Catastro reference value: tax base on a Spanish purchase

What the law says

Article 10.2 of the national consolidated text (texto refundido, TRLITPAJD) states that for property “its value will be the reference value provided for in the land-registry rules, on the date the tax falls due”. The next sentence gives the safeguard: if the value declared by the parties, the agreed price, or both, are higher than the reference value, the higher figure is the base. Where there is no reference value, or the Catastro cannot certify one, the base is the greatest of the declared value, the price and the market value.

AJD follows. Article 30.1 says that when the base depends on the value of real estate, that value cannot be lower than the one determined under article 10.

How the Catastro sets it

The rule that creates the reference value is in the final provision three (disposición final tercera) of the Catastro law, in the version of Ley 11/2021:

• The Dirección General del Catastro determines it “objectively and with the limit of market value”, from the data in the Catastro, by analysing the prices notaries report in property sales.
• It publishes the conclusions in an annual property-market report and a value map of homogeneous valuation areas with average value modules, on its electronic office.
• A market reduction factor is set by order of the finance minister so that the value never exceeds market value.
• Each year the Catastro approves, by resolution, the elements needed to compute the value of each property. That resolution is published by notice in its electronic office before 30 October of the year before it applies, after a ten-day hearing announced in the BOE. It can be appealed within one month of publication, through an economic-administrative appeal or an optional reconsideration appeal, and the appeal does not suspend it.
• In the first 20 days of December the Catastro publishes an announcement in the BOE, and values can be consulted permanently through its electronic office.

The Catastro’s electronic office (sedecatastro) offers a search tool by year, from 2022 to 2026, and documents on the procedure used to determine the values. Consult it for the figure of the property you plan to buy.

What happens if your price is lower

The reference value wins if it is higher. Calculation, using the 7% Andalusian rate: on a deed price of €200,000 with a reference value of €240,000, the base is €240,000 and ITP is €16,800, not €14,000. If the price is €260,000 with the same reference value, the base is the price and ITP is €18,200. The ITP guide lists the rate by region. The Payotte purchase costs calculator takes the greater of the price and the reference value if you enter it.

How to contest it

Articles 10.3 and 10.4 give two routes, and only these:

1. Appeal the assessment the tax office issues, or
2. Ask for correction of your self-assessment (rectificación de la autoliquidación), arguing that the value harms your legitimate interests.

In either case the tax administration decides after a binding report from the Dirección General del Catastro, which confirms or corrects the value in light of the documents you supply. The report must explain the resolution, the average value modules and the other elements used. The Catastro also reports when a reference value is contested in an economic-administrative claim. The reference value cannot be challenged in any other way. This guide does not give the filing deadlines for the regional offices; take them from the tax agency of your region.

Navarre and the Basque Country

These two territories have their own foral rules on the base. In Navarre, article 7.1 of the foral text sets the base as the real value of the property transferred, which the administration may check and correct if it is higher than declared. The three Basque provinces have their own regulations on the minimum computable or real value. The Catastro reference value described here is the State’s rule.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados), see property lawyer, can prepare the correction request. A chartered valuer produces the evidence of market value.