Brazil

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – Restrictions on rural/agriculture land, but not houses or apartments.

Real estate agent fees – generally 5% paid by the seller

Attorney fees – usually 1% of the value of the property, the percentage can vary slightly depending on the region.

Notary fees – 1.25%

Registration fees – 0.75%

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 2% to 4% depending on the municipality

Capital gains tax – 15%

Rental income tax – 15% of gross rental income

Property tax – 0.3% to 1% on urban properties depending on the municipality; .03% to 20% on rural property depending on the location and land use

Bank financing terms – N/A

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Dominican Republic

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 5% to 10%, negotiable, paid by the seller

Attorney fees – 1% – 1.5% paid by the buyer

Notary fees – 0.25% – 1%

Registration fees – 2% paid by the buyer

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 3% transfer tax

Capital gains tax – 27%

Rental income tax – Non-residents – 27%; Resident tax bands are 0% to 25%

Property tax – 1% of value exceeding 6,800,000 pesos

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum loan amount is 70% of appraised property value
• Maximum term is 25 years
• Debt-to-income ratio maximum: 70%
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Ecuador

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 3% – 6% paid by the seller (editor’s note: 3% is normal. Also, Ecuador has a high rate of ‘net pricing’ when selling to foreigners, i.e. the seller gets their asking price and the real estate agent gets whatever they can convince someone to pay above that)

Attorney fees – 1% – 3%

Notary fees – 0.15%

Registration fees – 0.10%

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 1% (plus a provincial tax of 0.11%)

Withholding tax – none

Capital gains tax – exempt

Rental income tax – 25%

Property tax – from 0.025% to 1% depending on inflation

Bank financing terms – Not likely from a bank for a non-resident. Some private lending groups have been established that will lend to foreigners and seller financing from an expat seller is a possibility.

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France

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 4% to 10% usually paid by the buyer but can be split with the seller. Standard is 5%. 10% may be charged on lower value properties.

Attorney fees – a notaire (notary) handles property transactions in France

Notary fees – 1% (+ 20% VAT)

Registration fees –5.09% or 5.8% depending on the department

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – included as part of the registration fee

Capital gains tax – not levied on principle residence; 26.5% for EU, 36.2% for non-EU, and 50% for residents of “non-cooperative” countries. CGT in France consists of the actual capital gains tax plus a social charges tax. In addition, the CGT tax is reduced over time starting with the sixth year of ownership going to zero after 22 years of ownership. The social charges tax is reduced starting with the sixth year of ownership and going to zero after 30 years of ownership.

Rental income tax – 20% of net for non-residents up to €27,519 and 30% above that; marginal rates (14% to 45%) for residents

Property tax – two property taxes are imposed (taxe d’habitation and taxe fonciere). The total generally is less than ½% of the property value.

Bank financing terms – Few French banks are offering mortgages to non-residents over the last few years.

• Maximum LTV: 80% (probably 60% in the current climate)
• Maximum term: 15 to 25 years depending on the bank
• Is life insurance required? yes
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 80

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Ireland

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 1% to 2.5%

Attorney fees – 1% to 1.5%

Notary fees – none

Registration fees – 0.25% – 0.75%

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 1% on first 1 million euro of value, 2% on the excess.

Capital gains tax – 33%

Rental income tax – 20%

Property tax – 0.18% on the first 1million euro and 0.25% on property exceeding 1million euro

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 60% to 70%% for non-residents
• Maximum term: 30 years
• Is life insurance required? yes
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 70
• Debt-to-income ratio maximum: varies by lender
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Italy

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 3% – 8% split by buyer and seller

Attorney fees – 1% – 2%

Notary fees – €1,000 to €1,500

Registration fees – €300 to €1,000

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 2% for first time home buyers (including foreigners), otherwise 9%. Tax based on Catastral Value (extremely low figure) times 126. The transfer tax isn’t dependent on the actual sales price of the property.

Capital gains tax – 20% on property held less than 5 years; Exempt for property held over 5 years.

Rental income tax – 21% on gross rental income

Property tax – 0.20% to 0.76%

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 50% to 60%
• Maximum term: 30 years
• Is life insurance required? not usually
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 70
• Debt-to-income ratio maximum: 35%
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Malaysia

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – foreigners can purchase only property with a minimum value of 1 million ringgit or more depending on the province. For 2020 only, that value was reduced to 600,000 ringgits in an effort to help absorb some over-building

Real estate agent fees – 2% to 3% paid by the seller

Attorney fees – Reduced sliding scale from 1% to 0.5% based on the value of the property paid by the buyer

Notary fees – 180 ringgits for each seal

Registration fees – Included with stamp duty

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 1% to 3% on property on a scale

Capital gains tax – For non-residents property owned up to 5 years is taxed at 30% and property owned over 5 years is taxed at 10%

Rental income tax – 26% for non-residents

Property tax – 6% of the annual rental value as determined by the government

Bank financing terms – Possible for a non-resident foreigner to get a mortgage in Malaysia, but not easy as few local banks will entertain the idea.

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Mexico

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – to own within 50 kilometers of the coast or 100 kilometers of a border, foreigners must purchase through a fidecomiso, a real estate bank trust specifically created to hold property

Real estate agent fees – 4% to 8% plus paid for by the seller

Attorney fees – $1,000 to $5,000 GIVE FIGURES IN PESOS depending on the complexity of the transaction and where the transaction is taking place

Notary fees – 1% to 1.5% paid by the buyer

Registration fees – .02% to 1.82% depending on where the transaction is taking place paid by the buyer

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 2% to 5% depending where the transaction is taking place

Capital gains tax – 25% of gross sales price or 35% of actual gain for non-residents. Inflation adjustment allowed on original basis.

Rental income tax – 25% for non-residents

Property tax – .65% to 1.3% of the assessed value depending on the state the property is located

Fideicomiso cost – Around $1,00 to $1,500 plus annual bank trustee fees

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 80%
• Maximum term: 30 years
• Is life insurance required? no
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 65
• Debt-to-income ratio maximum: 42 %
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Nicaragua

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – Foreigners can’t own within 5 kilometers of a international land border and need special permission to own from 5 kilometers to 15 kilometers of a land border.

Real estate agent fees – 5% to 10%

Attorney fees – 1% to 1.5%

Notary fees – Part of attorney fees

Registration fees – 1%

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 1% to 4%

Capital gains tax – 10%

Rental income tax – 15%

Property tax – 1% of the assessed value.

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Panama

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – foreigners cannot own within 10 kilometers of the border or on certain islands

Real estate agent fees – 5% (standard for city properties) to 10% (top range for rural and lower priced property) paid by the seller

Attorney fees – 1% to 1.5% paid by the buyer

Notary fees – none

Registration fees – up to US$2,500 depending on the value of the property

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 2% of either the updated registered value of the property or the sale price, whichever is higher, paid by the seller

Capital gains tax – 10% (3% of gross sales price withheld at closing as a pre-payment of capital gains taxes)

Rental income tax – none for property in special “tourism zones,” otherwise 15% to 27% otherwise depending on the amount of rental income earned

Property tax – some properties have exemptions remaining under new construction exemptions that previously existed. Current property tax rules for primary residences are 0% on property values up to $120,000; ½% on the value of a property from $120,001 to $500,000; and .7% on the value above $500,000. Secondary residences are taxed at 0% up to $30,000; .6% from $30,001 to $250,000; .8% from $250,001 to $500,000; and 1% above $500,000.

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 80%
• Maximum term: up to 30 years can be possible
• Is life insurance required? yes
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 70
• 1% mortgage interest surcharge by government for mortgages on non-primary residences.
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Portugal

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 5% is standard. Lower fees can be negotiated on higher priced properties. Paid by seller

Attorney fees – 1% to 1.5%

Notary fees – €400 to €800

Registration fees – .8% of purchase price

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – First €92,407 is exempt; amount above are charged at marginal rates ranging from 2% to 8% with a maximum 6% on the total property value once the property value reaches €574,323.

Capital gains tax – 28%

Rental income tax – 28%

Property tax – Rural properties – 0.8%, Urban properties – 0.30% to 0.50%

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 70%
• Maximum term: up to 30 years can be possible
• Is life insurance required? yes
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 70
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Spain

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land – none

Real estate agent fees – 3% to 6% paid by the seller

Attorney fees –1% to 1.5% of the purchase price

Notary fees – 0.5% to 2% including registration fees

Registration fees – see notary fees

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 6% to 10% depending on the province

Capital gains tax – 24% non-residents

Rental income tax – 24% non-residents

Property tax – .4 to 1.1%

Bank financing terms –

• Maximum LTV: 70% for non-residents; residents can borrow up to 80%
• Maximum term: 30 years
• Is life insurance required? not always
• Maximum age for a mortgage: 65-70 depending on the bank
• Must you be resident to borrow? no

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Uruguay

Restrictions on foreign ownership of land –  none

Real estate agent fees – 3% paid by the buyer and 3% paid by the seller

Attorney fees – 1.5% to 3%

Notary fees – .55% paid by the buyer

Registration fees –$600 to $800

Transfer tax/Stamp duty – 4% of the catastral value (works out to less than 1% of the sales price in most cases) split between the buyer and seller

Capital gains tax – 12%

Rental income tax – 12%

Property tax – 0.25% to 1.2% depending on the property value

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