Property tax in Spain – Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI) – is one of the main sources of revenue for local municipalities. This tax is paid by all property owners, including both residential and commercial real estate. Taxpayers include both residents and non-residents, as well as individuals and legal entities.
Determining the cadastral value
The IBI amount in Spain is calculated on the basis of the property’s cadastral value. The cadastral value is the assessed value of the property, which is usually lower than its market value. The cadastral value is reviewed regularly to ensure that the registered and reference information reflects current market conditions.
Rules for assessment and payment
The IBI tax in Spain is paid annually, and each municipality independently sets the calendar for the tax campaign. Typically, such a campaign lasts at least two months.
Property owners can pay the tax in different ways; each taxpayer is free to choose the most convenient option:
- Paying in person at a bank branch;
- Paying by bank card;
- Using the instant payment system Bizum;
- Setting up an automatic direct debit from a bank account.
The person liable to pay the tax is determined on the basis of the Land Registry. If on 1 January of the tax year you are listed in the Registry as the owner of the property, you are the one who must pay the tax for the whole year.
For many years, in the case of purchase and sale transactions, there were disputes about who should pay the tax for the year of the transaction. By law, if you owned the property on 1 January, you are obliged to pay the tax for the entire year. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the seller may claim reimbursement from the buyer for the portion of the tax corresponding to the months during which the buyer already owned the property (unless the sale and purchase contract states otherwise). In other words, in the year when ownership is transferred, the tax can be proportionally shared between seller and buyer.
IBI tax rates in Spain
IBI tax rates in Spain vary and are set by each municipality within a range from 0.3% to 1.3% of the property’s cadastral value. This minimum and maximum range is regulated by the state; within these limits, municipalities have full freedom to set their own rates.
The larger and wealthier a municipality is, the lower the rate may be. Conversely, the smaller a municipality and the more it depends on tax revenues, the higher the rate tends to be.
Payment of IBI in the province of Alicante
To simplify tax management and payment in the province of Alicante, there is an official tax website, SUMA, available in Spanish, Valencian and English. Through a personal account on this portal, taxpayers can manage their obligations: pay taxes and municipal fines, request payment in instalments, view and download tax bills, link payments to a bank account, change bank details and obtain certificates confirming the absence of debts.
You can log into your personal area on the SUMA website using a digital certificate or via the Cl@ve system, which makes paying taxes as simple and convenient as possible. If you have a paper bill with the corresponding reference numbers and codes, you can also make the payment without registration or logging in.
In the province of Alicante, the tax campaign usually lasts three months, from August to October. If you choose automatic direct debit as the payment method, the charge is made towards the end of the campaign period.
