Plusvalía Municipal (IIVTNU): The Council Tax on Selling or Inheriting a Home in Spain

Plusvalía municipal is a tax paid to the town hall when a property changes hands in Spain. Its full name is Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana (IIVTNU), the tax on the increase in value of urban land. It is set by each council within national limits. This guide covers who pays, how it is worked out, the coefficients, Marbella and Estepona, the deadlines and a worked example.

The short answer

• Who pays: the seller on a sale and the heir on an inheritance. If the seller is an individual who is not tax-resident in Spain, the buyer is the one who pays the council (article 106.2 of the local taxes law).
• What it is based on: the cadastral value of the land only, not the building. The cadastre is the official property register used for local taxes.
• How much: land value times a coefficient set by years held, times the council's rate. The rate is never above 30%. You can ask the council to use your real gain instead if that is lower.
• When: 30 working days after a sale, or six months after a death (extendable to one year).
• Coefficients: the 2024 table applies today. A different table is due from 01-12-26 if Royal Decree-law 29/2026 is validated.

What the tax covers

The tax falls on the increase in value of urban land when ownership is transferred by any title, including sale, gift and inheritance (article 104.1 of the local taxes law, the Texto Refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales, TRLRHL). Rustic land, as classed for IBI (the annual property tax), is not taxed (article 104.2). The tax works on the land share of a property, not the whole price.

Who pays

• The seller on a sale (article 106.1.b).
• The heir or recipient on an inheritance or gift (article 106.1.a).

If the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer pays the council

When the seller is an individual who is not resident in Spain, the law makes the buyer the "sujeto pasivo sustituto del contribuyente", the substitute taxpayer. The council can then demand the tax from the buyer (article 106.2). Three limits apply.

• It applies only to an individual seller (persona física). A non-resident company seller does not trigger it.
• It applies only to sales and other transfers for payment, not gifts or inheritances.
• The contract can say that the seller bears the cost, but against the council the legal debtor is fixed by law.

A non-resident individual seller also brings a second, separate buyer duty: the 3% withholding for the Tax Agency (see below). The buyer must also tell the council about every sale (article 110.6.b), within the same deadlines as the taxpayer.

How the tax is calculated

There are two methods. You pay on the lower result, but only if you ask for it.

Method 1: land value times coefficient

1. Take the cadastral value of the land at the date of transfer (article 107.2.a).
2. Multiply it by the coefficient for the number of full years you held the property (article 107.4). Fractions of a year are ignored. If you held it for under a year, the yearly coefficient is prorated by complete months. The period counted is at most 20 years.
3. Multiply the result by the council's rate.

After a cadastral revaluation, a council may apply a reduction of up to 60% to the land value during the first five years of the new values (article 107.3).

Method 2: the real gain

If you ask, and show that the real increase in value is lower than the figure from Method 1, the council uses the real increase as the base (article 107.5). You need the deeds of purchase and sale. The land share of a building is its cadastral land value divided by its total cadastral value on the date of transfer.

No gain, no tax

If the land did not rise in value between purchase and sale, the tax does not apply (article 104.5). It does not happen automatically. You must declare the sale and provide the deeds. For this test, the law takes the higher of the value in the deed or the value checked by the tax authority, and you cannot count the costs or taxes of either transaction.

The coefficients: today and from 1 December 2026

The table in force today is the 2024 table, from Royal Decree-law 8/2023, article 24, in force from 01-01-24. Later updates (RDL 9/2024, RDL 16/2025 and RDL 26/2026) were annulled when Congress rejected them.

Article 10 of Royal Decree-law 29/2026 replaces these maximums with effect from 1 December 2026 ("con efectos desde el 1 de diciembre de 2026"). The decree has been in force since 08-10-26 but still needs validation by Congress's standing committee (the Diputación Permanente). If it is repealed before 01-12-26, the 2024 table stays. The decree only resets the maximums. We found no exemption or abolition in it.

The new table is higher for holdings up to 16 years and lower from 17 years. These are maximums. A council can set lower coefficients. If an ordinance sets a higher one, the legal maximum applies directly (article 107.4). The tax falls due on the date of the transfer (article 109.1.a), normally the day the deed is signed, or the date of death for an inheritance, and the coefficient is the one in force at that moment (article 109.1.a, and article 10 of the decree: "en el momento del devengo"). So a sale completed before 01-12-26 uses the 2024 table, and one completed on or after 01-12-26 uses the new table if the decree survives.

The maximum rate

Each council sets its own rate, and it cannot exceed 30%. A council can set one rate or one for each holding period (article 108.1).

Marbella

We read Marbella's ordinance from the council's public file, signed 31-07-23. Confirm with the council that it is still current, because we could not verify the final publication of a 2023 amendment or any changes since.

• Rate: 29% (article 8 of the ordinance, per the council's 2023 file).
• Coefficients: the 2023 amendment in the council's file (whose final publication we could not verify) says to apply the legal maximum in force at each moment, so Marbella follows the table above.
• Filing: under the 2023 text the taxpayer files a declaration and the council then issues a liquidation (a notified tax bill). Where to file today is something to confirm with the council.

Inheritance bonus in Marbella

For the deceased's main home passing to descendants, ascendants or a spouse, the bill is cut according to the home's cadastral value (article 13):

Conditions: the home was the deceased's habitual home on the date of death and for at least the last two years, which the council checks. You must ask for the bonus when you file the declaration within the deadline. A late request is treated as out of time. A partner of fact counts if registered in the Andalusian Registro de Uniones de Hecho. The national law lets councils offer up to 95% (article 108.4), so 95% is a ceiling, not a rule that every council applies.

Estepona

Estepona's council announced in 2022 that its ordinance keeps a 95% bonus for heirs. Council news of 30-03-22 and 23-06-22 says so. The conditions of that bonus, and the current rate and coefficients, are not stated here. Ask the council or read the current fiscal ordinance. The council's tax payment page lists plusvalía among the taxes managed through the Patronato de Recaudación Provincial of the Diputación de Málaga, and also gives access to its electronic office for self-assessment, which needs digital identification. The page is undated, so confirm which route applies to you.

Deadlines and who files

• Sales and gifts between living people: 30 working days (días hábiles) from the date of transfer (article 110.2.a).
• Deaths: six months, extendable to one year if the taxpayer asks (article 110.2.b).
• Self-assessment or declaration: councils may require you to calculate and pay yourself (article 110.4) or may notify a bill after you file (article 110.5).
• The buyer: must also notify the council of a sale, in the same deadlines (article 110.6.b).
• The notary: sends the council a quarterly list of documents and warns the parties of the deadline. Filing and paying remain the taxpayer's job.

The Land Registry needs proof of filing, not payment

The Land Registry will not register a deed until you show you have filed the self-assessment, the declaration or the notification to the council (article 254.5 of the Ley Hipotecaria, the mortgage and land registry law). It asks for proof of filing, not payment. The tax itself is still due to the council.

Plusvalía is not the 3% withholding or capital gains tax

• Plusvalía goes to the town hall.
• The 3% withholding applies when the seller is not resident in Spain. The buyer keeps 3% of the price and pays it to the Tax Agency on account of the seller's tax (article 25.2 of the non-resident income tax law). If the buyer does not pay it in, the property is charged with the unpaid amount, up to the lower of the withholding and the tax due.
• Capital gains tax is on your profit and goes to the Tax Agency. For non-residents the rate on the gain is 19% (article 25.1.f.3). See taxes when selling.

A non-resident individual seller therefore means two obligations for the buyer: the 3% to the Tax Agency and, as substitute taxpayer, the plusvalía to the council.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

These figures are invented round numbers to show the method. They are not a real case. A flat in Marbella, held for 10 years. Cadastral land value €60,000. Total cadastral value €150,000, so the land share is 40%. Rate 29%.

1. Method 1 today: €60,000 x 0.12 = €7,200. Tax: €7,200 x 29% = €2,088.
2. Method 2: bought for €200,000, sold for €215,000. The land share of each price is 40%: €80,000 and €86,000. Real increase €6,000. Tax: €6,000 x 29% = €1,740.
3. Result: if you ask and prove it, you pay €1,740, the lower figure.
4. If sold for €190,000: the land share falls to €76,000, below the €80,000 paid. There is no gain, so no tax, if you declare and prove it with the deeds.
5. From 01-12-26 under the new table: €60,000 x 0.22 = €13,200. Tax: €13,200 x 29% = €3,828. Method 2 stays €1,740.

Common mistakes

• "The buyer pays." By default the seller does. The buyer is the substitute taxpayer only when the seller is a non-resident individual.
• "It is a flat national tax." Councils set the rate up to 30%. Marbella's 2023 file sets 29%.
• "It is charged on the whole property value." It uses the cadastral land value only.
• "It is the 3% withholding." That goes to the Tax Agency. Plusvalía goes to the council.
• "Selling at a loss means I pay nothing automatically." You must declare and prove it with deeds.
• "You always pay the higher method." You pay the lower, on request.
• "The Registry will not register without payment." It asks for proof of filing.
• "The deadline is 30 days or a month." It is 30 working days for sales.
• "Everyone gets 95% on inheritance." That is the most a council may offer. Marbella's 2023 file tiers it at 95%, 50% and 20%.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rates, bonuses and coefficients change, and councils differ, so check with the council or an adviser before you file.

Sources

Checked on 08-10-26 against the texts on the BOE: Royal Decree-law 8/2023 (BOE-A-2023-26452), article 24, for today's coefficients; the local taxes law (TRLRHL, BOE-A-2004-4214), articles 104 to 110; Royal Decree-law 29/2026 (BOE-A-2026-20823), article 10; the Ley Hipotecaria (BOE-A-1946-2453), article 254; the non-resident income tax law (BOE-A-2004-4527), article 25. Marbella: the council notice and ordinance file. Estepona: the council news of 30-03-22 and 23-06-22, and its tax payment page.

Last reviewed: 08-10-26. Checked against the consolidated texts on the BOE.