Selling an apartment bought for investment purposes, selling a summerhouse or other residential property

Capital gains are always taxed as capital income, received the year when the sale was made. The year when you receive payment does not matter. If you sell the property at a loss, you can claim a tax deduction for that loss. 

If you sell your permanent residence, read the instructions on tax-free sale.

How to submit a tax return on a sale and pay the capital gains tax

How to determine the profit or loss on a property sale?

There are two ways to calculate the profit or loss:

• Based on actual expenses – subtract the purchase price, and all the expenses linked to the property’s purchase and sale, from the selling price.
• Based on a calculation of a deemed acquisition cost – subtract a fixed percentage depending on how long you had owned the property.

To assess the capital gains tax, the Tax Administration will use the method more favourable for you. 

If you choose to subtract the actual expenses

When you use the method based on actual expenses, subtract the following:

• the purchase price of the property – or the confirmed tax value for inheritance or gift tax purposes if you had inherited the property or received it as a gift
• the transfer tax on the property, if applicable
• improvement expenses
• any loan repayments of the housing company that you had paid during your period of ownership if they are capitalised in the ‘reserves’ account on the balance sheet of the housing company (check this with the building manager)
• miscellaneous expenses related to the purchase and the sale, such as brokerage fees, service fees, and the registration fee with the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. 

If you choose to subtract the deemed cost

If you do not know the original purchase price or if subtracting it is less favourable for you, you can subtract the deemed acquisition cost. This means that instead of the purchase price and expenses, you subtract a fixed percentage from the selling price. The deemed acquisition cost is:

• 20% of the selling price if you owned the property for a shorter time than 10 years
• 40% of the selling price if you owned the property for 10 years or more

Please note that with the method based on a deemed cost, no further deducting of expenses that would diminish the selling price is possible. 

Example: Jeanne bought an apartment in 2012 for 50,000 euros. In 2025, she sold it for €80,000.
The capital gains tax based on actual expenses:
Selling price: €80,000
Purchase price: €50,000
Miscellaneous expenses: €4,000
Both the price €50,000 and expenses €4,000 are subtracted from the €80,000 so the remaining capital gain is €26,000. The capital gains tax is 30% resulting in a total tax of €7,800.
The capital gains tax based on a deemed cost of acquisition:
Selling price: €80,000
Deemed cost: €32,000 (note: more than 10 years of ownership — 40% of selling price)
The deemed cost of acquisition €32,000 is deducted from the €80,000 leaving a capital gain of €48,000. The tax is 30% until the €30,000 threshold (€9,000), and 34% on the excess €18,000 (€6,120) resulting in a total tax of €15,120.
It is more beneficial for Jeanne to declare the actual purchase price and expenses to the Tax Administration because this leads to a lower capital gains tax.

The rate of the capital gains tax

Being the seller, you must pay capital gains tax, and its percentage rate is the same as that of the  income tax on capital income (= income from investments). 

• When capital income is max. €30,000 it will be taxed at 30%
• When capital income is higher, the excess above €30,000 will be taxed at 34%

If you sell your property at a loss

The Tax Administration will automatically deduct any capital losses from the capital gains you have had. If no capital gains are on record, the Tax Administration will deduct them from your other capital income such as rental income. However, these losses cannot be deducted from wage income or from other earned income.

If there is not enough capital income in the year of the sale, the Tax Administration will deduct the loss from your other, forthcoming capital income in the next 5 years. 

The tax year for recording a capital loss is the year when the contract or other agreement was signed.