Plusvalía municipal — officially the impuesto sobre el incremento de valor de los terrenos de naturaleza urbana (IIVTNU) — is a town-hall tax on the increase in value of the land under a property, charged when the property changes hands: sold, given away or inherited. It is separate from the income tax on the gain.
Who pays, and by when
- A sale — the seller. When the seller is a non-resident, the law makes the buyer answer for it, so the buyer often keeps the amount back from the price.
- A death or a gift — the heirs, or the person who receives the gift.
- It is declared to the town hall within 30 business days of a sale or a gift, and within six months of a death (extendable up to a year on request). Many towns ask you to calculate and pay it yourself (autoliquidación).
How much
The law gives two ways to calculate it and you may take the lower: the cadastral value of the land times a coefficient for the years owned, or the real gain on the land between buying and selling. With no gain — a property sold for less than it cost — there is no tax, but the transfer must still be declared, with the deeds as proof. The coefficients are set by law and change; a decree pending in Congress in autumn 2026 may change them again.
The letter
When nothing was declared, or the town hall disagrees with your figures, it sends a liquidación — a bill, sometimes with a late surcharge or a penalty. Pay it by the date the rule gives (enter the day you received it on this page and the site counts it) or appeal within one month (recurso de reposición). Unpaid, it becomes a providencia de apremio. In the province of Alicante the letter comes from SUMA.
A lawyer for a property sale or an inheritance can check whether the tax was due at all — a sale at a loss, or the method that gives the lower figure, are common grounds to have a bill reduced or cancelled.
Prepared by Legal Help Tool. Last updated . General information, not legal advice.
