Where are property taxes highest and lowest in Europe?

Owning a home in Europe means paying tax at almost every turn: buying it, holding it, letting it and selling it.

Across the continent, property ownership comes wrapped in a tangle of taxes that follow you from the moment you sign the contract to the day you sell, and they apply whether the property sits empty or earns you rent.

How much you actually hand over depends enormously on where you buy. Data from the Global Property Guide, which tracks real estate taxation in more than 80 countries, show that housing is taxed heavily right across the continent.

There are four property taxes to keep an eye on.

There is a transfer tax paid at purchase, sometimes called stamp duty; an annual property tax charged on a home's assessed, market or cadastral value; a rental income tax on earnings from letting; and a capital gains tax on any profit from a sale.