The record — and what it counts
6,324 is the highest value in a series that begins in 2007 with 3,328: 90 percent more, by our calculation. The INE publishes no ratio for this, so we built one ourselves: for every 100 dwellings sold, 24.9 were inherited in 2025, against 10.4 in 2007. Inheritance is only one of the two causes — the numerator rose by 90 percent, while the denominator fell from 32,103 to 25,368 sales.
The ETDP is not a mortality statistic. It counts what the property registers entered during the calendar year. An inherited dwelling appears in the year of registration, not the year of death, and registration is voluntary: article 6 of the Mortgage Act says it "may" be applied for and sets no deadline. The record is therefore a record of registrations; the provisional version of these annual figures appeared on 20 February 2026.
No Canary exception
The easy reading — the Canaries turning into an archipelago of heirs — does not survive the data. Inheritance accounts for only 15.8 percent of all Canary dwelling transfers, the third lowest share of the 17 autonomous communities: only the Balearics, at 11.8, and Murcia, at 13.7, are lower; Spain reaches 18.5 and Navarre 27.9.
Across the country 208,455 dwellings were inherited: the pattern is demographic, not Canary. The islands sit so low on the share because their sales market keeps the denominator large. The record is real; the "Canary exception" is not.
Six months — and one change since January 2026
The inheritance and gift tax return (impuesto sobre sucesiones y donaciones) must be filed within six months of the date of death: article 27.1 a) of the Canary Decreto Legislativo 1/2009, worded identically to article 67.1 a) of the state regulation (Real Decreto 1629/1991). The competent body is the Agencia Tributaria Canaria; the form is Modelo 650.
Article 68 of the regulation allows an extension for a period equal to the original, that is a further six months. It must be requested within the first five months, with the death certificate and an approximate value; if a month passes without an answer, it is deemed granted. It is not free — paragraph 6 requires late-payment interest, which the Agencia Tributaria sets at 4.0625 percent for 2026.
What is new, in force since 1 January 2026, is paragraph 2 of article 27, inserted by the Canary budget law, Ley 9/2025 of 23 December 2025: anyone who fails to meet the conditions of a Canary tax benefit must regularise within one month by supplementary self-assessment, with late-payment interest. The deadlines themselves are unchanged. Missing the six months without a prior demand costs, under article 27.2 of Ley 58/2003, a surcharge of 1 percent plus another 1 percent for each full month of delay, rising to 15 percent from the thirteenth.
The relief: 99.9 percent, but not for everyone
Article 24 ter of Decreto Legislativo 1/2009 gives groups I, II and III of article 20.2 a) of Ley 29/1987 a relief of 99.9 percent of the tax due on acquisitions on death. Group I is descendants under 21; group II descendants of 21 or over, spouses, ascendants and adopters; group III siblings, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and relatives by affinity. Group IV is left out: cousins, more distant degrees and unrelated persons. Unmarried partners are treated as spouses (article 41).
What matters is the residence of the deceased, not the heir's (article 32.2 a) of Ley 22/2009); non-residents in Spain may also apply the Canary rules if the deceased lived here (second additional provision of Ley 29/1987, the adaptation to the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling C-127/12). Nothing changed in 2026: article 24 ter has stood unaltered since Decreto-ley 5/2023, and the only Canary tax law of 2026 that touches the consolidated text, Decreto-ley 5/2026 of 27 July, amends article 37 — the reduced stamp duty rate on notarial deeds.
Not registering, disclaiming: what then applies
Failing to register is not penalised; the Mortgage Act sets neither a deadline nor a fine. The gap is paid for on sale: under article 20 the transferor's right must already be registered, and article 254.1 requires proof that the taxes due have been paid first. The tax deadline runs regardless.
A disclaimer (renuncia) must, under article 1008 of the Civil Code, be made before a notary in a public instrument; under article 990 it cannot be partial, conditional or time-limited, and under article 989 its effects go back to the moment of death. In intestate succession article 923 has the relatives of the next degree inherit in their own right — the text says expressly that they cannot represent the person who disclaimed.
In tax terms it is not a neutral act: under article 28.1 of Ley 29/1987 those who take instead are taxed on the disclaimed share, and the kinship of the person disclaiming applies where it carries a higher scale. Disclaiming in favour of a named person means the tax falls on the person disclaiming, under paragraph 2, and the assignment or gift is taxed as well. And once the tax has prescribed — four years, article 66 of Ley 58/2003 — a disclaimer is treated as a gift under paragraph 3.