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Purchase costs: four countries, four regimes
Buying in Thionville, Arlon, Trier or Mamer does not carry the same fees. Here is what differs.
Why compare fees, not just price
Acquisition costs — registration duties, transfer tax, notary fees, land registration — are everywhere a meaningful percentage of the price, but not the same percentage. Comparing two properties across a border on headline price alone therefore skews the maths by tens of thousands of euros on an ordinary purchase.
The Luxembourg tax credit
Luxembourg levies registration and transcription duties on property purchases, but grants buyers of a main residence a tax credit, the Bëllegen Akt, which absorbs them up to a ceiling per person. For a couple buying their first home, that is often enough to cancel most of the duty. It applies only to a main residence: a buy-to-let pays the full rate.
The three neighbours
In France, "notary fees" on an existing home run to roughly 7–8% of the price, most of which is in fact departmental tax, and markedly less on new build. In Belgium, registration duty is set by the Region — Wallonia applies its own rate, with reliefs for an owner-occupied home. In Germany, the Grunderwerbsteuer is set by the Land, with notary and Grundbuch registration on top; agent commission is common there and is now shared between seller and buyer.
Before you sign
Rates, ceilings and reliefs in these four regimes change regularly, sometimes mid-year. The orders of magnitude here are for comparing strategies, not for costing a file: have the competent notary produce a statement before committing. Add the cost of the loan, where conditions and the tax treatment of interest also differ from one country to the next.
