It’s the most misunderstood tax when selling a home: the municipal capital gains tax (officially, IIVTNU). It’s paid to the town hall, not to Hacienda, and since its reform it includes a detail many owners don’t know: if you didn’t make a profit from the sale, you don’t pay. We explain how it’s calculated, when it’s due and when it isn’t.
What it actually taxes
The municipal capital gains tax levies the increase in value of the land (not the building) from when you acquired the property until you transfer it, with a maximum of 20 years countable. It’s paid by the seller; there is only one relevant exception in the area: if the seller is a non‑resident, the buyer acts as substitute and is responsible for the payment, so in practice it’s withheld from the price.
The two ways to calculate it (and you can choose the lower)
Objective method
Land’s cadastral value × coefficient according to the years you’ve been the owner (the coefficients are set by each town hall within the state maximums) × municipal tax rate (up to 30%).
Real method
The real gain of the operation (sale price minus purchase price, in the proportion that the land represents of the total cadastral value) × municipal rate. Since the 2021 reform, you can choose whichever gives the lower result. If you bought at a high price a few years ago, the real method usually wins; if you bought decades ago, sometimes the objective method is lower.
When you DON’T pay
If you sell for a price equal to or lower than the purchase price (proven with both deeds), there is no taxable event and nothing is payable — even if the town hall sends you a settlement anyway: you must declare it and prove the loss, not ignore it. Contributions between spouses due to divorce are not taxed either, nor, as a general rule when correctly executed, dissolutions of co‑ownership with proportional financial compensation.
Deadlines: 30 working days
For sales, the deadline to declare or self‑assess is 30 working days from signing (for inheritances, 6 months). Each town hall has its own procedure: in some you self‑assess, in others you declare and they issue the assessment. Missing the deadline generates surcharges, so this formality is usually completed the same week as the notary appointment.
What it usually comes to in practice
It depends drastically on the municipality and the years: two identical sales by price can incur very different amounts in Torrevieja, Orihuela or Guardamar. That’s why in every sale it’s advisable to calculate the municipal capital gains tax before accepting an offer: it’s part of the net you’ll take home, together with the IRPF on the gain, which we explain in our guide to taxes when selling a home.
At Mayrasa, when we sell your house, we provide the complete net calculation: realistic sale price with market valuation, estimated municipal capital gains tax for your town hall and expected IRPF. That way you decide with the figure that really matters: what you keep.
