IBI Torrevieja - can i set up direct debit remotely (before i receive my first bill) - Page 2

Firstly, congratulations on wanting to get everything in place in terms of the bill - it's a shame it's proving so difficult!  When we bought our place the solicitor set up all utilities as direct debits and also the IBI, which was great. However, there was a revaluation of the property last year and we got a bill for the difference, which we naively assumed would have been paid directly by the bank. Unfortunately not, so it went slightly out of date as we only knew about the additional payment when we got over to the house and found a bill. We were able to go online to Suma and it was easy to pay the additional bill by card. The recent bill for 2018 has been paid directly by the bank so normal service has been resumed. Good luck with the house, don't let the Spanish bureaucracy bamboozle you - we've found everyone really helpful and I think they appreciate the fact that you want to pay your dues. 

Thanks Maria 

Seems crazy that Im going to have to face a very strong risk of being fined and have to trot along to a physical office to make a late payment!  But hey ho - at least comforting to know they wont kick me out of the country! :-)

Thanks Colin.  I wonder then how your solicitor was able to set up the direct debit in advance of you receiving your first bill.  (Im assuming the reference number for each property changes whenever ownership changes.. )

The property reference number stays the same, so no problem there.

I'd guess those in the trade are able to do it online because they use an electronic certificate!

ahh righty ho.  That is for sure my priority when next over and Ill following your brilliant guide, Jim - thank you hugely for that.
Fingers crossed for a smooth journey attaining my electronic certificate! :-)

Oh no Louise please do not worry about fines. That was not my intention.  It’s just we   did not get our post as we weren’t in Spain.  So we were a few months late making payment.
Then because it was overdue, we couldn’t just go to the bank and pay at counter.  So ayuntamiento updated the form to include the “fine”.   Lesson learned!!  We learned a lot and will have no problem going to Ayuntamiento for any future problems as a result.  

We hadn’t got JIMS GUIDE at that stage and really were unsure about the whole setup.   As you know anyone can of course pay abogados to do everything.   

But Ayuntamiento were helpful and not in any way put out by our inaction.   So please enjoy your new home and don’t worry unduly about future taxes 😊

Ha! Thanks Maria
Ill try and visit Spain at the time the bill comes in ..  hopefully September should be about right for Torrevieja.  But if thats not possible, then asi es la vida! :-)

Hello,

A question with regards to tax bills....I have had my property for two years now, all direct debits sorted out at the time by solicitors, everything gets paid directly but have a question someone may be able to answer: Is it normal in Spain not to ever receive a tax bill, receipt or whatever could be useful to identify what payments refer to? I see money going out of my account with some SUMA reference but always struggle to allocate what payment is for what. Most of times it's down to guessing.

Do they ever correspond with taxpayers? 

Taxation in Spain can be a minefield, for example if you're non resident property owner you'll be liable to pay non resident tax even if you don't rent your property out and you don't get a bill for this - the responsibility is on you to file a return.  Not many people will advise you of this, and if you don't pay it you can run into penalties etc.  Needs paid by the end of the year for the previous year. We use Angar Taxation Services to handle ours. Excellent service and very reasonable costs. All done via email. Highly recommended! 

Thanks Colin,

I am aware of this and am compliant with non resident tax, my question was about whether or not the tax offices actually send out communications to taxpayers with regards to what tax they are paying like for instance in the UK but other countries I lived in too....

When I see payments for SUMA mandato etc etc but it doesn't tell me what it's for, am I supposed to guess what tax I am actually paying? To that effect Non resident tax is actually the only one I know what I am paying for as I do it myself at the bank.