.

Tax office certificate

No law requires a non-resident seller to show a certificate of being up to date with tax obligations, and notaries do not ask for it. You can get one online from the tax agency if a buyer or notary asks. It costs nothing.