Modelo 211: the Buyer’s 3% Retention in Spain Explained

What modelo 211 is, and why the buyer files it

Modelo 211 is the self-assessment on which the buyer of a Spanish property declares and pays the 3% withheld from a non-resident seller. It is not a tax on the buyer: it is a payment on account of the seller’s non-resident income tax (IRNR) on the gain, collected through the buyer because the seller may be out of reach once the money has left Spain. The rule is article 25.2 of the consolidated non-resident income tax act (Real Decreto Legislativo 5/2004, TRLIRNR); the mechanics are in article 14 of the IRNR regulations (Real Decreto 1776/2004, RIRNR) and in Orden EHA/3316/2010, which approves the form.

Because the obligation is the buyer’s own, the Tax Agency looks to the buyer if the money never arrives: article 23.1 of the General Tax Act (LGT) makes the obligation to pay on account autonomous from the main tax obligation. Paying the seller 100% of the price does not discharge you — you would still owe AEAT the 3% and would have to recover it from a seller who may be abroad.

Who must withhold: any buyer, when the seller is a non-resident

The trigger is the seller’s status, not the buyer’s. Article 25.2 TRLIRNR applies whenever the transferor is a non-resident taxpayer acting without a permanent establishment in Spain — an individual living in the UK, Germany, Norway or Russia, or a foreign company owning the property directly. A Belgian couple buying a villa in Orihuela Costa from a Swedish owner must withhold exactly as a buyer from Alicante would.

Nor does it matter whether the buyer is a person or a company, or whether a mortgage finances the purchase: a Spanish SL, a British Ltd or a Dutch BV that acquires the property files modelo 211. Only two sellers fall outside the rule — one who is tax resident in Spain and proves it as explained below, and a non-resident operating through a permanent establishment in Spain.

The base: 3% of the agreed price, not the reference value

The law is precise: 3% of the consideration agreed between the parties (art. 25.2 TRLIRNR), which is the price in the deed. Buy for €300,000 and you withhold €9,000, pay the seller €291,000 and pay AEAT €9,000. The percentage does not change with the seller’s country, the years of ownership or whether the seller makes any profit — on a loss the seller recovers the 3% afterwards through modelo 210.

Do not confuse this base with the Catastro reference value. The transfer tax (ITP) you pay to the Generalitat Valenciana is assessed on the reference value when it is higher than the price (art. 10.2 of the ITP-AJD act); the 3% retention follows the price alone. Two taxes, two bases — and a common source of over-withholding when a gestor applies the reference value to both.

The deadline: one month from the deed

The acquirer files modelo 211 and pays within one month from the date of the transfer (art. 14.3 RIRNR; art. 8.5 Orden EHA/3316/2010) — for a notarial sale, the date of the deed, counted date to date: a deed signed on 12 March is due by 12 April. The regulations name the AEAT office for the property’s location, but the form is filed online. Your month also anchors the seller’s deadline: modelo 210 for the gain is filed within three months once that month has elapsed (art. 14.4 RIRNR; art. 5.a Orden EHA/3316/2010).

A modelo 211 filed late without a prior demand attracts the surcharge of article 27 LGT — 1% plus 1% for each complete month of delay, and 15% plus interest after twelve months — with a penalty on top if AEAT has already asked. The surcharge is the buyer’s cost and cannot be passed to the seller.

How modelo 211 is filed in practice

Modelo 211 goes to the Tax Agency, never to the notary or the town hall. Orden EHA/3316/2010 allows two routes: electronic filing on the AEAT sede with a digital certificate — most foreign buyers use their lawyer or tax adviser, who files as authorised representative — or a printed pre-declaration generated by the AEAT’s own service and paid at a collaborating bank (art. 10).

The form identifies both parties by Spanish tax number (NIF — for a foreigner, the NIE), the property by cadastral reference and the deed by notary and date; several sellers or buyers are recorded with their shares. Payment is made with the filing, by charge to a Spanish account through the payment gateway or at the bank. Keep the receipt with the NRC code and the filed form: one copy for the seller, one for you, and AEAT may ask for either for four years.

If you do not withhold: the property answers for the debt

Article 25.2 TRLIRNR closes with the sanction that makes the rule bite: if the retention is not paid, the transferred property remains liable for the lower of the 3% that should have been withheld and the tax actually due from the seller. Article 14.5 RIRNR adds that the Land Registrar records a marginal note against the property for that sum, cancelled only by lapse of time or by proof that the amount was paid, the sale was not subject to retention or the debt has prescribed.

A marginal note makes any future sale or mortgage awkward until it is cleared, and AEAT can enforce against the property itself. That liability sits alongside the buyer’s own obligation as withholding agent, so AEAT may claim the unpaid 3% from you personally with surcharges, interest and, after a demand, a penalty. If you discover after completion that nothing was withheld, file and pay at once: voluntary late filing keeps the cost to the article 27 LGT surcharge.

The copy for the seller: why the stamped 211 matters

Once the retention is paid, the acquirer must hand the seller a copy of modelo 211, which the seller uses to justify the payment on account on their own return for the sale (art. 8.4 Orden EHA/3316/2010). The seller’s modelo 210 either credits the 3% against the tax due or asks for a refund of the excess — and AEAT will not refund what it cannot match to a filed and paid modelo 211.

The seller’s tax on the gain is 19% of the profit whatever their country of residence, because article 25.1.f.3.º TRLIRNR taxes gains on the transfer of assets at 19% for every non-resident. On a modest gain or a loss the 3% is often more than the tax due, and the difference comes back only through a modelo 210 that cites your modelo 211. Put the delivery in the contract: the buyer files within the month and delivers the stamped copy within a set number of days.

When no retention is due: the AEAT certificate and other exceptions

Article 14.2 RIRNR lifts the obligation in two cases. The first comes up daily: the seller proves that they are subject to Spanish personal income tax (IRPF) or corporate tax through a certificate issued by the Spanish tax authority — a tax-residence certificate issued by the Agencia Tributaria, in AEAT’s own words. A residence certificate from the seller’s home country, a padrón certificate, a Spanish DNI or years of IBI receipts are not that document. If the seller cannot produce it on completion day, withhold: they can recover the 3% later, whereas you cannot argue a marginal note off your property.

The second exception is the contribution of a property to the share capital of a Spanish-resident company (art. 25.2 second paragraph TRLIRNR; art. 14.2.b RIRNR) — a corporate operation, not a sale. A seller with a permanent establishment in Spain is outside the rule altogether.

Non-resident buyers, co-owners and completion day on the Costa Blanca

A non-resident buying from a non-resident is the most common transaction on the Costa Blanca, and the rule applies in full: the buyer needs a NIE, files modelo 211 within the month — normally through a representative with a digital certificate — and delivers the copy. Co-ownership is apportioned: where one seller is a Spanish resident with an AEAT certificate and the other is not, you withhold 3% on the non-resident’s share only; where both are non-residents, the 3% of the whole price is split on the form by their shares. A non-resident company is withheld from like an individual.

At a notary in Torrevieja, Orihuela, Alicante or Dénia the retention is written into the deed. The same day usually carries a second retention that has nothing to do with AEAT: when the seller is a non-resident individual, article 106.2 of the Local Finance Act (TRLRHL) makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer for the plusvalía municipal, so the buyer declares and pays it to the ayuntamiento within thirty business days (art. 110.2.a) and recovers it from the seller, normally by holding the estimated amount back from the price (art. 36.3 LGT). Our plusvalía guide explains how to estimate it; the figure depends on each town hall’s ordinance.

Both retentions belong in the private contract before the deed: the 3% on the price, the estimated plusvalía, who files what and when the copies are delivered. spainfiscal handles the buyer’s modelo 211 and the plusvalía filing, acts as tax representative for buyers who live abroad, and coordinates the purchase advisory across the Comunidad Valenciana.