Plusvalía municipal: the Spanish land value tax

The legal frame

The tax is national in design (articles 104 to 110 of the local finance law, the TRLRHL) and local in application: each town hall sets its rate and coefficients in a tax ordinance within the ceilings in the law. The current method dates from Real Decreto-ley 26/2021, in force from 10 November 2021. A transfer of urban land by any title, including sale, gift or inheritance, is a taxable event (art. 104.1). Rustic land for property-tax purposes is outside the tax (art. 104.2).

The two methods

Objective method (art. 107.1-4). The base is the cadastral value of the land on the date of the transfer, multiplied by the coefficient for the number of complete years the property was held, up to 20 years. If the holding period is under one year, the annual coefficient is prorated by complete months. The town hall may apply a reducing coefficient on the land value of up to 15% (art. 107.2.a), and after a general revaluation of cadastral values it may reduce the land value by up to 60% for each of the first five years (art. 107.3).

Real gain method (art. 104.5 and 107.5). On request, you show that the actual rise in value is lower than the objective base, and the real rise becomes the base. To prove it, you declare the transfer and supply the deeds of sale and purchase. The value taken for each date is the higher of the value in the deed and the value verified by the tax authority, without counting expenses or taxes. For a flat or house, the land share is the proportion that the cadastral land value represents of the total cadastral value, applied to both prices. If the comparison shows no rise, the transfer is not subject to the tax.

Coefficients in force on 15 October 2026

The law sets maximum coefficients, which the town may lower. The table below is the one printed in the consolidated text of the TRLRHL since 2 October 2026. It is the table set by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 for 2024. The consolidated text also lists tables set for 2025 and 2026 by earlier decree-laws; Congress repealed them, and the 2024 table stands.

If a town’s ordinance sets a coefficient above the new legal maximum, the legal maximum applies directly (art. 107.4).

Proposed from 1 December 2026, subject to validation. Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 (in force since 8 October 2026) replaces the maxima from 1 December 2026: 0.17 under one year, 0.16 for years 1 and 2, 0.17 for years 3 and 4, 0.19 for year 5, 0.21, 0.23, 0.24 and 0.25 for years 6 to 9, 0.22 for year 10, 0.18, 0.14 and 0.12 for years 11 to 13, 0.11 for years 14 to 17, 0.13 for year 18, 0.20 for year 19 and 0.30 for 20 years or more. A decree-law lapses unless Congress validates it within 30 days, and an earlier, almost identical decree-law was repealed on 2 October 2026. Treat the December table as provisional.

The rate and the calculation

The rate is fixed by the town hall, with a single rate or one for each holding period, and cannot exceed 30% (art. 108.1). Towns may grant a rebate of up to 95% on transfers on death to descendants, spouses and ascendants (art. 108.4).

Calculation, not a quote. Assume a cadastral land value of €50,000, held for 10 years, and a town applying the legal ceilings. The objective base is €50,000 × 0.12 = €6,000. At the 30% ceiling the tax would be at most €1,800. With the December coefficient for 10 years (0.22), the base would be €11,000 and the ceiling tax €3,300. Your town’s ordinance gives the rate and any lower coefficient actually applied.

Who pays and when

On a sale, the taxpayer is the seller. When the seller is an individual not resident in Spain, the buyer is the substitute taxpayer (art. 106.2); on a gift or inheritance it is the person receiving the property (art. 106.1.a). The declaration is due within 30 working days of the transfer for lifetime transfers, and six months, extendable to one year, for inheritances (art. 110.2). Towns may require self-assessment, which means paying with the declaration (art. 110.4). Notaries report each deed to the town hall every quarter and must warn the parties of the deadline (art. 110.7).

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can prepare a real-gain claim: property lawyer. The town hall’s tax office (gestión tributaria) gives the local rate. For a seller’s whole tax picture, see selling a home in Spain: costs and capital gains tax. The cadastral value comes from the property’s cadastral record.