Chapter
Plusvalía municipal when buying or selling in Spain
Quick answer
Plusvalía is a town-hall tax on the rise in value of the land under a property when it changes hands. The seller is normally the taxpayer, but a non-resident seller can leave the buyer liable. Each town sets the detail, and the national rules have been amended, so ask the town hall for the figure.
Applies toBuyers who want to know whether this tax can fall on them, and owners planning a sale or an inheritance. The tax on the profit itself is a separate state tax, covered in another section.
This area of Spanish law is complex. We could not open the legal text behind the point below in full on the official site, so we state it as it is generally understood and have not checked it word for word. Before you rely on it, ask an independent Spanish lawyer who acts for you to confirm it for your case.
- Where the seller is an individual who is not resident in Spain, the buyer is the substitute taxpayer (art. 106 TRLRHL).
- On a transfer without payment, such as an inheritance or gift, the taxpayer is the person who receives the land or right (art. 106 TRLRHL).
- On a transfer for payment, such as a sale, the taxpayer is the seller (art. 106 TRLRHL).
On this page: 8 sections
What changed
- Noted the new national maximum coefficients in decree-law 29/2026; we could not read the table and print none. Source: s-rdl29
§ 1What plusvalía is
Plusvalía is the short name for the municipal tax on the increase in value of urban land. When urban land changes hands, whether by sale, inheritance or gift, the town council where it stands can charge a tax on the rise in value the land is deemed to have had while it was held. The part of the bill that surprises people is that the tax looks at the land only, and not at the building on it. The wider list of purchase and sale costs is in the costs and taxes hub, and the costs around a purchase are set out in the buying costs chapter.
§ 2Why a buyer should care
On a sale the law makes the seller the taxpayer, so most buyers never receive the bill. That does not make the tax irrelevant to you. Where the seller is an individual who is not resident in Spain, the law makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer, which means the town hall can ask the buyer for the money. Foreign owners who sell, and buyers who buy from them, are the people most likely to meet this rule. Contracts often say who bears the cost, but a private agreement does not bind the town hall, and a buyer who has paid for the seller has to recover it by other means.
The question of who owes the tax has its own page: who has to pay it. If you are buying from a non-resident, read it before you sign.
§ 3How the amount is set
The tax starts from the cadastral value of the land, the official figure kept by the property cadastre and shown on the yearly property tax receipt. The land share is then adjusted by a coefficient that depends on how long the owner held the property, and the town applies its rate to the result. The law also lets the taxpayer ask to be taxed on the real increase when that is lower than the standard method gives, and it does not tax a transfer in which no increase in value can be shown. The mechanics are explained in how the tax is calculated, and we deliberately leave out figures that we cannot trace to the current text of the law.
§ 4Why this page prints no rates
The national rules were rewritten in November 2021 after rulings of the Constitutional Court, and they have been amended since. The coefficients and the way they are updated have changed, and a secondary source we consulted suggested that further changes were still moving through parliament in autumn 2026. A wrong coefficient would give a wrong bill, so we have left them out. The honest way to find the figure is to ask the town hall for its current ordinance, or to ask a tax adviser to calculate it for your own property.
§ 5A decree-law of October 2026
Decree-law 29/2026, published on 7 October 2026 and awaiting validation by the standing committee of the Congress, has an article that sets new national maximum coefficients for this tax. Commentary dates them from 1 December 2026 and says councils must then adopt them in their ordinances. We found the article in the gazette but could not read its table, so we still print no coefficient. Ask the town hall which coefficients it will apply on the date of your sale.
§ 6Selling, inheriting and getting money back
The same tax applies when land passes by inheritance or gift, in which case the person who receives it is the taxpayer. If you paid the tax on a sale and think the land had not gained value, you may be able to ask for the tax back. The time limits are strict, and getting the tax back explains what to gather and how the procedure runs.
§ 7What to do before you sign
Check three things. First, ask who the seller is in tax terms, and whether they live in Spain. Second, ask the town hall whether the tax has been paid on any earlier transfer and what it expects to charge on this one. Third, put the allocation of the tax in the contract, and have your lawyer decide whether to hold back part of the price until the town hall confirms the amount. The tax is one of several that follow a sale; the fees of the professionals who work on the deed are covered in the fees chapter, and the yearly taxes that follow the purchase are in the annual property taxes.
Further reading on the same tax in other situations is in the section on transfer tax, the resale transfer tax, which explains the tax a resale buyer pays, and the taxes on new homes covers the taxes on a new home, where the first buyer deals with the developer rather than with a previous owner.
§ 8Taxes for non-residents, sellers and heirs
The yearly taxes of an owner who lives abroad are described in how non-resident taxes work, and the tax on the profit of a sale is described in how capital gains tax on a sale works.
The tax on inheritances and gifts is described in how inheritance and gift tax works.
FAQRelated questions
Does a buyer ever pay plusvalía?
Sometimes. The law makes the seller liable, but where the seller is an individual who does not live in Spain the buyer can be required to pay. Agree in writing who bears it, and ask your lawyer about retention.
Is plusvalía charged even if I sold at a loss?
The law was rewritten so that a transfer with no real increase in land value is not taxed, and the taxpayer may prove it. Keep both deeds and ask for the tax to be assessed on the real figures.
Where do I find the amount?
At the town hall of the place where the home stands. Each council applies the tax through its own ordinance, so the amount depends on the town, the land value and how long the property was held.
Sources
- Ministerio de Hacienda: Real Decreto-ley 26/2021, text published in the Hacienda bulletin (arts. 104.5, 107 and 110 of the TRLRHL as rewritten) (official source, opens in a new window), Arts. 104.5 and 107Last checked 18 October 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado: Texto refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales (RDLeg 2/2004, BOE-A-2004-4214) (official source, opens in a new window), Arts. 60 to 77 (IBI) and 104 to 110 (municipal tax on the increase in value of urban land)Last checked 17 October 2026
- Boletín Oficial del Estado: Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, de 6 de octubre, por el que se adoptan medidas urgentes para la protección de la función social de la vivienda y la ampliación de la oferta de vivienda asequible (BOE-A-2026-20823) (official source, opens in a new window), Arts. 1 to 10 and the fifth and sixth final provisions read in the gazette page; end of the final provisions not readLast checked 26 October 2026
Tax note. Rates depend on the region, the type of property and the buyer, and they change. Figures here are dated and sourced; examples are illustrative and show their assumptions. Confirm yours with the regional tax agency or a tax adviser.