Plusvalía municipal: why the real percentage is decided by the Town Hall, not by national law

When someone is about to sell or has inherited a house, the first thing they do is search online for "how much do you pay in plusvalía municipal". And that is where the problem starts: they find tables, percentages and calculators that give a figure as if it were the same throughout Spain. It is not. National law only sets the framework; the figure you actually end up paying is decided by your town hall.

National law only sets the framework

The plusvalía municipal — its technical name is Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana (IIVTNU), the tax on the increase in value of urban land — is regulated by the national law on local finances. That law defines what it taxes (the increase in the value of urban land on transfer), establishes the two calculation methods following the 2021 reform, and sets a ceiling: the rate cannot exceed 30 %. But that 30 % is the maximum, not what you pay.

The one who decides the specific rate — within that maximum — and approves the coefficients applied according to the years of ownership is each town hall, through its fiscal ordinance. That is why two identical houses in two different municipalities can pay very different amounts of plusvalía.

What changes from one municipality to another

• The tax rate, which each town hall sets within the legal maximum of 30 %.
• The coefficients applied according to the years you have been the owner, also approved by the municipality within national maximums.
• The reliefs, such as those some town halls provide for the transfer by inheritance of the main home: they must be applied for, they are not automatic.
• The deadlines and methods of payment for the self-assessment.

The national coefficients and the 2025-2026 mess

There is a topical detail worth knowing. The national maximum coefficients are revised by law each year, but the updates approved for 2025 (Royal Decree-Law 9/2024) and for 2026 (Royal Decree-Law 16/2025) were not ratified by the Congress of Deputies, so today the ones approved in Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 still apply. That is why any "2026 table" you come across should be read very carefully.

With an inheritance, watch the deadline too

If the plusvalía arises from an inheritance, the deadline to file the self-assessment is six months from the death (extendable). That is exactly when the non-resident heir is gathering documents from two countries, so it is easily missed. And if your municipality has a relief for the main home, it must be requested expressly and on time.

If you are going to sell or have inherited a property in Calp or on the Costa Blanca, write to me and I will calculate the real plusvalía with the ordinance in force, not with a generic table. Better to know the exact figure before you sign than to get a nasty surprise afterwards.