Scritto da Nicki Price, CEO
Two Spanish property taxes can be reduced by expenses you have already paid: the capital gains tax when you sell, and the non-resident rental tax you pay each year. When you sell, the Agencia Tributaria lets you add your purchase costs (the 7.75% ITP paid on resale in Murcia under Ley 3/2025, notary, registry, lawyer) and the cost of genuine improvements to your buying price, which shrinks the taxable profit. To claim them you need one thing: a proper factura for each cost, showing the supplier's NIF/CIF, the date and the IVA. No valid invoice, no deduction — so the receipts you keep in 2026 directly decide your tax bill years later.
This guide, grounded in the Costa Cálida (Región de Murcia) but equally useful across the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Costa Almería, sets out exactly which costs you can deduct, which you cannot, and the paperwork rules that make or break a claim.
Deductible expenses matter for two separate taxes, and the rules differ for each. The first is capital gains tax on a sale, declared on Modelo 210 by non-residents (or in the IRPF return by residents), where allowable costs raise your acquisition value and lower your profit. The second is the annual non-resident rental tax, also Modelo 210, where EU/EEA owners can deduct running costs against rental income.
They are not the same list. A gardener's invoice helps a landlord's rental return but does nothing for your capital gains calculation; a new roof helps your capital gains but not your annual rental tax (beyond depreciation). Keep that distinction in mind throughout — and if you only let occasionally, our guide to Costa Cálida holiday home taxes 2026 walks through the IBI and Modelo 210 basics first.
Capital gains tax is charged on your net gain: the transfer value (sale price minus the selling costs you paid) minus the acquisition value (purchase price plus the buying costs and improvements you paid). The lower you push the taxable gain with legitimate receipts, the less you pay. For non-residents the rate in 2026 is a flat 19% for EU/EEA residents and 24% for non-EU residents, under the Agencia Tributaria rules.
A simplified example on a Costa Cálida villa:
In this illustration, the €50,000 of documented costs removes €50,000 from the gain — worth around €9,500 at the 19% EU rate. That is the whole reason this article exists. For the full sale mechanics see selling property in Spain 2026: taxes, costs and steps.
You can add every unavoidable cost of buying, provided you have the proof. These lift your acquisition value and therefore cut the gain. The Agencia Tributaria accepts the taxes and professional fees that formed part of acquiring the property.
Keep the signed escritura from your notary completion day together with those invoices in one file — that package is the backbone of your acquisition value.
This is where most owners lose money. Spanish tax law distinguishes a mejora (an improvement that adds value, capacity or extends the property's useful life) from a reparación/conservación (maintenance that merely keeps the property in working order). Only genuine improvements can be added to your acquisition value for capital gains; routine repairs cannot.
| Likely deductible improvement (mejora) | Not deductible for capital gains (repair/upkeep) |
|---|---|
| Building a new swimming pool or extension | Repainting walls, re-grouting tiles |
| Installing ducted air-conditioning where none existed | Servicing or regassing an existing A/C unit |
| Replacing the roof or installing solar panels | Replacing a few broken roof tiles |
| Fitting a brand-new kitchen or bathroom | Fixing a leaking tap or boiler |
| Enclosing a terrace or adding a new room | Garden maintenance, pool cleaning |
The line is genuinely fuzzy, and the Agencia Tributaria will side with "repair" unless your invoice and the work clearly describe added value. If you are planning works, our renovating property in Spain 2026 guide and the rules on solar panels and energy certificates are worth reading before you commission anything — the licence paperwork also supports your deduction.
Costs you pay to complete the sale are subtracted from the sale price, lowering the transfer value. The main ones the Agencia Tributaria accepts are:
Note the 3% retention: when a non-resident sells, the buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it to the Agencia Tributaria on Modelo 211 as an advance on your capital gains. If your real gain (after all these deductions) is small, you may reclaim the difference — another reason to document every allowable cost.
If you let your Costa Cálida home, the deductions for the annual rental Modelo 210 are different and more generous for EU/EEA residents. Under Spanish rules, EU/EEA non-residents may deduct the proportion of running costs corresponding to the days the property was actually rented; non-EU residents (including, post-Brexit, most UK owners) are currently taxed at 24% on gross rent with no expense deductions.
For eligible EU/EEA landlords the deductible running costs typically include:
You also need the right permit before you let short-term; our tourist rental licence 2026 guide and the buy-to-let yields guide for the Costa Cálida and Almería cover that side.
A scribbled "paid cash" note is worthless at the tax office. For a cost to be deductible the factura must be a proper invoice, not a mere receipt, and it must identify both parties. The essentials the Agencia Tributaria expects are:
Pay by bank transfer and keep the invoice and the payment proof together. Cash jobs with no NIF simply cannot be claimed — the saving you lose at sale usually dwarfs any discount the builder offered for cash.
Keep acquisition and improvement invoices for as long as you own the property plus at least four years after you sell and declare — the Agencia Tributaria's general limitation period is four years. In practice that means a Costa Cálida owner who bought in 2015 and sells in 2030 needs invoices going back fifteen years, so store scanned copies in the cloud as well as the originals.
Across Mediter's current stock of 8,239 properties on the Costa Blanca South and North, Costa del Sol, Costa Cálida, Costa Almería and Mallorca, Costa Cálida homes span everything from compact Mar Menor apartments to large villas with pools and mature gardens. The villas with pools, solar arrays and extended terraces are exactly the properties where improvement invoices move the capital-gains needle most — which is why we tell Costa Cálida owners to start the invoice file on completion day, not when they decide to sell.
Yes. The transfer tax — 7.75% on Murcia resales under Ley 3/2025 — is part of your acquisition cost and is added to your purchase price when the Agencia Tributaria calculates the gain on a later sale. Keep the Modelo 600 payment proof alongside your deed.
A complete new kitchen installation is usually treated as an improvement (mejora) and can be added to your acquisition value, provided you hold a valid factura with the supplier's NIF, the IVA and a clear description. Simply replacing a worn worktop or fixing an appliance is a repair and is not deductible for capital gains.
Not currently. Since Brexit, UK residents are non-EU for this purpose and are taxed at 24% on gross rental income with no expense deductions, under the Agencia Tributaria rules. EU/EEA residents are taxed at 19% and may deduct proportionate running costs. UK owners' capital-gains deductions on a sale, however, are unaffected — those still apply.
Yes, where the seller pays it. The plusvalía (local land-value tax) paid to your Costa Cálida town hall is a cost of the transfer and reduces your taxable gain. Keep the town hall's self-assessment and payment receipt.
Unfortunately you generally cannot claim it. Without a valid factura showing the supplier's NIF and the IVA, the Agencia Tributaria will not accept the cost. If the supplier is still trading, it is sometimes possible to obtain a duplicate invoice, but a cash job with no paper trail is usually lost for tax purposes.
Modelo 720 reports overseas assets rather than property-sale costs, but residents in Spain should keep their records aligned. See our Modelo 720 2026 guide and the 183-day residency rule to confirm which filings apply to you.
Whether you are buying, letting or planning to sell on the Costa Cálida, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol or Costa Almería, the receipts you keep today decide the tax you pay tomorrow. Mediter Real Estate can help you buy well and point you to trusted local lawyers and gestores who keep your paperwork deduction-ready. Contact us at info@mediter.com, call +34 744 719 499, or visit us at Comercial Center Cabo Roig, C/Caspio 2, Orihuela Costa, Alicante.
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