Compute Spain's IIVTNU tax on your property sale using both methods introduced by the 2021 reform. Compare the objective method with the real (accounting) plusvalía and pay the lower of the two.
arrow_downward Start calculatingThe IIVTNU taxes the rise in urban land value when a property is transferred.
Plusvalía municipal, formally the Tax on the Increase in Value of Urban Land (IIVTNU), is a local tax paid by anyone selling, gifting or inheriting an urban property in Spain. It is computed only on the land portion, not the building, and collected by the town hall where the property sits.
After the Constitutional Court struck down the previous system in 2021 (STC 182/2021), the Government published RDL 26/2021 which introduced two coexisting methods. The taxpayer can choose whichever yields the lower amount, which translates into a real tax saving when the sale didn't generate much actual gain.
If the sale price equals or is below the purchase price, there is no taxable event: the operation is exempt. In that case it's still wise to file the self-assessment at zero to avoid friction with the town hall.
Since the 2021 reform, you can pick whichever is more favourable.
Applies a years-of-tenure coefficient to the land cadastral value. This is the legacy approach, now using a coefficient table that may be refreshed in each annual State Budget Law.
Land cadastral 32,000 €, 8 years held, coefficient 0.10, rate 29% → 928 € due.
Computes the tax on the actual gain of the sale, prorated by the land's share in the total cadastral value. Usually better when appreciation was modest.
Gain 70,000 €, land share 38%, rate 29% → 7,714 € due. If the gain were only 5,000 €, the real method would drop to 551 €, beating the objective method.
Rule of thumb: The smaller the real gain, the better the real method. The larger the appreciation, the better the objective method usually performs.
If you sell at or below your purchase price, the operation is exempt per Constitutional Court rulings. Keep your deeds and renovation invoices: you will have to prove it.
Many municipal ordinances grant up to 95% rebate for mortis causa transfers between spouses and direct descendants on the main home. Check your town's ordinance.
Some towns (Madrid, Barcelona) reduce the bill when the proceeds are reinvested into another main residence within the timelines set in the local ordinance.
Each town hall sets its own rate and filing deadline. These are the most commonly queried.
| City | Rate |
|---|---|
| Madrid | 29 % |
| Barcelona | 30 % |
| Valencia | 30 % |
| Seville | 29 % |
| Zaragoza | 26 % |
| Málaga | 27.3 % |
Data as of 2026-05. Always check the current tax ordinance: many town halls revise their rates each year.
In a sale, the seller always pays. In an inheritance or gift, the heir or beneficiary pays. The buyer never owes the plusvalía, although the parties may agree otherwise by private contract: that agreement only binds them, the town hall still chases the seller.
No. Since STC 59/2017 and confirmed by STC 182/2021, if the sale yields no real gain there is no taxable event and you are exempt. You must prove the loss with deeds and (if applicable) renovation invoices.
The objective method applies a years-of-tenure coefficient to the land cadastral value (RDL 26/2021 table). The real method computes the tax on the accounting gain, prorated by the land's share of total cadastral value. Since 2021 the taxpayer pays the lower of the two.
It depends on the real gain. The smaller the gain vs the cadastral land value, the better the real method. The larger the appreciation (typically long holds with strong inflation effect), the better the objective method tends to be.
Your latest IBI receipt breaks it down: land cadastral, building cadastral, total. If you can't find it, log into the Catastro portal with a digital certificate or Cl@ve and download the latest figure.
30 business days from the sale for a regular transfer. 6 months (extendable to 1 year) in case of inheritance. Most major cities run on a self-assessment basis: you calculate and pay, no need to wait for the town hall to send a bill.
The real method will look high in absolute terms because the base is the whole accounting gain, but the land share in old cadastral values is often low. Always compute both: with the low coefficient for years 8-13, the objective method often wins comfortably.
Not directly. The plusvalía cannot be credited against your IRPF bill. However it is added to the cost of the sale to reduce the capital gain reported in your tax return: the higher the plusvalía, the smaller the IRPF base for that sale.
You have 4 years to request a refund of undue payments. Different deadlines apply if you never filed or if the town hall assessed you directly. If the tax is confiscatory (over 100% of the real gain), the Constitutional Court has already ruled it unconstitutional and you can appeal.
Not yet: automatic calculation on sale registration isn't shipped in the current beta. You can use this calculator with the data already stored in imotrack (purchase price, expenses, cadastral values) and save the result in the property's file. Native one-click computation and gestor export are on the roadmap.
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