What it actually costs to close on Paraguay property. Budget about 5–6% of the price, all-in.

On a normal Asunción or Encarnación resale bought in your own name, closing costs land between 5% and 6% of the purchase price once you add the escribano's honorarium and its 10% IVA, the transfer-tax bundle most people call "ITI," the registry and municipal fees, and a buy-side advisory fee. The widely quoted figure is 2.5–4% of declared price for the transaction mechanics alone (notary + DGRP + Catastro + minor stamps) per expatsettle's notary guide; the transfer taxes and advisory fee push the real number up.

Two things that surprise foreign buyers. First, the real-estate agent's commission is the seller's cost, not yours — agents on a listing represent and are paid by the seller, which is exactly why an independent buy-side advisor matters. Second, Paraguay is a cash market: banks do not lend to non-residents, so you wire the full price plus costs. The verdict: set aside 6% to be safe, expect to come in slightly under.

Here is every line item on a standard arm's-length resale, with the Paraguayan convention for who carries it. Conventions are negotiable and sometimes flipped in developer or distressed deals — confirm each line in the offer, not at signing.

The transfer-tax line is the one people get wrong. There is no single tax literally called "ITI 3%" in the Paraguayan code. What buyers experience as ~3% is a bundle: a 5% IVA charged on a deemed base of 30% of the sale price — an effective ~1.5% (DNIT, Art. 82 Ley 125/91), legally the seller's obligation but priced "IVA included," plus the seller's income tax (IRP) on the gain, which for an individual selling is commonly settled at around 3% of the sale value and routinely passed through or netted into the deal. We model the all-in number so there are no surprises.

Assume a US$ 300,000 apartment in Villa Morra, bought as a resale in your own name, declared at full price. Figures are rounded; the escribano gives you a binding liquidation before any money moves.

The escribano honorarium on a deal this size sits near the middle of the tiered scale, ~1.2%, because larger deals fall toward the lower end of the 0.75–2% range. The transfer-tax bundle is shown as the ~3% a buyer should plan for. All-in here is roughly US$ 15,800–17,500, or about 5.3–5.8% of price before advisory fee. Add the advisory fee per your mandate.

In Paraguay the notary is an escribano público, a lawyer-grade official who drafts the escritura pública, verifies clean title at the Public Registry, checks for liens and embargos, pulls the cadastral and municipal-clearance certificates, and files the registration. Their honorarium is a statutory tiered scale, 0.75–2% of declared price under Ley 1307/87 (full text, BACN) — smaller deals pay nearer 2%, larger deals nearer 0.75%. You add 10% IVA on top of the honorarium.

The rate being fixed by law does not mean every escribano is equal. The hard rule: never use the seller's escribano. The escribano runs the funds and certifies the title — on the biggest cheque you will write in this country, you want one answerable to you. We commission an independent title study and appoint our own escribano before any funds move. The verdict: the fee is fixed; the loyalty is not — pick your own.

Buyers arrive expecting a flat "3% transfer tax" because that is how agents quote it. The legal reality has two parts. The IVA on transfer is 5% applied to a deemed base of 30% of the price — an effective ~1.5% (DNIT); it is the seller's statutory obligation but the price is presented "IVA included," so you are effectively funding it. The second part is the seller's income tax (IRP) on the capital gain, which for an individual disposing of property is commonly settled at around 3% of sale value when records of the original cost are thin.

Why this matters to you: in a hot listing the seller will try to push the IVA and IRP onto the buyer through the headline price. We separate the genuine buyer-side costs (notary, registry, municipal, advisory) from the seller-side taxes and negotiate the line explicitly. First sale of a brand-new unit by a developer is also IVA-bearing; individual resales are where the deemed-base rule applies. Verdict: plan ~3% for the transfer bundle and negotiate who truly carries it.

Once the escritura is signed it must be inscribed at the Dirección General de los Registros Públicos (DGRP) to give you enforceable title. The inscription carries a judiciary fee of about 0.74% of the contract value (the tasa judicial under Ley 284), which most breakdowns round to ~0.8% all-in for DGRP (Zuba). On top sits the municipal transfer fee of roughly 0.3–0.5% of property value, paid to the municipality where the property sits.

Note that Paraguay has no general stamp tax (PwC) — the "stamps" you see quoted are these registry and judiciary fees, plus small fixed charges for certificates. There is a live reform here: Ley 7424/2025 creates a unified national registry and cadastre system, which over time should streamline these filings. Verdict: registry plus municipal together are under 1% — small, but non-optional for clean title.

Every transaction tax above is calculated on the declared value in the escritura, and many sellers historically declared below the real price to shrink their tax. Do not play that game. Under-declaring lowers the cost basis you can prove on a future sale, inflating your own capital-gains exposure when you exit — and it weakens the title record you are paying an advisor to protect. It also raises money-laundering flags now that transactions and incoming funds are screened (the escribano reports inbound funds over US$ 10,000 to SEPRELAD).

Separately, the fiscal value (avalúo fiscal) used for annual property tax is a different, much lower number — typically 30–60% of market — which is why the 1% Impuesto Inmobiliario rate works out to an effective ~0.3–0.6% of what you actually paid. Holding Paraguay property is cheap; just declare the purchase at the true price. Verdict: declare full value — the small tax saving from under-declaring is dwarfed by the title and exit risk.

There is no mortgage path for non-residents, so you wire the full price plus closing costs in US dollars or guaraní. The standard sequence: funds land in an account controlled by your escribano or in escrow, the title study and certificates clear, the escritura is signed before the escribano, funds release to the seller, and the deed goes to the DGRP for inscription. Never wire the purchase price to the seller directly or to the seller's escribano — that is the single most common way foreign buyers lose money here.

Expect compliance friction proportional to the wire size: your bank will ask source-of-funds questions, and the Paraguayan side screens incoming funds above US$ 10,000 under anti-money-laundering rules. Build 5–10 business days of buffer for the wire and clearance. For the broader money-in, tax-residency and cost-of-living picture, cross-reference moveparaguay.com. Verdict: funds move through your escribano or escrow — never to the other side.