The asking prices
Start with what the market asks, measured on this site rather than repeated from a portal: the property-price page tracks the €3M-plus census with its median and price per square metre, the villa file follows the villa market, and the rent page reads the rental side from official series. Those pages carry the numbers and their methods; this page carries what the state adds on top.
Resale: 7% transfer tax
A resale purchase in Andalucía pays ITP, the property transfer tax, at a flat 7% of the price: one rate, no brackets, in force for operations since 28 April 2021 and written into the region's own tax law. Reduced rates exist for a main home under €150,000 and for specific buyer categories, thresholds that describe rather little of the Marbella market.
- ITP on resale, Andalucía, since 28-04-2021
- 7%
- Legal basis
- Ley 5/2021, art. 41
- Reduced ITP cases (main home ≤ €150,000, and specific buyers)
- 6% / 3.5%
As of 31 August 2026, Andalucía still taxes a resale purchase at a flat 7% ITP, so on a €3,000,000 example the tax alone comes to €210,000, per the Junta de Andalucía's own rate table (Marbella Wire).
New build: 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD
A first delivery from a developer pays no ITP; it pays 10% IVA, the rate the VAT law sets for dwellings including up to two garage spaces transmitted with them, plus AJD, the stamp duty on the notarised deed, at Andalucía's general 1.2%. The arithmetic is the point: the state's cut on a new build runs above the resale rate, before the developer's own pricing says a word.
Notary, registry and the fee nobody publishes
The notary and the land registry charge by tariffs fixed in royal decrees from 1989, scaled to the deed value in tranches: the tariff is public, a typical total is not, so none is printed here. The lawyer is the line with no official number at all: bar associations may not publish fee scales, and the Colegio de Abogados de Málaga formally withdrew its guidance criteria (the bar's own notice). Any percentage you are quoted is a market price, not a rule.
- Notary fees, tariff by royal decree
- RD 1426/1989
- Land-registry fees, tariff by royal decree
- RD 1427/1989
The paperwork
A foreign buyer needs an NIE, the foreigner identification number the Interior Ministry issues, before signing anything that involves the tax office. It is a document requirement, not a restriction on buying: Spain does not limit who may own a home here. The rest of the file, deposit contract included, is where the unpublished-fee professionals earn whatever you agreed to pay them.
- Foreigner identification number, required
- NIE