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Local Property Tax and Thrash Payments

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 12:13pm
9 replies158 views2 members subscribed
BrianR

Posts: 8

Location: Gandia

Joined: 10 Aug 2021

Hi,

I thought I only had to pay property tax at national level but now realise that I have unpaid bills for local property tax (impuesto bienes inmuebles urbana) and thrash collection which are outstanding since I bought the property in 2018. Bills went to a wrong address so I was unaware of this liability until this year. I am not back in Gandia for a few months - does anyone know how I can find out what I owe and pay these bills electronically?

Thanks, Brian

GrahamLynn

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:01pm

GrahamLynn

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2498

2357 helpful points

Location: El Raso

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:01pm

Don’t quite understand how both sets of bills went to the wrong property, when they are property related taxes.

IBI is the equivalent of council tax and the other tax I guess you mean for your trash (rubbish/bins)is the basura. 

Both are  usually payable to your local council office or SUMA office, but double check because the basura  for my municipality is collected by a different means.

You can pay both online via SUMA.es , but you’ll need your reference number. I would contact the solicitor you used to purchase your property, they will have all the details and should have set up the direct debits for payment. You’ll also need your NIE number. Unfortunately there’ll be hefty fines  to pay on top of your payments as payments for 2019-2022 are overdue.

Lynn

BrianR

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:22pm

BrianR

Original Poster

Posts: 8

Location: Gandia

Joined: 10 Aug 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:22pm

Thanks for the response, Lynn. My apartment has 2 addresses - original one which is the legal one on the contract and then a 2nd newer one which is used by Postal services etc. - too confusing.

When I enter the reference code on the Ayuntament website, I get the response that the bill is out of date so I can't pay it online. I think my only option is to get legal/accountant help on this as the local Council do not answer any mails from me and my spanish is not good enough when I call them.

Hew

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:12pm

Hew

Helpful member

Posts: 364

493 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 13 Jul 2016

Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:12pm

Hi Brian, I know it’s no consolation, quite the opposite probably, but have a look at the reports in todays UK press, about a British mother and son who are now left homeless after Spanish officials secretly seized and sold her £280,000 home for £24,000. All over a £3,500 debt, they had been sending her bills to the incorrect address, the first she knew was when she was evicted! Totally corrupt, how do they get away with it. I read it on line this morning in the daily mail, but it’s in other papers as well. Just google the above and I’m sure it will take you to the various reports. Hope all works out for you, are you still retaining the solicitor you used when you purchased the property, if so I would contact them. If not, I would get the services of a new one to assist you resolve your problem. 

GrahamLynn

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:57am

GrahamLynn

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2498

2357 helpful points

Location: El Raso

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:57am

BrianR wrote on Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:22pm:

Thanks for the response, Lynn. My apartment has 2 addresses - original one which is the legal one on the contract and then a 2nd newer one which is used by Postal services etc. - too confusing.

When I enter the reference code on the Ayuntament website, I get the response that the bill is out of date so I can't pay it online. I think my only option is to get legal/accountant help on this as the local Council do not answer any mails from me and my spanish is not good enough when I call th...

...em.

I agree , you need to get some legal assistance on this before it escalates.  There could well be a plus valia bill outstanding as well. 

If you are on a community are your fees being paid, as the initial contact from the community administrators is via letter,so again all correspondence  from them would go to the address on your deeds.


i would ask your solicitor if they can sort out the problem of the two addresses for you as well as it could cause all sorts of nightmares in the future.

Once you register an email address with the SUMA then your bills are sent on line, as presumably your electric and water bills are sent to you  already by email. 

Lynn

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BrianR

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:12pm

BrianR

Original Poster

Posts: 8

Location: Gandia

Joined: 10 Aug 2021

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:12pm

GrahamLynn wrote on Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:57am:

I agree , you need to get some legal assistance on this before it escalates.  There could well be a plus valia bill outstanding as well. 

If you are on a community are your fees being paid, as the initial contact from the community administrators is via letter,so again all correspondence  from them would go to the address on your deeds....

...


i would ask your solicitor if they can sort out the problem of the two addresses for you as well as it could cause all sorts of nightmares in the future.

Once you register an email address with the SUMA then your bills are sent on line, as presumably your electric and water bills are sent to you  already by email. 

Lynn

Many thanks for the advice & warnings! I've signed up with a solicitor who will take care of this for me.

Hew

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:30pm

Hew

Helpful member

Posts: 364

493 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 13 Jul 2016

Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:30pm

GrahamLynn wrote on Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:57am:

I agree , you need to get some legal assistance on this before it escalates.  There could well be a plus valia bill outstanding as well. 

If you are on a community are your fees being paid, as the initial contact from the community administrators is via letter,so again all correspondence  from them would go to the address on your deeds....

...


i would ask your solicitor if they can sort out the problem of the two addresses for you as well as it could cause all sorts of nightmares in the future.

Once you register an email address with the SUMA then your bills are sent on line, as presumably your electric and water bills are sent to you  already by email. 

Lynn

Hi Lynn, 

it’s a good point you raised about community fees, only a couple of months ago I found out that my fees had not been paid from 2018 to 2020, but they had been paid correctly by the bank from 2020 to 2022, but not prior to that. I had absolutely no idea, I naturally paid the outstanding community fees as soon as I found out (only found out by coincidence !) But additionally I had to pay another 500 euros to halt the legal proceedings that the administrators had started against me. It transpired that they had an incorrect email address provided by my solicitor which they claim they had used to inform me about the debt, also claimed they had posted to my community post box, never received ! . Bottom line, some official bodies will take the easy way out, and never admit to anything possibly being their fault, or even being a contributing factor.  There was definitely fault with regard to my solicitor and also my bank, who somehow started paying my community fees two years after they should, without any prompting from me. And also the administrators must have had rejected emails from the non existent email account and could have tried harder, rather than taking the easy option and just starting legal proceedings, which could have ended up god knows where had  I not found out by accident and contacted all of the above parties to resolve the matter. Wasn’t worth the hassle to try and attribute any blame, just paid up and put it down to experience, Spanish experience. So yes, Brian needs to check on his community fees as well, good point.

paulsav

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:14pm

paulsav

Super helpful member

Posts: 1366

1009 helpful points

Location: Villena

Joined: 4 Dec 2015

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:14pm

From reading your original post where you state you won't be back in Gandia for a few months, could it mean you are a non resident? If so another tax not mentioned upto now is the non residents tax paid yearly and can also accrue hefty fines and interest. You will need to speak to your solicitor about this tax too but generally a gestor can deal with this calculation much cheaper than a solicitor. If you are resident then you can ignore this tax, just thought as not mentioned and if you are a non resident it too needs to be dealt with. 

Regards 

Pauline 

GrahamLynn

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 1:27pm

GrahamLynn

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2498

2357 helpful points

Location: El Raso

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 1:27pm

Hew wrote on Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:30pm:

Hi Lynn, 

it’s a good point you raised about community fees, only a couple of months ago I found out that my fees had not been paid from 2018 to 2020, but they had been paid correctly by the bank from 2020 to 2022, but not prior to that. I had absolutely no idea, I naturally paid the outstanding communit...

...y fees as soon as I found out (only found out by coincidence !) But additionally I had to pay another 500 euros to halt the legal proceedings that the administrators had started against me. It transpired that they had an incorrect email address provided by my solicitor which they claim they had used to inform me about the debt, also claimed they had posted to my community post box, never received ! . Bottom line, some official bodies will take the easy way out, and never admit to anything possibly being their fault, or even being a contributing factor.  There was definitely fault with regard to my solicitor and also my bank, who somehow started paying my community fees two years after they should, without any prompting from me. And also the administrators must have had rejected emails from the non existent email account and could have tried harder, rather than taking the easy option and just starting legal proceedings, which could have ended up god knows where had  I not found out by accident and contacted all of the above parties to resolve the matter. Wasn’t worth the hassle to try and attribute any blame, just paid up and put it down to experience, Spanish experience. So yes, Brian needs to check on his community fees as well, good point.

We’ve just had our AGM and the issue of fees, data protection and new owners was mentioned by our administrators. They basically asked if we could inform any new owners we see moving in, to contact the admin company with their phone number and contact details.

A simple neighbourly gesture, helps the community by ensuring the administrators have the information they require to collect fees and not waste funds on legal issues.

The non resident tax is usually the most common one that people miss. If you don’t know about it and no one chases you for it.

Lynn

BrianR

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 2:17pm

BrianR

Original Poster

Posts: 8

Location: Gandia

Joined: 10 Aug 2021

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2022 2:17pm

Thanks, up to date on the Non-resident tax but thanks for highlighting it.

Brian

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Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
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