Taxes for Qatari Buyers of Property in Spain

This guide explains the taxes for Qatari buyers of property in Spain, focused on the Costa del Sol (Malaga province, Andalusia). The headline figures are the same for every foreign purchaser, but your position as a national and tax resident of Qatar (a non-EU, non-EEA country) changes how you are taxed each year on income and gains. Property tax in Spain is a Your-Money-or-Your-Life matter, so the figures below are tied to official sources and you should always confirm your own position with a Spanish gestor or lawyer before you sign.

Why Qatari buyers look to the Costa del Sol

The Costa del Sol combines year-round sun, an established international community and strong connectivity. Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport is one of Spain’s busiest, with wide European and long-haul connections that link Doha through the major hubs ⁶. The coast has a large cluster of international and British-curriculum schools, a public health system (the Servicio Andaluz de Salud) alongside a deep private clinic network, and a mature resale and new-build market from Malaga city west to Estepona and Sotogrande. None of that changes your tax rate, but it explains why the demand exists.

Purchase taxes: new build versus resale

The tax you pay on completion depends on whether the home is a new build bought from a developer or a resale bought from a private owner. Nationality does not change these rates; they are set by Spanish and Andalusian law and apply to residents and non-residents alike ¹³.

On top of the tax you should budget roughly 1% to 2% for notary fees, Land Registry fees and legal fees. A realistic all-in figure for buying costs on the Costa del Sol is therefore about 10% to 13% of the price. If you buy off-plan, the deposits and stage payments you make before completion must by law be protected by a bank guarantee or insurance policy (the principle established by the historic Ley 57/68 and now carried in the building-sector legislation, Ley 38/1999), so check that the developer has it in place ⁹.

Getting your NIE and completing

Every foreign buyer needs an NIE (Numero de Identidad de Extranjero), the tax identification number without which you cannot complete, pay taxes or open the utilities. Qatari nationals apply either at a Spanish consulate or in Spain through a representative with power of attorney. The purchase itself is signed before a notary, registered at the Land Registry, and the purchase tax is filed and paid within 30 business days of the deed. For more detail on conveyancing steps, see the related buying-process guide.

Annual taxes once you own

As a non-resident owner you have two recurring obligations. The first is IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles), the local council tax on the property. It is set by each town hall as a percentage of the cadastral value (valor catastral) and typically falls somewhere between 0.4% and 1.1% a year depending on the municipality ⁸. Refuse collection (basura) is usually billed separately.

The second is non-resident income tax, IRNR, declared on Modelo 210 with the Agencia Tributaria ¹². What you pay depends on whether the property is left for your own use or let out.

If you keep the home for personal use

Spain taxes an assumed or imputed income on a second home that is not rented. The taxable base is 1.1% of the cadastral value where that value has been revised in the last ten years, or 2% otherwise. Because you are resident in a non-EU country, the tax rate applied to that base is 24% (an EU or EEA resident would pay 19%) ¹². In practice that is a modest annual bill, filed once a year on Modelo 210 by 31 December of the year following the tax year.

If you let the property out

Rental income from a Spanish property is Spanish-source income and is taxed here. This is the single most important difference for a Qatari owner: as a non-EU, non-EEA resident you pay 24% on the gross rent, and you cannot deduct mortgage interest, community fees, repairs or agent costs. An EU or EEA resident, by contrast, pays 19% on the net figure after those deductions ¹². Rental income is declared on Modelo 210. Plan your yield around the 24% headline rather than a net figure. Typical gross rental yields on the Costa del Sol are commonly quoted in the region of 4% to 6%, though this varies widely by town and property type, so treat any yield figure as a market estimate rather than a guarantee. See the related rental-yields and cost-of-living guides for area detail.

Selling: the 3% retention, capital gains and plusvalia

When a non-resident sells, the buyer is legally required to withhold 3% of the sale price and pay it to the Agencia Tributaria on Modelo 211, as an advance payment against the seller’s tax ². You then declare the actual gain on Modelo 210 within four months and either pay the balance or reclaim the excess. Capital gains realised by non-residents are taxed at a flat 19% ¹². Separately, the town hall levies plusvalia municipal (IIVTNU), a tax on the increase in the value of the land during your ownership. Keep every invoice for the purchase, the taxes paid and any improvement works, because they raise your cost base and reduce the taxable gain.

Wealth tax and the solidarity tax

Andalusia applies a 100% rebate to the regional wealth tax (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio), so in practice most owners in the region pay nothing under it ³. However, the state-level Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas can still reach high-value estates. Non-residents are only assessed on their Spanish assets (obligacion real) and benefit from a personal allowance, with the solidarity tax generally biting on net Spanish wealth above three million euros. If you are buying at the very top of the market, take specific advice on this point.

Residency, visas and the end of the golden visa

An important recent change: Spain abolished the golden visa (residency in exchange for a property investment of 500,000 euros) with effect from 3 April 2025, through the reform of Ley 14/2013 ⁵. Buying a Costa del Sol home no longer grants any residency right. Qatari passport holders can travel to Spain and the Schengen area without a short-stay visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, which covers most holiday use. For longer stays you would look at other routes such as the non-lucrative visa or the digital nomad visa, which are covered in the related residency-and-visas guide. Owning property does not by itself make you a Spanish tax resident; that generally happens if you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain.

The Spain-Qatar double taxation treaty

Spain and Qatar have a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation that has been in force since 2018 ⁷. In practice its main relevance is the allocation of taxing rights and the exchange of information between the two tax authorities. Because Qatar does not levy personal income tax on individuals, a Qatari-resident individual usually has no home-country tax bill against which to credit the Spanish tax, so the Spanish taxes described above are typically the final cost rather than something you offset back home. The treaty still matters for certainty and for anyone holding property through a company.

Mortgages for non-resident Qatari buyers

Spanish banks lend to non-residents, but at more conservative loan-to-value ratios than for residents. As a general rule non-residents can expect financing of around 60% to 70% of the purchase price or bank valuation, whichever is lower, with the balance and all taxes funded from your own resources. Remember that mortgage interest is not deductible against your Spanish rental tax as a non-EU owner. The related mortgages-for-non-residents guide sets out the documentation and process in full.

Putting it together

For a Qatari buyer the arithmetic is straightforward once you separate the one-off purchase taxes (identical for everyone) from the annual and exit taxes (where the non-EU 24% rate on income and the 3% retention on sale are the points to plan around). Build a full cost model before you offer, use a bilingual lawyer independent of the seller, and keep clean records from day one. With that discipline, the Costa del Sol remains one of the most transparent and accessible markets in the Mediterranean for international buyers.