CADASTRE AND TAXATION

The Ministry of the Treasury's Directorate General for the Cadastre through its territorial offices has the responsibility of creating and updating the Real Estate Cadastre.

All rural and urban real estates should be registered in the Real Estate Cadastre by virtue of the compulsory declaration of their titleholders. Based on the data contained in the Cadastre, the Directorate General for the Cadastre assigns each property an cadastral value used to determine a number of different taxes and each year drafts the Property Tax Register that includes the following information: name of the titleholder, fiscal identification number, location of the property, Cadastral Code, cadastral value and net tax base.

Municipal Property Tax

Quota due

The Town Hall along with the above mentioned register establishes the quota due and issues the receipts either directly or through the respective Provincial or Island Council.

These local authorities are also responsible for the concession of exemptions and rebates.

If you require clarification with respect to the receipt, visit the collection offices of the corresponding local entity.

Municipal Urban Land Gains Tax

Gross Tax Base

The gross tax base is determined by applying the percentage ratified by the Town Hall to the value of the property established by the Directorate General for the Cadastre for Property Tax purposes except in special cases.

Reduction

In the case of cadastral revision, the property value established by the Cadastre is reduced by between 40 and 60% during the first five years following that cadastral revision in accordance with the decision taken by the Town Hall.

Income Tax

Habitual Residence

Under the new law in force since 1999, earnings attributable to one's habitual residence have been eliminated.

Other Properties

In the case of other urban properties (see exceptions) income tax earnings are attributable in the following amounts:

      1.1% of the cadastral value, if a cadastral revision has been made in the municipality where the property is located on or after 1 January 1994.

      2% of the cadastral value if the last cadastral revision carried out in the municipality took place prior to 1994.

      In the event that at the income tax due date the property does not have an cadastral value or the titleholder was not informed of this value, 1.1% of the value used in the computation of the capital tax will be considered as earnings.

      There are special rules concerning income for titleholders of Time Sharing Rights or Real Use of Property Rights.

      (Exceptions: properties where economic activities are carried out, rented properties or those which produce fixed capital earnings, non-developed land, buildings in construction and those that are not in use for reasons of zoning restrictions.)

Deductible expenditures

In the case of rural or urban properties that produce fixed real estate productions because they are rented or because rights of use have been granted on these properties, the property tax quota is considered an expenditure which can rightfully be deducted from those earnings.

One of the other deductions is property amortisation; in the event that the land value is unknown, the cadastral value will be used in making this calculation.

Capital tax

Amount to declare

The value of rural and urban real estates is calculated as the highest of the following three values: the cadastral value, the value attributed by the Autonomous Community in the computation of other taxes (Property Transfer Tax or Succession and Gift Tax) and the acquisition value or price.

Exemption of habitual residence

The tax payer's habitual residence is exempt from capital tax up to a maximum of 150.253,03 euros.

Special cases

Special rules exist for buildings under construction as well as part-time property rights and other similar situations.

Succession and Gift Tax and Property Transfer Tax

Real value

In general, properties and other real estates are considered in real value terms in which case the cadastral value is not applicable.However, some Regional Authorities may use the cadastral value as a back-up measure or as an indicative value which would then be multiplied by specific coefficients.

If it needs some explanation on the used cadastral data in the taxes mentioned in this guide, you can go to the Territorial Management of the Cadastre or to the telephone service of the direct line of the Cadastre.