If you’ve come across mentions of a “2% ITP” in Andalusia and you’re buying a home here, it’s worth pausing before you assume it applies to you. This reduced rate is not a general discount for ordinary buyers — it’s a specific tax benefit aimed at real estate businesses and professionals who buy property to resell it, not to live in it.
This guide explains what the 2% Property Transfer Tax (ITP) rate in Andalusia really covers, who can apply it, the requirements involved, and what changed as of 1 January 2026, since the rules were tightened and it’s important to get this right before signing anything.
1. What is the general ITP rate in Andalusia?
The Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP) is the tax paid when buying a resale (second-hand) property in Spain. In Andalusia, the general rate is 7%, applied to the higher of the purchase price or the cadastral reference value.
There are reduced rates for individual buyers purchasing their main residence, but none of them reach 2%:
- 6% if the property value does not exceed €150,000 and it becomes the buyer’s main home.
- 3.5% for buyers under 35, people with disabilities, large families, victims of domestic violence or terrorism, or purchases in municipalities at risk of depopulation, provided the value stays under €150,000 or €250,000 depending on the case.
Important: if you’re an individual buying a home to live in, the 2% rate is not among your options. That reduced rate is reserved for a different type of buyer, explained below.
2. Who actually qualifies for the 2% rate?
The 2% rate applies to the purchase of a dwelling by an individual or a company carrying out a business activity subject to the accounting rules for the real estate sector. In practice, this means property developers, real estate trading companies, and professionals who buy housing as part of their business, with the intention of reselling it — not occupying it or holding it as a long-term rental.
3. Requirements to apply the 2% rate
Under Article 44 of Andalusia’s Law 5/2021 on Transferred Taxes, all of the following conditions must be met:
- Main activity must be real estate-related: the buyer’s main business must be construction, property development, or the purchase, sale and letting of property on their own account. This is considered met if the buyer is registered, at the time of purchase, under IAE heading 833.2 (property development) or 861.1 (housing rental).
- Express statement in the public deed: the deed (or a formal declaration, for administrative or judicial documents) must state that the property and any annexes are being added to the company’s current assets for resale.
- Value cap: the value of the property, plus any annexes (garage, storage room, etc.), cannot exceed €500,000.
- Resale timeline and form: the property must be resold via public deed, with transfer of possession, within two years of the purchase, and that resale must be subject to — and not exempt from — the Onerous Property Transfers modality of the ITP-AJD.
4. What changed as of 1 January 2026
Law 8/2025, Andalusia’s 2026 regional budget law, tightened two of these requirements:
- The value cap is now set at €500,000 per property.
- The resale window has been shortened from 5 years to 2 years from the date of purchase.
A word of caution: if your deal doesn’t fit within these new limits, the purchase itself remains perfectly legal — it simply gets taxed at the general 7% rate instead of 2%.
5. What about purchases made before 31 December 2025?
The new law does not set out an explicit transitional regime for this change, so purchases formalised up to 31 December 2025 are, in principle, governed by the rules in force at the time: a 5-year resale window and no €500,000 cap. That said, each case should be reviewed individually, since the other requirements — main activity, statement in the deed, being subject to ITP — still apply in the same way.
6. Common mistakes to avoid
✔ Assuming the 2% rate applies to buying your own home as an individual: it doesn’t, unless you’re acting as a real estate business or professional.
✔ Failing to expressly state in the deed that the property is being added to current assets for resale: without that statement, the tax authorities may not recognise the reduced rate.
✔ Missing the resale deadline: if you don’t resell within two years (or five, for pre-2026 purchases), the authorities can claim the difference up to the general rate, plus late-payment interest.
✔ Going over the value cap without realising it, once garage or storage space is added: the calculation applies to the whole package, not just the home itself.
How can CPG Abogados help?
At CPG Abogados, we advise developers, investors and real estate professionals in Andalusia on whether a purchase qualifies for the 2% reduced ITP rate, help draft the required statement in the public deed correctly, and plan resale timelines with legal certainty. If you have questions about your specific situation, get in touch with us before signing.
