Luxembourg selling cost calculator:what you ask foris notwhat you keep.

Selling a house in Luxembourg is cheaper than buying one, because the heavy transfer taxes — the 6% registration duty, the 1% transcription duty, the notary's fee on the deed — are all the buyer's to pay. As a seller you are left with three things: your agent, your bank, and possibly the tax office.

Agency commission

Commission has been freely negotiable since the 1972 scale lost its legal force under the 2004 competition law. Market practice settled around 3% plus 17% VAT, so 3,51% of the price. It falls due when the notarial deed is signed, not at the compromis.

Capital gains tax on your main home

If you are selling the home you actually live in, the gain is exempt from income tax under article 102bis LIR — with no ceiling and no minimum holding period. The exemption survives a move, provided the deed is signed by 31 December of the year after you left. Later than that, it still holds if you occupied the property from the day you acquired it, own no other home, and left for family or professional reasons.

Capital gains tax on a rental or second home

On a rental property, a second home or land, the treatment turns on five years. Sell within five years of buying and the gain is a speculation profit: it is added to your other income and taxed at your ordinary marginal rate, up to about 45,8% once the employment fund surcharge is counted, with no allowance. Sell after five years and it becomes a transfer profit, taxed at half your overall rate, capped at 21%.

The quarter-rate window that ran from January 2024 has closed. It covered deeds signed up to 30 June 2025, with a short extension to 30 September 2025 for compromis registered by the June deadline.

Your purchase price is revalued first

This is the part most calculators skip, and it usually matters more than the rate. On a transfer profit the price you originally paid — Und the notary costs you paid then, Und any major works since — are multiplied by an official coefficient for the year the money was spent, so that pure inflation is not taxed as profit. A 2010 purchase is revalued by 1,26; a 2001 purchase by 1,52. Gains that look large in cash terms often shrink substantially, and sometimes disappear.

Then the allowances

What is left is reduced by the decennial allowance: €50.000 per person, €100.000 for spouses or partners taxed jointly, over any rolling ten-year period. If the property came to you by direct-line inheritance and was your parents' main home, a further allowance of up to €75.000 applies first.

Mortgage penalty when you sell

If a mortgage is registered against the property, the notary settles the outstanding capital out of the sale proceeds and registers a mainlevée to clear the charge. On a fixed-rate loan the bank may also charge an early repayment indemnity. Where the loan financed a home you occupied as your main residence for at least two uninterrupted years, that indemnity is capped at six months' interest on the capital repaid — but only on the first €450.000, and not at all on a rental property or second home. Variable-rate loans are normally repaid free of charge.

Before you list

An energy performance certificate is compulsory before a home is advertised and is valid for ten years. For an apartment you will also need a document pack from the syndic.

Who pays the notary fees when selling a house in Luxembourg?

The buyer does. Registration duty, transcription duty and the notary's own fee on the deed are all charged to the buyer, not the seller. As the seller, your notary-side cost is usually limited to releasing your mortgage if one is registered — the mainlevée — which is a few hundred euros, not a percentage of the price.

Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my house in Luxembourg?

Only if it isn't your main home. Selling the home you actually live in is exempt from income tax, with no cap on the amount and no minimum ownership period. A rental property, a second home or land is taxable, but the rate and the deductions depend heavily on how long you've owned it and what you paid — see the two sections above.

Is there still a reduced quarter-rate for capital gains?

No, not any more. A temporary measure taxed transfer profits at a quarter of the overall rate (up to 10,5%) for deeds signed between January 2024 and 30 June 2025, with a short extension to 30 September 2025 for sales already under compromis. That window closed. Deeds signed since then are taxed at up to half the overall rate (up to 21%). If you see 10,5% or a two-year threshold quoted as current, it's describing that expired rule.

How much is the agency commission when selling in Luxembourg?

There's no legal cap — the old 1972 scale lost its force in 2004 — so it's a matter of negotiation. In practice, most agencies charge around 3% of the sale price plus 17% VAT, roughly 3,51% all-in. It's due once the deed is signed, not at the compromis, and it's the seller who owes it since the seller is the one who signs the mandate.

What happens to my mortgage when I sell?

The notary settles your outstanding capital directly from the sale proceeds and registers a mainlevée to clear the mortgage. If your loan is on a fixed rate, the bank can also charge an early repayment indemnity — capped at six months' interest on the first €450.000 repaid, but only if the loan financed your main residence for at least two years. On a second home, rental property, or a variable-rate loan, different rules apply — see the mortgage section above.

How much will I actually receive after the sale?

Sale price, minus your agency commission, minus any capital gains tax, minus the capital still owed to your bank, minus small items like the mortgage release and energy certificate. That final figure — not the sale price on the sign — is what lands in your account, and it's exactly what the calculator above works out for your numbers.