With this new law, it is now possible to buy and sell your own permanent home within a period of one year instead of two. However, this decree-law was published without retroactive effects, which means that in 2024 there will be a dual regime for the application of the capital gains exemption (the new and the old).

Therefore, the regimes (old or new) apply depending on the date of sale of the house, according to idealista:

Until 10 September 2024: in these transactions, the old regime applies, in which the minimum period between the sale of the permanent home and the purchase of a new house for the same purpose is 24 months. Families can only benefit from the exemption from IRS on capital gains from the sale of the house if they have not done so in the previous three years;

From 11 September 2024 (inclusive): from this date onwards, the new tax regime of exemption from IRS on capital gains will apply. Therefore, the period between the purchase and sale of the house (for permanent residence) will be 12 months. And the family does not have to worry about whether or not they have already benefited from the capital gains, because they can use this regime more than once.

Therefore, the date of sale of the house ends up setting the applicable legal framework, which will have an impact on the IRS declaration for the following year.

Anyone who sold the house before 10 September will have to have lived in it for two years, otherwise they will not be able to benefit from the regime. However, anyone who sold the house on or after 11 September will only have to have lived in the property for one year to avoid paying IRS on real estate capital gains.