People over 65 must have full ownership of their home for three years before selling it

The application of the exemption in Personal Income Tax (IRPF) for the transfer of a primary residence for people over 65 requires strict compliance with certain deadlines and ownership conditions. A recent resolution from the Dirección General de Tributos (DGT) has specified how the time necessary to access this tax benefit must be calculated.

What the DGT has ruled

The inquiry analyzes whether a home meets the condition of being a primary residence according to article 33.4.b) of the IRPF Law. The tax authority's criterion establishes that, for the exemption to be applicable, the home must have been the taxpayer's primary residence for a minimum period of three continuous years.

However, the DGT introduces a determining nuance: this three-year period must coincide with the time during which the taxpayer holds full ownership of the property. This means that the time a person has resided in the home before becoming the total owner (for example, under a usufruct arrangement or before completing an acquisition) cannot be used to reach the period required by the regulations.

What this means for you

If you are over 65 and plan to sell your home to benefit from the IRPF exemption, it is not enough to demonstrate that you have lived in it for the last three years. It is necessary to verify that during that same period, you have been the holder of full ownership of the property.

This criterion directly affects situations where ownership has been recently consolidated or where there has been a transition from a right of use to full ownership. If the residence time prior to obtaining full ownership is significant, you might not meet the temporal requirement demanded by Law 35/2006 and RD 439/2007.

What you should do

Before formalizing the sale, it is necessary to conduct an analysis of the property's ownership history. The exact date on which full ownership was acquired must be checked and compared with the actual residence time. It is fundamental to document the continuity of residence and the nature of the ownership right to avoid contingencies with the Tax Administration at the time of declaring the transaction.