If you sell a Spanish property and buy another is there relief on capital gains tax?

Basically I would like to know if you sell a property and get hit by the capital gains tax for foreigners do you have a period of grace where if you purchased another Spanish property or land do you get this rescinded? Is there a period of time that you would need to be looking at ?  Do you pay the capital gains tax there and  then on the sale of  the first  property and reclaim it back when you purchase the next property?

As I understand it, a certain amount (3%???? someone will know) is retained from the sale.  This goes to the tax people unless you buy another (more expensive ?) property.

Is that right?  Sure Rixxy, Mario, Georgia et al will know the answer to this one.

The exemption is as follows: the sale of principal residence is not subject to taxes if the whole amount obtained with the purchase is re-invested in the buying of a new principal residence.

Am I correct, Maria, in thinking that you only have up to 3 years in which to buy your new residence after selling your first in order to avoid paying tax? I'm sure I was reading about that or was I dreaming ?

two years.
Maria

Thanks that's great. Thanks Maria for the advice. However if you purchase a plot, the plot price might be a lot less than the value of the property sold. Therefore how do the tax office calculate the cost of the build on the plot? Is this based on the basic project that is approved by the college of architects and estimates the build cost? Another potential downside is the time it sometimes takes to get planning permission and get the paper work processed. Two years might sound like sufficient  time  but  from the sale of an apartment til completion of a villa could very well take longer than 2 years. Bit of a conundrum there possibly.

Guinessman asks a valid question which I'd appreciate guidance.......what happens if you sell for say E300,000, buy a wreck for say E80,000 and then spend say E120,000 on the refurbishment.  Is the balance of E100,000 taxable? 
In a similar vein, can the amount spent refurbishing a property bought at E80,000 and sold for E 300,000 be used to off-set the CGT?  If so, can only IVA receipts be used or can other receipts be used provided they are demonstrably valid?

I've just read this thread from the beginning and I've always understood that you are paying Capital Gains Tax because this is not your main residence.  It may be your only residence in Spain but your main residence is in UK (Guinnessman talks about a foreigners tax - wealth tax because he's non-resident)

As a non-resident then you would have to pay CGT but if you were resident and this was your main residence that you were selling then you would not be liable to CGT.

Not sure if there's also a time restriction ie you bought the property as a non-resident and after 5 years apply for residencia.  A year later you want to sell and buy another, are you still liable to CGT.


Furoner - I've also been told to keep all receipts for work done on house but that only ones where you can prove that IVA had been paid were valid.