Note

IBI property tax in Spain: how it works

§ 1What IBI taxes

IBI, the impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles, is a municipal tax on the ownership of real estate and of certain rights over it. Every owner of a home pays it every year, whether the home is occupied or empty, resident or not. It funds the town, and the town council is the body that collects it.

§ 2How the bill is made

The bill has two ingredients. The base is the cadastral value of the property, a value set by the cadastre which is not the same as the price you paid. The rate is set by the town council within a range fixed by national law, with separate rates for urban and rustic property. The bill is the base multiplied by the rate, less any bonus the town grants, such as a bonus for large families or for new homes in some places. The receipt shows each step. We do not print rates or bonuses because they are local and we have not traced them to a town ordinance.

§ 3When it accrues

The tax period is the calendar year, and the tax accrues on the first day of it. The consequence is that the person who owns the property on that day is the one the town treats as liable for the year, whatever happens afterwards. If you buy in the middle of the year, the town hall will usually still look to whoever held the property at the start of it. Contracts commonly share the year between seller and buyer, with one paying the other a share, and that arrangement works between them but not against the town. How the tax is collected is in paying IBI.

§ 4The property secures the debt

The property itself stands as security for the IBI due, so unpaid tax can follow the property to a new owner. This is why the registrars advise checking the last receipt before signing. Ask the seller for the receipt and for proof that the last years were paid, and ask the town hall for a certificate of no debt if the seller cannot show one. It is a simple check that avoids a nasty surprise.

§ 5The cadastral value

The cadastral value is revised from time to time, and a revision can change the bill without any change in the property. If you receive a notice of a new value, read it, check the description of the property, and ask the cadastre to correct errors in area, use or location. The same value also feeds into other taxes, including the municipal land-value tax discussed in the plusvalía section of the site and the taxes of non-resident owners.

§ 6Reading your receipt

The receipt shows the cadastral reference, the address, the land and construction values, the rate and the amount. Check that the reference matches the property in the deed. Keep every receipt, since you may need them for a sale, a mortgage or a claim.

§ 7A possible surcharge in stressed zones

Decree-law 29/2026, awaiting validation by the standing committee of the Congress, would let councils in stressed housing markets add a surcharge to this tax on tourist-use homes, up to 50%, 100% or 150% of the tax, depending on how many such homes the owner has. It only applies if your council adopts it in its tax ordinance, and sources disagree on the start date. Ask the town hall whether it has.

§ 8Other yearly bills

The waste fee is separate from IBI and is explained in the waste collection charge. The whole picture of yearly costs, with community fees and insurance, is in what a home costs each year.

The chapter that ties them together is the chapter on annual property taxes.

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.