Sending money from the UK to buy a home abroad

You are right. On this much money, the UK banks we checked cost far more than Wise. If you want to fix the rate months before completion, an FCA-authorised currency broker can do that. A personal Wise or Revolut account cannot.

The between systems hub piece on moving your savings to the UK covers the source-of-funds question from your UK bank's end. That is the money coming in. This piece is the other direction: the money going out to the notary, the notaire, the escrow account, the tapu office. The check, the paperwork and the tool are all different.

The size of the move is what changes the answer

For £300 to your mother, Wise or Revolut is the whole answer. For a house deposit or a whole purchase, the calculation is different.

UK banks put a markup on the exchange rate when you press the wire button. We read the Wise price comparison for £100,000 to euros on 6 November 2026. Its figures were collected on 3 November for Barclays and on 5 November for Nationwide. Barclays' rate was 1.04 percent below the real rate (the one you get if you search "pound to euro" on Google). Nationwide's was 2.15 percent below. Lloyds' own calculator, read the same day, gave 2.1 percent on £100,000, measured from what Lloyds calls the wholesale rate. That is about £1,000 to £2,150, and it goes in the exchange rate.

Wise works differently. It uses the real rate and charges a fee you can see before you send. On the same day the fee was £64.95 on £20,000, £248.53 on £100,000 and £478.01 on £200,000. A broker such as Currencies Direct gives you a quote instead of a public price, so you can only compare the two once you have the quote.

The completion date is the other change. Wise can hold a rate for you for two to forty-eight hours, depending on the currency; that is its "guaranteed rate" window. A property completion date can be months away. Since January 2021, the pound has typically moved about 1 percent against the euro over two months. In about 6 of every 100 two-month periods it moved 3 percent or more (European Central Bank rates). On a £100,000 send, 1 percent is £1,000 and 3 percent is £3,000, in either direction.

The tool that solves the timing problem is a forward contract. A currency broker can sell you one on a personal account.

The forward contract, in one paragraph

A forward contract lets you fix the exchange rate today for a settlement date months ahead. Each broker sets how far ahead it will go, so ask. You pay a deposit when you agree the contract, often around 10 percent of the sterling amount. You pay the balance on the settlement date. Whatever the rate does between now and then, your rate is the one you agreed today. If your completion date is October and you sign the contract in March, you can stop watching the rate every morning. You know what the house costs, in pounds, from March.

If the pound rises sharply between the day you sign the contract and the day it settles, the broker can ask for more deposit money. That is a margin call, and it is real. On a £200,000 contract, a 5 percent move against you is £10,000, and the top-up request can be that large.

If the sale falls through, the forward does not end by itself. Currencies Direct's terms let you end a forward early by written notice, but you pay its costs and losses. If the rate has moved against your contract, you owe the loss. What is left of your deposit comes back after that. If you do not have the money on the settlement date, it can close the contract and charge you the same costs and losses. Other brokers may differ, so ask before you sign. Do not fix the rate on a sale you might walk away from.

Ask for the rate in writing before you agree to send.

A personal Wise or Revolut account does not offer a forward contract. Their forward products are for business customers: see Wise's help page and Revolut's terms. If a forward is what you need, a currency broker can sell you one.

What a currency broker actually is (and how to pick one)

The full name is a foreign-exchange broker: an FCA-authorised firm that specialises in moving personal and business money between currencies. Currencies Direct says one of its account managers will call you after you sign up. Ask any other broker if it works the same way. If you do not want the call, that broker is the wrong tool for you.

The broker's margin sits inside the rate rather than as a separate line item.

How you pick one:

• Check the FCA register. Any broker that will take your money should publish its FCA firm reference number on its site. Search that number on the FCA register at register.fca.org.uk and confirm the firm name and permissions match. If a broker is not authorised, walk away.
• Ask about safeguarding. An FCA-authorised payment institution must either keep your money in a separate safeguarding account with a bank, or protect it with an insurance policy or similar guarantee. That is regulation 23 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (or the equivalent under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for e-money firms).

Safeguarded is not the same as FSCS deposit-protected: the FSCS does not cover money you are holding at a broker. What safeguarding does is put you ahead of general creditors on insolvency. That is worth understanding before you leave a six-figure balance sitting.

Safeguarding may not cover a forward. Currencies Direct's terms say a forward's deposit and any margin call are not safeguarded, so if the firm fails while the contract is open, you are a creditor and may not get it all back. Ask any broker the same question.

If you need to fix the rate for a completion date, Currencies Direct is one broker to ask, if it can fix your currency. The company was set up in 1995 (Companies House 03041197) and is FCA-authorised. Boki may be paid if you sign up through this link. Currencies Direct lets you fix the exchange rate in advance. Get its quote, OFX's quote and the Wise price on the same day, and compare them.

What you have to do on the other side, country by country

The UK bank on your side of the transfer can run a source-of-funds check on the outbound money, in the same shape it runs on inbound money for someone moving savings to the UK. The country on the other side has its own file. For each of seven routes, here is what you do yourself, who handles your money and what to budget for.

Portugal: get your NIF and pay IMT before the deed

You have two things to do before the deed: get your tax number and pay IMT. The tax number is the NIF (Numero de Identificacao Fiscal). You can apply in person at a tax office in Portugal, or online through a legal representative.

The notario handles the escritura publica de compra e venda; that is the deed that transfers title. The notario needs proof that you paid IMT to draw it up.

Budget for two taxes at completion. IMT (municipal transfer tax): under Decree-Law 97/2026, a buyer who is not resident in Portugal pays a flat 7.5 percent on a home. On €200,000 that is €15,000.

Check the three exceptions before you pay. The flat rate does not apply if you have already been treated as tax resident in Portugal. The other two work as a claim back: you pay 7.5 percent at purchase, then ask the tax authority to cancel the difference. One is if you become tax resident in Portugal within two years. The other is if you let the home at a capped rent within six months, for at least 36 months in the first five years. You must ask within six months of becoming resident or signing the lease, so put that date in your calendar.

Imposto do Selo (stamp duty) is 0.8 percent.

Portuguese rules mean the deed itself records who paid and from which account, so keep the paper trail.

Spain: get your NIE and check your region's tax

You need an NIE (Numero de Identidad de Extranjero), because the deed must carry your tax number. Two routes: apply at a Spanish consulate in the UK (London, Manchester or Edinburgh) using form EX-15, or apply in Spain. You can go yourself or send a representative with a power of attorney. On the consular route you do not need to fly to Spain.

Your title goes through two officials. The notario authorises the escritura publica de compraventa; that is what transfers title in law. The Registro de la Propiedad then inscribes it, which is what protects your title against later dealings.

Look up your region before you budget. On a resale property you pay ITP (transfer tax), and the region sets it, not Madrid. Current 2026 rates: Madrid 6 percent flat; Andalucia 7 percent flat; Catalunya progressive under Decret Llei 5/2025 at 10 percent up to €600,000, 11 percent from €600,001 to €900,000, 12 percent from €900,001 to €1,500,000, and 13 percent above €1,500,000; Valencia 9 percent from 1 June 2026, or 11 percent on the whole value once it is above €1M.

On a new build from a developer, you pay IVA (VAT) at 10 percent on the price, plus AJD (stamp duty on the deed) at the regional rate. IVA does not apply in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.

There is a Spanish cash-movement rule (Modelo S-1 or E-1) but it applies to physical cash crossing a border, not to a wire, so you can ignore it for this trade.

France: send the money to the notaire, not the seller

In France, watch three things: your 10 days to change your mind, where you send the money, and your proof of funds.

The notaire draws up the final deed and handles the money. You sign a compromis de vente (the binding preliminary contract) after your offer is accepted, then the acte authentique de vente at completion. As the buyer, you can change your mind within 10 calendar days of being notified of the signed compromis. You wire the completion money to the notaire's account, not to the seller. The notaire's third-party funds are held at the Caisse des Depots et Consignations while the deed is finalised.

You pay the frais de notaire. They bundle the notaire's fee, the departmental transfer duty (DMTO), and various registration costs. For an existing property (ancien), budget about 8 percent of the price. Article 116 of the 2025 finance law let the departments raise the DMTO ceiling from 4.50 to 5.00 percent for deeds signed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028; 89 of the 101 departments have used the ceiling as of the June 2026 rate table. For a new build (VEFA or neuf), the taxes are structured differently and the total is 2 to 3 percent.

You will need a French numero fiscal (SPI, the 13-digit tax number) at the ownership phase, for the annual taxe fonciere and any rental income.

Be ready for a question on your funds. The notaire is legally an anti-money-laundering obliged entity under the French monetary code; they may ask about the origin of the funds and can file a TRACFIN suspicion report if the story does not hang together. Have the paperwork ready when the compromis is signed, not after.

Italy: get your codice fiscale and ask about prima casa

You need a codice fiscale (Italian tax number) before signing. You can do it in person at an Agenzia delle Entrate office in Italy, or appoint a delegate in Italy with power of attorney. Italian consulates in the UK also issue it using form AA4/8, but each consulate has its own conditions and times, so check your consulate's page first.

You usually pay the notaio, who drafts the public deed (the rogito notarile). If you want the price held between signing and registration, ask: the notaio can keep it in a fiduciary deposit (deposito prezzo) if you or the seller asks for it.

Before you budget, ask your notaio whether you qualify for the prima casa (primary home) rate. Tax on a resale property from a private seller is imposta di registro. The prima casa rate is 2 percent (with a €1,000 minimum), but claiming it normally means moving your anagrafic residence to the Italian comune within 18 months, or meeting another test such as working there. The seconda casa rate is 9 percent (with a €1,000 minimum). On top of that, imposta ipotecaria and imposta catastale are fixed at €50 each.

For a new build from a developer, IVA (VAT) replaces the imposta di registro: 4 percent prima casa (again with the residence rule), 10 percent ordinary, 22 percent luxury; the three fixed taxes then become €200 each.

You can pay by cheque (assegno) or wire (bonifico), and the notaio records how you paid in the deed.

Turkey: your money goes through a Turkish bank first

Plan your payment around one strict rule on how the money arrives. Since January 2022, and confirmed under the Turkish central bank's Sermaye Hareketleri Genelgesi Article 13, the foreign-currency payment for a property sold to a foreign buyer must be sold to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) through a Turkish bank first, before the tapu (title deed). The bank issues you a Doviz Alim Belgesi (DAB, a foreign-currency purchase certificate); since December 2022, the DAB is delivered bank-to-tapu electronically. The lira amount on the DAB becomes the declared tapu value. Your nationality does not get you out of this rule, unless you also hold Turkish citizenship.

You pay the tapu harci (title deed fee), 2 percent of the declared value. The seller pays the same (4 percent combined).

You will need a vergi kimlik numarasi (tax number). You get it online at dijital.gib.gov.tr/foreigners/kimlikNoBasvuru with your passport. A tax office (Vergi Dairesi) takes your application only if the online form rejects your identity details.

Check these limits before you look at a specific plot: a foreign natural person can hold a maximum of 30 hectares nationwide (the President can raise this to 60), no more than 10 percent of any district's privately owned area is available to foreigners in aggregate, and property inside military zones is off-limits. The nationality list is set by the President.

Cyprus: get the permit and deposit your contract

In Cyprus, plan for two things: the permit, and depositing your contract within six months of signing.

For a non-EU buyer (UK nationals now qualify), a Council of Ministers permit is still required under Cap. 109. Approval has been delegated to District Officers in practice, and the standard cap is a plot up to 4,000 square metres, or up to two units, per applicant (a couple counted as one applicant). The title deed cannot be registered in your name until the permit is issued.

Work out your Land Registry transfer fees on a sliding scale: 3 percent up to €85,000, 5 percent between €85,001 and €170,000, 8 percent above €170,000, applied per band. If the sale is VAT-charged (a new build), the transfer fee is waived entirely. On a resale (no VAT), a 50 percent reduction applies.

The six-month date protects you. Under the Sale of Immovable Property (Specific Performance) Law 81(I)/2011, if you deposit your contract at the District Land Office within six months of signing, you get priority against any later dealings the seller might attempt on the same property.

If no seller is registered as owner of the property, or of the larger plot it is part of, the Land Office cannot accept your contract. If that is still the case when the six months end, you have six months from the date a seller is registered.

The United States: check the wire and check the seller

Check two things before you send money to a US closing: that the wiring instructions are real, and whether the seller is foreign.

You do not need an ITIN (US taxpayer ID) to buy from a US seller. You will need one if you buy from a foreign seller and have to withhold tax and file the form for it (see FIRPTA below), and later if you rent the property out or sell it.

Your closing may be run by a title company or an attorney, so ask who runs yours before you send any money.

One US risk to know about is wire fraud. An email that looks like it came from your attorney or title company gives you "updated wiring instructions" close to completion, and you wire the money to a criminal. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center report for 2025 describes this kind of case. The defence is boring: verify the wiring instructions on the phone with the title company or attorney using a number you looked up separately (not one they gave you by email), and confirm the wire went to the right account.

FIRPTA (the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) is a 15 percent withholding on the gross sale price when a foreign owner sells. There are lower rates and exemptions under $1 million if the buyer will live in the home. The buyer does the withholding. So if you buy from a foreign seller, you usually have to withhold, and you can be held liable if you do not. Ask your closing attorney or title company before you complete. When you sell later, your buyer withholds from you.

This next rule matters only if you pay cash through a company or trust. FinCEN's Residential Real Estate Rule, which was going to require reports on cash purchases made through a company or trust (not purchases in your own name), was vacated by a US district court on 19 March 2026 and is currently unenforceable while the government appeals. The rule may return; if you are reading this months from now, check the current position.

You have nothing to file at the US border for a wire (the $10,000 CBP rule is for physical cash and monetary instruments crossing the border, not for transfers).

The two-currency question

Not every property is priced in the country's national currency, so check before you convert.

Under the central bank's rule, you pay for Turkish property in foreign currency, and sterling is allowed. A Turkish bank sells it to the CBRT, and the seller is paid in lira. This is the same no matter what currency appears on the sale contract. If the contract is in euros, your sterling can still go straight through a Turkish bank before the tapu. Do not change it into lira before you send it. There is one conversion, from your currency into lira. Do not do two (sterling to euro, euro to lira); each conversion has a margin, and you pay it twice.

If your Cyprus contract is in dollars, ask your broker to quote you sterling straight into dollars. Do not go via euros. Same principle.

If a Spanish reservation form shows a sterling figure, the one that matters is the euro number on the escritura at the notario. Ask what the euro price is and price the transfer off that.

Convert once, into the currency the deed is written in, and get that number in writing from the seller before the deposit moves.

Trap questions worth naming

Do not use your UK bank's international-wire button for the deposit or the balance without seeing the rate you are being given first. Before you press send, compare the bank's rate with the real rate. The markup is inside the rate, and on a six-figure send it is the largest cost of sending the money.

Never send the money to an "estate agent's client escrow account" unless the account is at a regulated bank named in the sale contract itself, and you have verified the account details on a phone call to a number you looked up separately.

The deposit money needs a paper trail before it leaves your UK account. The people handling the sale on the other side may ask where the money came from. If the money in your UK account got there in cash you cannot document, the deal may stop until you can show the paperwork.

Check your bank's daily online transfer limit the week you agree the compromis or the reservation, not the week of completion. NatWest caps personal customers at £20,000 a working day, and Barclays caps a personal current account at £50,000 a day.

NatWest also has two ways to go over its limit. In its app you can make a one-off High Value Payment of up to £250,000, if you have verified your address and registered for biometrics. It has extra fraud checks, and you can make no more than two in seven days or four in 28 days. Or you can go to a branch and make a same-day CHAPS payment to another UK bank account, for £23.

Your bank's limit may be different. If you need to send more, ask your bank how, split the payment across days, or send the money through the broker on a schedule that fits your bank's cap.

The order to do it in

1. Get the tax number / ID on the other side sorted first. NIF (Portugal), NIE (Spain), codice fiscale (Italy), vergi kimlik numarasi (Turkey), ITIN (US, only if you buy from a foreign seller, rent the property out or sell it later). Some take weeks.
2. Open an account with a currency broker on the FCA register. Get the quote in writing. Compare it with the Wise price on the same day. If you do not need a forward and Wise is cheaper, use Wise and skip the broker.
3. Agree the shape with the broker: spot at completion, or a forward locking the rate to a specific settlement date. If you go forward, keep enough spare sterling for a possible margin call.
4. Verify the receiving account details on a phone call to the notary, notaire, notaio, lawyer or title company, using a number you looked up separately. Confirm the wiring instructions verbally before you send.
5. Send. Reply the same day to any AML query the broker or the receiving side raises, using the source-of-funds pack you assembled ahead of time.
6. Keep every record: the broker's confirmation, the wire receipt, the DAB (Turkey), the receipt from the notaire's Caisse des Depots account (France), every email. If a question comes up in five years, this folder is what answers it.

When the app is still the right answer

If you do not need to fix the rate ahead, an app may be all you need, even for the main payment. Wise shows its price before you send. For the smaller payments (a reservation deposit before you agree the main sale, a top-up to the euro account you already keep, the final small settlement of legal fees after completion), Wise or Revolut is the simple choice.

The rest of the pieces on money crossing between one banking system and another, from moving your savings to the UK to a large family gift that has been paused for a source-of-funds check, sit under between systems.

Corrections

• 2026-11-06: An earlier version gave NatWest's £20,000 daily limit and did not say NatWest has ways to send more: a High Value Payment or CHAPS. The page now gives them. It said you never see a UK bank's markup as a fee on the screen and that the wire button does not label it, but Nationwide, Barclays and Lloyds say they show the rate or the charge before you send. The page now says the markup is in the rate and tells you to compare. It gave Lloyds' markup as 2.42 percent from the Wise price comparison, and a top cost of about £2,400. It now gives Lloyds' own 2.1 percent on £100,000, and about £2,150. It said you could get a Turkish tax number at any tax office. The page now says an office takes the application only if the online form rejects your identity details.
• 2026-11-05: The page did not say that Boki may be paid if you sign up through its Currencies Direct link. It now says so.
• 2026-11-05: The page said Boki recommends Currencies Direct, but it gave no reason to prefer that firm to OFX. It now calls Currencies Direct one broker to ask, if it can fix your currency, and says to get OFX's quote too.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version of this page recommended a forward and did not say what happens if the sale falls through. Currencies Direct's terms say you can end one early by written notice and pay its costs and losses, and the page now says so.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version ran the Cyprus six months from signing only. If no seller is registered as owner, the contract cannot go in yet, and Law 81(I)/2011 then gives six months from the registration. The page now says so.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version dated Turkey's central bank rule to 24 January 2022. The land registry gives that date and the central bank's instruction gives 21 January, so the page now says January 2022.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version said Turkish property must, by law, be paid in lira. Under the Turkish central bank's rule you pay in foreign currency, a Turkish bank sells it to the central bank, and the seller is paid in lira. The page now says so.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version said you need an ITIN whenever you buy from a foreign seller. You need one when you have to withhold and file the form for it. The IRS says withholding is generally not required on a home you will live in at $300,000 or less, so the page now limits the line to the case where you withhold, and says you usually have to withhold, not always.
• 2026-11-05: An earlier version gave Valencia's 11 percent in a way that read as a band on the part above €1M. Under Ley 5/2025 it applies to the whole value once that is above €1M. The page now says so.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version of this page gave Portugal's IMT as bands from 1 to 8 percent. Under Decree-Law 97/2026, a non-resident buyer of a home now pays a flat 7.5 percent, with three exceptions the page names. It also said the notario's office collects the taxes at signing; IMT is paid before the deed.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said FIRPTA sits on the seller, does not apply to you at purchase, and that a foreign buyer needs no ITIN at purchase. The IRS says the buyer does the withholding, so all three are wrong if you buy from a foreign seller. The page now says so.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version gave the FSCS limit as £85,000. It has been £120,000 since 1 December 2025, and it does not cover money at a broker at either figure, so the number is gone. The line on how a firm keeps your money separate now gives both methods the regulation allows. The page also did not say that safeguarding can leave out a forward: Currencies Direct's terms say a forward's deposit and any margin call are not safeguarded.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said Wise's margin on pounds to euros is around 0.4 percent, that a broker is almost always the right tool from about £20,000, and that a broker pulls ahead above £100,000. On 4 November 2026 Wise charged £248.53 on £100,000 at the real rate, and we found no published broker price that beats it, so the page now gives Wise's fees and tells you to compare quotes.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said UK banks add 2 to 4.25 percent, or £2,000 to £4,250 on £100,000, and that the app calls the transfer free. The source no longer shows that range, so the page now gives three banks' dated figures. It also said most banks cap online transfers at £25,000 to £100,000 a day; NatWest's personal limit is £20,000, and the page now names two banks.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said Wise and Revolut offer no forward contract of any kind, and that UK banks offer none on a personal account. Wise and Revolut sell them to business customers, and we could not source the line on banks. It also said forwards run up to about two years, and that Currencies Direct offers that; that figure is on its business page, so the page now tells you to ask.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said the pound can move 3 to 5 percent against the euro in two months, or £3,000 to £5,000 on £100,000, without anything unusual happening. European Central Bank rates since January 2021 show about 1 percent in a typical two months, and the page now gives those figures. It also said a completion is two to six months out and a margin call can come within a few days; we could not source these, and they are gone.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said the rate quoted on a broker's phone call is the one that binds, that the website rate is only an indication, that a dealing desk phones the day after you sign up, and that a broker's rate is closer to the real rate than any UK bank. It also said broker margins run about 0.3 to 0.4 percent, that every quote is negotiated on the phone, and that Currencies Direct has run these transfers for around 30 years at a fraction of a bank's margin. We could not source these, and they are gone. It said that if you do not want the call, an app is the wrong tool; that was backwards: the broker is.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version gave US figures for real-estate fraud inside business email losses, said the pattern is always the same, that the money is gone, and that no insurance recovers it. The FBI reports the two separately and not all of these hold, so the figures and claims are gone. It also said the state decides whether a title company or an attorney runs your closing, named the US attorney-closing states, said the FinCEN rule covered all cash purchases (it covered companies and trusts), and said the US bank uses your source-of-funds papers. The state lines and the bank line could not be sourced, and they are gone.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said a Cyprus title can be registered while the permit is pending; it cannot. It said you can take possession while it is pending, which we could not source, and that processing runs several months, which gov.cy does not say; both are gone. It gave the cap as one dwelling or a plot up to 4,014 square metres; gov.cy says a plot up to 4,000 square metres or up to two units. It said the 5 percent VAT limits are "under" the figures; they are "not more than". It also said the contract you deposit must be stamped, and gave a VAT relief date that does not fit every buyer; both are gone.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said a UK resident not relocating cannot claim Italy's prima casa rate, but other tests exist. It also gave one rule for the Italian consulates in the UK (by post, about 45 days) and said there is no fully online first issue. Consulates differ, so the page now tells you to check yours. It said a fiduciary deposit needs both sides to agree (one can ask). It said the notaio records payment under AML rules and that it must be traceable; the page now says only that the notaio records how you paid. It named a banker's draft; the source says cheque or wire.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said Turkey's rule has no partial route and that the entire payment goes through it; a promise-to-sell contract covers only the part paid up front. It also said a Council of Ministers raises the 30-hectare limit (it is the President) and dated the electronic DAB to 7 December 2022; the page now says December 2022. It said a valuation report is mandatory for sales to foreign buyers, dated from 4 March 2019 and valid for three months. Under the land registry's rule from 9 December 2024 the report is for citizenship cases, so the line is gone. It said the nationality list works on reciprocity; the law says only that the President sets it. We could not source that the tax number is free or that security zones are off-limits, and those words are gone.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said the French notaire runs the whole purchase, but a compromis can be a private contract, and it left out the buyer's 10 days to change your mind. It also said completion is usually two to three months later, that the notaire will verify your funds with a list of documents, cited impots.gouv.fr on when you need a numero fiscal, and told you to get that number first. We could not source these. The page now says the notaire may ask about the funds, and the rest is gone.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said the Spanish notario will not draft the deed without an NIE, and did not say a representative can apply for you. The rule is that the deed must carry your tax number. It also gave IVA at 10 percent on every new build, but the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are outside IVA.
• 2026-11-04: An earlier version said every notary, notaire, notaio, tapu office and title company on these routes runs an anti-money-laundering check on the origin of the funds. US rules exempt people involved in real-estate closings, and we could not source the line for the tapu office, so the page now says the people handling the sale may ask.
• 2026-11-04: We also cut lines we could not source: fiscal representative and cost in Portugal, the rule on routing money there, the Spanish AJD range, the Policia Nacional office, advice from expats in Spain, the decree date and "state institution" for France's Caisse des Depots, the France total of up to 8.5 percent (now about 8 percent), and "most of France". Also gone: a 15-year floor for brokers, what older dealing desks know, tax numbers as a bar to completion, and lines on how often buyers or developers do things.
• 2026-10-01: An earlier version of this page said Boki uses Currencies Direct for this shape of transaction. Boki has no personal usage relationship with the broker, and the wording implied one; the paragraph has been rewritten to say Boki recommends Currencies Direct, which is what was meant.
• 2026-09-02: An earlier version of this page said 88 of the 101 French departments had raised the DMTO to the 5.00 percent ceiling under Article 116 of the 2025 finance law. The French tax authority's rate table as of 1 June 2026 records 89. The figure has been updated and now names its as-of date, so a future rate cycle does not silently strand it. Source: Mes Frais de Notaire (DGFiP-derived rate table).
• 2026-08-13: An earlier version of this page listed Catalunya's ITP as three bands (10 percent up to €600,000, then 11 percent and 13 percent above). Under Decret Llei 5/2025, in force from 27 June 2025, there are four: 10 percent up to €600,000, 11 percent from €600,001 to €900,000, 12 percent from €900,001 to €1,500,000, and 13 percent above €1,500,000. The Catalunya line has been updated. Source: Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya.