Sign tomorrow on a US$1,000,000 apartment in Pezet and Lima’s tax authority hands you a bill for S/101,550 — roughly US$29,520 at the May 2026 exchange rate. The Alcabala property transfer tax is the first invoice the buyer of a high-value Peruvian apartment receives, and 2026 nudged the math: the Tax Reference Unit (UIT) climbed to S/5,500, lifting the exempt threshold to S/55,000. The headline rate doesn’t move, but on a seven-figure ticket every basis point shows up in real soles. Below: the step-by-step calculation, the deadlines that actually matter, and the audit traps that surface when the tax-roll value diverges from the contract price.

Table of contents

• What Alcabala is and where it sits in Peruvian law
• Who pays, when, and to which tax authority in Lima
• Step-by-step math on a US$1,000,000 apartment
• The tax-roll trap
• When Alcabala doesn’t apply
• Late-payment math: TIM and a worked example
• Practical 2026 workflow

What Alcabala is and where it sits in Peruvian law

Alcabala is the Peruvian property transfer tax. It applies to every transfer of urban or rural real estate, whether onerous or gratuitous, including sales subject to retention of title. The governing statute is the Texto Único Ordenado de la Ley de Tributación Municipal, enacted by Legislative Decree 776, with the relevant rules in articles 21 through 29. That framework defines the taxable event, the assessment base, the exempt cases, and the payment deadline; municipal ordinances handle local administration without altering the substance.

The rate is a flat 3% on the assessment base, identical across districts. What varies between districts is the collecting agency, not the percentage. The base is built by comparing two figures: the transfer price stated in the deed and the property’s official tax-roll value (autoavalúo) for the year, indexed by the wholesale price index (IPM). The tax authority takes the higher of the two and subtracts a 10-UIT exemption. In 2026 that exemption equals S/55,000, because the UIT was set at S/5,500 by Supreme Decree 301-2025-EF, published in El Peruano on December 17, 2025, effective January 1, 2026.

For a high-value transaction, the exemption is tiny relative to the ticket — on a US$1M apartment it represents about 1.47% of price, so almost the entire amount remains taxable. The base can never fall below the indexed tax-roll value. In the premium segment, market value almost always exceeds the tax-roll figure, so the contract price typically governs. When it doesn’t, the tax authority can issue an adjustment notice.

Who pays, when, and to which tax authority in Lima

The buyer is the taxpayer. Article 23 of Legislative Decree 776 is explicit: the obligation falls on whoever acquires the property, regardless of what the contract says. Even a clause assigning payment to the seller is irrelevant to the municipal authority — it pursues the buyer. The taxable event arises on the date of transfer, tied in notary practice to the signing of the minuta or the deed of sale.

The deadline is fixed: the last business day of the calendar month following the transfer. Sign on June 12 and you pay by the last business day of July. Once the deadline passes, default interest accrues without further notice from the authority.

Where you pay depends on the district. In Lima Metropolitana, the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT Lima) handles collection, runs the official Alcabala calculator, operates physical branches, and offers a virtual agency. Several premium districts maintain their own SAT: Surco (SAT Santiago de Surco), La Molina, parts of Miraflores, among others. Confirm jurisdiction before paying — settlement to the wrong SAT does not extinguish the debt and forces a refund procedure that delays land-registry recording.

The receipt is operationally critical: the notary cannot raise the public deed without it, and SUNARP — the public registry — will not record the transfer absent proof of payment. With no recorded title there is no mortgage disbursement, no insurance binder, and the property does not produce full juridical effects against third parties.

Step-by-step math on a US$1,000,000 apartment

Run the numbers with May 2026 figures. The reference exchange rate published by the Central Reserve Bank (BCRP) closed the first week of May around S/3.44 per US dollar. A US$1,000,000 contract therefore converts to approximately S/3,440,000. Assume the indexed tax-roll value of the unit for 2026 is S/1,850,000 — a typical figure for a 220 m² apartment in San Isidro or Miraflores. Between the two, the candidate base is the higher one: the transfer price.

The calculation:

• Transfer price: S/3,440,000
• Exemption (10 UIT 2026): S/55,000
• Taxable base: S/3,440,000 − S/55,000 = S/3,385,000
• Rate: 3%
• Alcabala due: S/3,385,000 × 3% = S/101,550
• USD equivalent (FX 3.44): approximately US$29,520

Effective load on the original ticket: 2.95%. The percentage looks modest, but the absolute amount comfortably exceeds what most first-time buyers in Peru pay in a decade of municipal property tax. Unlike the annual property tax, Alcabala does not prorate, does not split into installments, and offers no early-payment discount. It is paid in full within the article-26 window.

Currency sensitivity is real. If the rate moves to S/3.50 on closing day, the sol-denominated price rises to S/3,500,000 and the Alcabala figure climbs to S/103,350. When the contract is priced in dollars but settled in soles, fix in writing both the reference exchange rate and the conversion date.

The tax-roll trap: declared price isn’t always the base

A persistent myth in the premium segment is that under-declaring the price on the deed cuts Alcabala. The statute closes that door cleanly. The taxable base is the higher of the contract price and the indexed tax-roll value for the year. Declare less than the indexed tax-roll and the tax authority adopts the latter, ignoring the deed.

The actual exposure runs the other way. In well-resourced districts — Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco, Surco — the local SAT cross-checks declared values against listing portals, bank appraisals, and prior transfers in the same building. When it spots a meaningful gap, it issues a reference value, recalculates the tax, and bills the difference plus default interest. Where intent is found, a sanction proceeding may follow.

There is a second risk. Under-declaring sets an artificially low cost basis for the buyer’s holding period. When the property is later sold, SUNAT calculates personal income tax on the spread between sale price and computable cost. The lower today’s declared cost, the larger tomorrow’s taxable gain. The Alcabala you saved by under-declaring comes back as income tax on exit, at an effective burden that — under the current personal regime — reaches roughly 5% of gross sale price. Shaving 1% off Alcabala costs you 5% on income tax at exit.

For US$1M+ tickets, declare the actual price, retain wire-transfer documentation (sender bank, receiving bank, value date), and file the SAT settlement together with the deed. That folder protects the cost basis throughout the holding period.

When Alcabala doesn’t apply

Legislative Decree 776 lists the cases where the tax does not apply or applies in reduced form. Six matter most in the premium segment:

• Inheritance advances (anticipo de legítima). Article 27(a) exempts transfers made as inheritance advances from ascendants to descendants. The deed must state the legal grounds expressly.
• Mortis causa transfers. Transmissions by inheritance fall outside the scope. The downstream sale of an inherited unit will, of course, trigger the tax for the new buyer.
• Contract rescission before full payment. If the transaction is unwound before the price is fully paid, no taxable event has occurred.
• Spousal transfers under separation of property. Allocations between spouses arising from the dissolution of the conjugal partnership are not treated as a taxable transfer.
• First sale by the developer. Article 22 limits the base, in the developer’s first sale, to the value of the underlying land. The relief is meaningful in new construction.
• Capital contributions to a company. Real estate contributed as capital to a newly incorporated company is exempt under specific formal conditions. Useful in patrimonial structuring for succession protection.

Each exemption requires documentary proof. The SAT does not apply them on its own initiative: file the form, attach the deed, the registry transcripts, and any sworn statements required. Incomplete documentation produces an assessment, after which you fight a refund — a process that in Lima Metropolitana takes between six and twelve months.

Late-payment math: TIM, surcharges, and a worked example

Once the article-26 deadline lapses, the debt accrues the Tasa de Interés Moratorio (TIM) applicable to taxes administered by local governments. The TIM is published annually and for 2026 tracks the SUNAT national-currency rate, around 0.90% per month — an effective annual rate near 11.3%. Interest is calculated daily, from the day after the deadline through the actual payment date.

What happens if you pay 90 days late on a S/101,550 Alcabala bill:

• Principal tax: S/101,550
• Daily TIM (≈ 0.03%)
• Days late: 90
• Accrued interest: S/101,550 × 0.03% × 90 ≈ S/2,742
• Total at day 90: S/104,292

The surcharge equals roughly US$800 at current FX. Interest is not the only consequence: while the tax remains unpaid, no clearance certificate is issued, which blocks several follow-on filings and, depending on the case, the release of liens at the registry. Prolonged default can trigger coactive collection: precautionary measures over bank accounts, registered liens on other properties of the debtor, garnishment over declared rental income. At high net-worth profiles, coactive collection layers a reputational cost that no TIM calculation captures.

Practical 2026 workflow: notary, SAT, real timelines

The actual flow on a premium transaction runs as follows. After the minuta is signed, the notary forwards the data to the SAT through the linked notarial system: transferor, acquirer, registry entry, transfer price. The SAT issues the assessment and the buyer receives the payment order, settled at the virtual agency, an associated bank, or the SAT gateway. Once paid, the notary attaches the receipt to the file, raises the public deed, and submits the parte to SUNARP for registry recording.

Realistic 2026 timelines in the Lima market: SAT assessment is typically ready 24 to 72 business hours after the minuta is uploaded; payment clears the same day funds are available locally; the public deed is raised within three to seven business days of payment; registry recording takes between five and fifteen business days subject to qualification. When part of the price is bank-financed, the lender conditions disbursement on registry submission, so the entire chain depends on paying Alcabala on time.

Three operational suggestions for a US$1M buyer:

• Confirm jurisdiction in advance. Ask the notary and the seller for the precise tax authority. Surco and La Molina, for instance, do not collect through SAT Lima.
• Pre-position liquidity in soles. Even when the price is in dollars, Alcabala settles in soles. A rushed conversion at parallel-market FX can add 1% to 2% to the tax bill.
• Archive with a tax mindset. The SAT settlement, the bank voucher, the minuta, the deed, and the registry transcript form the cost-basis record you will need on exit.

Quick facts

• Rate: 3% on the taxable base.
• 2026 exemption: S/55,000 (10 UIT × S/5,500).
• Taxpayer: the buyer.
• Deadline: last business day of the calendar month following the transfer.
• Base: higher of contract price and IPM-indexed tax-roll value.
• US$1,000,000 example (FX S/3.44): Alcabala ≈ S/101,550 (≈ US$29,520).

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

For a US$1,000,000 apartment in Lima, the 2026 Alcabala bill lands at S/101,550 — about US$29,520 at May exchange rates. It is not the largest line item in your closing book — bank fees, notary fees, and registry charges all bill — but it is the first tax obligation that activates the recording chain. Pay on time and the deed, the registry filing, and the bank disbursement clear cleanly; pay late and TIM accrues, the closing slips, and prolonged default invites coactive collection. The line between a clean exit years from now and a string of avoidable problems is set in the first week of post-signing housekeeping and in a paper trail you will need on resale.

Financial disclaimer. Rates, prices and figures referenced correspond to May 2026 and are subject to change. Penthouse.pe is neither a financial advisor nor a bank; before making investment decisions, consult your trusted advisor and the financial institution, which must be regulated by Peru’s SBS.

Legal/tax disclaimer. This content is informational and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Every case must be reviewed by a licensed Peruvian attorney or accountant. Peruvian regulations may have changed since publication; always verify the latest version with SUNAT, SUNARP or the relevant official source.

Official sources: SAT Lima — Alcabala, Ministry of Economy — Supreme Decree 301-2025-EF (2026 UIT), Central Reserve Bank of Peru — FX, SUNAT.

Related reading: Alcabala on high-value properties · SUNARP search for Lima luxury real estate · Purchase agreements explained · Premium investment cluster · More on premium investment · Contact our team.

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