What taxes does the buyer pay in a home purchase and sale?

The earnest money contract is a preliminary sales agreement where the buyer provides a financial deposit to reserve the property. There are three types:

• Confirmatory earnest money: they constitute an advance on the price. If any party breaches, the other may demand enforcement of the contract or claim damages.
• Penitential earnest money (art. 1454 CC): the most common. If the buyer withdraws, they lose the deposit. If the seller withdraws, they return double. No party can be compelled to buy or sell.
• Penal earnest money: functions as a penalty clause; the deposit is a penalty but does not prevent demanding enforcement of the contract.

It is essential to clearly specify the type of earnest money in the contract. Our team reviews and drafts the earnest money contract to protect your interests.

The seller must provide:

• Valid DNI/NIE
• Deed of ownership of the property
• Updated simple land registry note (current charges)
• Energy certificate of the property (mandatory for sale)
• IBI (receipt for the Property Tax) for the current year
• Certificate from the homeowners' association confirming that payments are up to date
• Habitation certificate (in communities that require it: Catalonia, Valencian Community, etc.)
• If there is a mortgage: certificate of outstanding debt from the bank

Powers of attorney are essential in many everyday situations:

• Real estate purchase and sale: when the owner cannot attend the signing of the deed
• Inheritance management: so that an heir can manage the process on behalf of all
• Banking procedures: to operate accounts, contract or cancel financial products
• Representation in judicial proceedings
• Management of properties in Spain from abroad
• Proceedings before the Administration: Tax Agency, Social Security, Municipalities
• Signing of lease contracts
• Corporate acts: general meeting, capital increase, etc.
• Dependency planning: preventive power for cases of incapacity

The Hague Apostille is an official seal that authenticates a public document (such as a notarial power of attorney, a judicial sentence, or a birth certificate) so that it has legal validity in the countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention of 1961.

Without Apostille, a Spanish public document would need to go through a consular legalization process in the destination country (much slower and more expensive).

With Apostille: the document is directly recognized in more than 120 signatory countries without additional procedures.

Who issues the Apostille in Spain:

• The Ministry of Justice for notarial, judicial, and Civil Registry documents
• The Superior Courts of Justice of each autonomous community