How do you sell inherited property 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.

Why you cannot sell without the solvency certificate

The law is the Inheritance, Gift and Related Taxes Law (Decree 360, Official Gazette 5,391 Extraordinary, 10-22-1999) Official. Article 51 forbids registrars, judges and notaries from registering or authenticating the transfer of inherited property without the estate solvency certificate, or without the Ministry’s express authorization Official. Article 53 lets the Ministry authorize a sale before payment if the tax authority is guaranteed Official.

What we read is a transcription of the 1999 text marked as in force; we found no later reform, but we did not check it in the Gazette Unconfirmed.

When you become an heir

The estate opens at death and the heirs acquire from that moment (Civil Code, art. 993), according to Acceso a la Justicia (08-13-2026) Reported. An heir can also renounce the inheritance (art. 1,013) Reported. If anyone is thinking of doing so, they should talk to a lawyer before signing anything.

The estate tax return, step by step

These are the steps described by El Diario (07-04-2025) and Acceso a la Justicia (08-13-2026) Reported:

1. Death certificate

   It is the starting point of the process.

2. The estate's RIF

   Obtained on the SENIAT portal, with proof of kinship, and filed at the regional office.

3. Inventory of assets and debts

   Assets and liabilities at the date of death, with values certified by an accountant, according to El Diario.

4. Online return

   Filed on the SENIAT portal. Any heir can file it.

5. Payment

   You can ask to pay in installments before the deadline expires.

6. Estate solvency certificate

   The law says it is issued within 3 days of payment (art. 42) Official.

The deadline: 180 days

Article 27 says “within the one hundred eighty (180) days following the opening of the estate” Official; the law does not say “business”. Acceso a la Justicia and El Diario count them as business days Reported; another source counts them as calendar days, with a 60-day extension Unconfirmed. The sources contradict each other: count 180 calendar days and you take no risk.

Filing late brings fines and interest Reported. El Diario reported in July 2025 fines of 100 euros, or 150 if more than a year passes, after the 2020 reform of the Tax Code; we did not read that article of the code Unconfirmed.

How much tax you pay

The family home, outside the base

Article 10 excludes the family home from the tax base when it passes to ascendants, descendants, a spouse or adopted children Official. In the transcription we read there is no value cap Unconfirmed. El Diario adds that the SENIAT accepts it as the main home if its address matches the one on the deceased’s RIF Reported.

In addition, each child’s, parent’s, spouse’s or adopted child’s share is exempt up to 75 tax units (U.T.) (art. 8) Official: about 3,225 bolívares with the U.T. at Bs 43, in force since 06-03-2025 Reported. Whether it is still Bs 43 in November 2026 Unconfirmed. One source mentions 100 U.T. in another context; the discrepancy is not resolved Unconfirmed. Article 11 gives reductions for small shares (for example a spouse or minors under 21) Official.

That is why many estates with a single family home come out with zero tax. But you still have to file.

The tariff (art. 7)

It applies to each heir’s net share, in brackets measured in U.T. and by kinship Official:

Each bracket also has a subtrahend that we do not publish here: we read it in a transcription and it must be checked against the Gazette Unconfirmed. Have an accountant do the final calculation for your estate.

Heirs who live abroad

Living abroad does not exempt you from the tax on property located in Venezuela Reported. If a third party files the return for the heirs, the SENIAT asks for a “duly notarized and registered power of attorney” Reported; in a 2014 case a general power of administration and disposal was used Reported.

From abroad, the route Venezuelan courts have accepted is a power of attorney signed before a notary, apostilled and translated by a sworn interpreter Reported. Whether the SENIAT accepts it without first registering it in Venezuela, we did not find Unconfirmed. The whole process is in selling property in Venezuela from abroad.

If you are a U.S. taxpayer, the U.S. side (reporting an inheritance or the sale) is a separate matter that this guide does not cover; ask a U.S. tax professional.

Once you have the certificate: the sale

• All the heirs sign, or a registered partition leaves the property in the name of whoever sells. With a missing heir, the buyer has no security.
• Income tax advance. The sale pays 0.5% of the price with Form 33, like any other sale, except the seller’s registered main home (art. 86 of the Income Tax Law) Official. Details are in taxes on selling property in Venezuela.
• Sale to a relative. If one heir buys another’s share, be careful: a sale between relatives up to the 4th degree of blood or 2nd of marriage is presumed a gift if the market value exceeds the price by 20% or more (art. 70) Official.

This guide explains the law; it is not legal or tax advice. For your estate, consult a lawyer or accountant.