Asset transfer tax when purchasing a home

When you buy a home, you have to pay asset transfer tax on the transaction. The tax is calculated on the transaction price and paid in connection with the closing of the deal.

The tax rate was lowered at the beginning of 2024. The tax on dwellings in housing companies was lowered from 2% to 1.5%, while the tax on real estate, including single-family homes, was reduced from 4% to 3%.

The Tax Administration will automatically refund excess taxes paid, including interest, to homebuyers who closed a transaction between 12 October and 31 December 2023 and paid the tax at last year’s higher rate.

To pay the asset transfer tax, you need a personal asset transfer tax reference number, which you can obtain from the MyTax serviceOpens new window. Asset transfer tax is usually paid upon closing the home transaction.

If a real estate agent is involved in the sale of a dwelling in a housing company, they are responsible for submitting an asset transfer tax notification to the Tax Administration. The agent should provide you with a confirmation of the notification, including the information submitted in it, from the Tax Administration. 

If no agent is involved in the sale or you are buying a whole property, you should submit the asset transfer tax notification yourself in the MyTax service.

In a housing company, your title to the dwelling will be registered based on the asset transfer tax notification, and you should send the notification to the property manager of your new home. 

Example of the asset transfer tax on a dwelling in a housing company

The asset transfer tax on an apartment you buy in a housing company for 100,000 euros is currently 1,500 euros, or 1.5%. Before the tax reduction, the tax was 2,000 euros (2%).

The tax is paid on the debt-free price (= transaction price + any housing company loans), even if you pay your share of housing company loans when you close the deal.

Example of the asset transfer tax on a single-family house

The tax on a single-family house or other whole property, such as a summer cottage, is higher than on dwellings in housing companies. 

For example, the asset transfer tax on a house that costs 200,000 euros is 6,000 euros (3%). Before the reduction, the tax was 8,000 euros (4%).

Until the end of 2023, first-time homebuyers did not have to pay asset transfer tax if they fulfilled certain criteria. 

This tax exemption was removed at the beginning of 2024.

Despite this, first-time homebuyers enjoy many other valuable benefits. Read more about them.