How much does it cost to register a property purchase in Venezuela?

Official read in the law or the Gazette. Reported from law firms, press or operators, with their date. Unconfirmed no reliable source: check before deciding.

The fees in the law

The reform of the Registries and Notaries Law (Gazette 6,668 Extraordinary, 12-16-2021) moved the fees from the tax unit to the petro Official. For sales, article 83, item 7, sets these maximums Official:

• If the transaction is worth less than 100 PTR, the total cannot exceed 1 PTR (art. 84) Official.
• They are maximums: the SAREN Director General sets the amount within them by order (art. 83) Official.
• The dollar equivalents come from commercial sources that disagree; we explain below Reported.
• Zonaven (October 2026) adds a further charge of up to 6 PTR, about $340 with the 2022 reference or about $924 with $154 per PTR Reported. It is the same figure as the urgent-procedure surcharge in art. 29 Official, and the official reading of art. 83 carries no other charge: ask your registry whether it is charged when you do not request urgency Unconfirmed.
• The percentage is usually applied to the whole price, not by brackets Reported. That is why there is a jump at the limit: according to Zonaven, $56,000 pays $560 and $58,000 pays $1,160. Whether it is applied by brackets or on the whole amount, the law we read does not make clear Unconfirmed.

The petro problem, plainly

The law says it is paid in bolívares at the petro’s value on the day of the request Reported. But the petro stopped operating as a crypto-asset in January 2024 and the law was not reformed Reported. There is no SAREN order, Gazette or announcement from 2024 to 2026 saying which reference is used to convert it today; the latest rule we found is Orders 001 to 004 of January 2022 Unconfirmed.

Commercial sources give two different references:

• About $56.6 per PTR. It is SAREN’s 2022 reference (0.10 PTR = $5.66), used by Zonaven in October 2026 Reported.
• About $154 per PTR. Mettryc (09-08-2025) says it is converted at the official BCV rate of the highest-value currency, without citing any rule later than 2022 Reported.

Between one and the other there is almost a threefold difference. With the second, the 2% bracket would start at about $154,000, not at $56,600. Other recent laws do use the BCV rate of the highest-value currency, but we did not find that the Registries Law has switched to it Reported.

What to do:

1. Ask your registry for the payment slip in writing before paying Reported.
2. The law requires every office to display the fee order and the day’s petro value (art. 83) Official. Ask for them.
3. Convert the bolívar amount to dollars with the BCV rate today to compare.

Who pays what

• Registry: the buyer, by custom, not by law; it is negotiable Reported.
• Income tax advance (Form 33): the seller, by law. It is 0.5% of the price, unless it is their registered main home (art. 86 of the 2015 Income Tax Law) Official. It is later credited against their annual income tax Official.
• Notary for the option: up to 2 PTR plus folios (art. 86, item 18) Official; notary, certifications and copies add up to about $100 to $350, according to Zonaven Reported.
• Lawyer: no legal fee; between 1% and 3% of the price, normally the buyer Reported.
• Brokerage: between 3% and 5%, normally the seller Reported.
• Municipal clearances: usually provided by the seller; the cost depends on the municipality Unconfirmed.
• Fiscal stamps: requested at the registry Reported, but we did not find the figure that applies to a sale Unconfirmed.

Example: a $60,000 apartment

Assumptions: seller and buyer are individuals, it is not the seller’s registered main home and the seller is not a special taxpayer. We give the registry fee with both petro references. It is our own calculation on the figures cited above.

• The seller pays about $2,100 to $3,300, plus clearances. If it is their registered main home, they save the $300 advance.
• The buyer pays about $1,900 to $3,690 with the $56.6 reference, or about $1,000 to $3,374 with the $154 one, plus a possible IGTF. Without that additional charge, the ceiling drops to about $3,350 and $2,450.

The most uncertain item is the registry: it depends on how the petro is converted. Until you see your registry’s payment slip, budget for the more expensive scenario.

IGTF, when you pay in foreign currency

Decree 4,972 (in force since 07-15-2024) sets at 3% payments in foreign currency or cryptocurrencies “within the national banking system or without the mediation of financial institutions” Reported. In practice it is collected by a special taxpayer who receives the payment, for example a builder Reported. Between two private individuals who are not special taxpayers there is normally nobody to collect it, but no source addresses property sales Unconfirmed. The IGTF guide (in Spanish) explains it in depth.

The whole process is in how to buy property in Venezuela. This guide does not replace your registry’s payment slip or your lawyer.