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Transfer tax (ITP) on Uruguayan real estate: who pays, rates, the cadastral base and exemptions

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Every sale of Uruguayan real estate pays the transfer tax (ITP) twice: 2 percent by the seller and 2 percent by the buyer, and purchase promises, their assignments, inheritances and prescription rulings are taxed too (T.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 1 and 7). The base is the cadastral value fixed by Catastro and updated by CPI, or the agreed price if it is lower; heirs in direct line pay 3 percent and other heirs 4 percent. Everyone who takes part, including the notary, is jointly liable and the Registry refuses deeds without proof of payment; guarantee trusts, publicly offered financial trusts and expropriations are among the exemptions.

USD figures use UYU 40.21 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Indexadas (UI) use UYU 6.6792 per UI, the BCU quotation for 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Reajustables (UR) use UYU 1,940.77, the UR for September 2026 published by IMPO (the latest published on 27 October 2026); the BPC is UYU 6,864 for 2026 (Decreto Nº 11/026). All were retrieved on 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Transfer tax on inheritance, heirs in direct line	3 %T.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 7, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Transfer tax, other taxpayers (heirs not in direct line, prescription)	4 %T.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 7, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Combined transfer tax on a sale (buyer plus seller)	4 %T.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 7, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Coefficient applied to 2024 cadastral values for 2025	1.0425 Decreto Nº 334/025 art. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Days Catastro has to value property under construction before tax is paid on the land share	30 daysT.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 5 C, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. The transfer tax (Impuesto a las Trasmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP) taxes transfers of real estate located in Uruguay: sales of property and of usufruct, bare ownership, use and habitation rights; purchase promises and assignments of promises; assignments of inheritance rights and of possessory rights over real estate; court rulings declaring acquisition by prescription; and transfers on death or on final possession of an absentee's assets. The taxable event occurs on the date of the contract or document, or when the prescription ruling becomes final.
Cost to do it: No filing fee for the tax itself; the notary prepares the return as part of the deed fee.
Example: A purchase promise signed today and the final deed signed two years later are both taxable acts, but the deed in fulfilment of a promise that already paid ITP is exempt (Title 19 art. 8 A). / A buyer who signs a promise and later assigns it to a third party triggers ITP again on the assignment.Texto Ordenado 2023 (Decreto Nº 101/024), Title 19 ITP (Ley Nº 16.107 and Ley Nº 16.320), Title 19 art. 1 and art. 2, 2024-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Each side of a sale pays its own rate: the transferor 2 percent and the acquirer 2 percent. Other taxpayers (heirs, legatees, those declared owners by prescription, beneficiaries of an absentee's assets) pay 4 percent, except heirs and legatees in the direct ascending or descending line of the deceased, who pay 3 percent. A swap (permuta) counts as two independent sales.
Cost to do it: 2% buyer plus 2% seller on the taxable base; 3% or 4% on inheritances.
Example: On a taxable base of UYU 5,000,000 the buyer pays UYU 100,000 and the seller pays UYU 100,000. / That is about US$2,487 for each side.T.O. 2023 Title 19, Title 19 art. 6 and art. 7, 2024-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The taxable base is the real (cadastral) value fixed by the Dirección Nacional de Catastro in force when the act occurs, updated by the consumer price index from the month it was fixed to the month before the act. If that updated value exceeds the price agreed in a sale, promise or assignment, the price is the base. Property under construction or urban property with buildings but no value on file needs a valuation from Catastro; if Catastro does not answer within 30 days, the tax is paid on the land share and settled at the final deed. For 2025 values the Executive applied a coefficient of 1.0425 to 2024 values, and taxpayers of ITP, wealth tax and the primary education tax use the average of the real values fixed for the last two years, each updated.
Cost to do it: A Catastro valuation request is a written filing; no fee is stated in the law.
Example: A flat sold for UYU 12,063,000 with an updated cadastral value of UYU 5,000,000 (hypothetical) is taxed on UYU 5,000,000; if the price were UYU 4,000,000 the base would drop to UYU 4,000,000. / For a US$300,000 sale the base is the cadastral value, not the US$300,000 price, whenever the cadastral value is lower.T.O. 2023 Title 19; Decreto Nº 334/025, Title 19 art. 5; Decreto Nº 334/025 art. 1, 2025-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. The parties to the transaction (or the beneficiary in a gratuitous act) are the taxpayers, but everyone who takes part in an inter vivos transaction, personally or through a representative, and the professionals who intervene are jointly liable for the tax. On inheritances all heirs are jointly liable for the whole tax.
Cost to do it: Joint liability means the notary checks payment before signing.
Example: If the seller does not pay its 2 percent, the DGI can claim it from the buyer and from the notary. / A foreign buyer can end up paying the seller's share of tax if it is not withheld at closing.T.O. 2023 Title 19, Title 19 art. 3, 2024-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. The return and proof of payment are attached to the deed, the collecting office checks the return, and the Property Registry will not register any document for a taxed act that does not carry the payment voucher.
Cost to do it: Registration fees are separate (see the title registration page).
Example: A deed presented without the ITP voucher is refused by the Registry and loses its priority. / Closing cannot be completed for a foreign buyer until both 2 percent payments are evidenced.T.O. 2023 Title 19, Title 19 art. 20, 2024-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Exemptions include: deeds in fulfilment of promises that already paid ITP; expropriations in favour of the State; first sales by housing cooperatives; acts in which the Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay or the Agencia Nacional de Vivienda take part; transfers to and from publicly offered financial trusts and in guarantee trusts; transfers on execution of mortgage credits guaranteed by the mortgage guarantee fund; and certain social housing programmes. The Executive may exempt mergers, spin offs and transformations that strengthen the company. Rescission of a purchase promise or of an assignment of a promise is not taxed.
Cost to do it: Exemptions in art. 8 L to O operate automatically and are recorded by the notary.
Example: Putting a building into a guarantee trust for a bank loan and taking it back after repayment pays no ITP on either transfer (art. 10). / A real estate fund structured as a publicly offered financial trust buys and sells without ITP (art. 9).T.O. 2023 Title 19, Title 19 art. 8, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 17, 2024-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Taxpayer	Rate	Base
Seller or transferor	2%	Updated cadastral value, or the price if lower
Buyer or acquirer	2%	Updated cadastral value, or the price if lower
Heirs and legatees in direct line	3%	Updated cadastral value
Other heirs, legatees and those declared owners by prescription	4%	Updated cadastral value

ITP rates by taxpayer (T.O. 2023 Title 19 art. 7)

Worked example

A non resident buys a Montevideo flat for US$300,000 (UYU 12,063,000). The updated cadastral value is UYU 5,000,000 (hypothetical figure for illustration).
The base is the lower of the two, UYU 5,000,000. Buyer ITP: UYU 100,000 (about US$2,487). Seller ITP: UYU 100,000.
The seller can add its ITP to the cost when computing the taxable gain on the sale (T.O. 2023 Title 7 art. 29 B), so the 2 percent also reduces the income tax.

Step by step

Ask the seller's notary for the cadastral certificate (cédula catastral) and check the updated real value against the price.
Agree in the promise or deed who pays which share and have the notary compute both returns.
Pay before or at signing; the notary attaches the return and payment voucher to the deed.
Present the deed to the Property Registry, which checks the voucher before registering.
For property under construction, request a Catastro valuation in writing and diarise the 30 day limit.

Common traps

A low declared price does not reduce ITP below the cadastral value unless the price itself is lower; the reverse is also true: the tax can never exceed what the price supports.
Signing a promise and then assigning it before the deed triggers ITP on each step, unlike a single sale.
Joint liability reaches everyone who takes part, so an unpaid seller share becomes the buyer's problem.
Inheritances of Uruguayan property by non direct heirs pay 4 percent, more than a sale.

Sources

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