Property Tax for Urban Assets

Unfortunately I don't know enough to comment on the charge on illegal built areas.

IBI is based on the Catastral valuation of a property, and is supposed to be re-valued periodically. They were several years late in doing the revaluation on our property, and are allowed to backdate increased charges up to four years. 

The result was a nasty bill, and a tripling in the amount due for for 2016 as well as payment of the difference on previous years.

In some respects I'm grateful the property wasn't revalued when it should have been, as this would have been much more than four years ago, so for several years we had the benefit of cheap IBI.

Although I don't like the increased valuation, the bottom line is that I'm still going to be paying several times less than I would be paying for council tax in the UK.

Hi Jim, 

I,m so glad to hear I,m not alone in this experience (but sympathetic also). So from what you say, instead of a steady yearly increase as UK, they go a longer period and backdate upto 4yrs resulting in a much larger increase. However not every 4-5yrs which would make better sense. We got such a shock. So many people brag about their low cost IBI they may not know this happens, but it seems very selective to me and a point I was also trying to make is if construction works are carried out does this then initiate an upto date revaluation?.We are not residents (still in UK), and every day feel less likely to become one as we have experienced so many bad situations and corruptions, we fear the loss of security the UK still offers us. We know we,ll never be able to apply for UK benefits as our pensions etc are just above the limit but I still feel safer here knowing exactly whats around the corner. As you commented your tax tripled, sounds like ours will more than triple with the "unregistered area" now being taxed too.This could make it unaffordable to continue as a holiday home with our UK expenses too. Apart from water(similar price to UK) and electric(definitely a lot dearer)also paying 50€ mnth to Securitas( had 2 burglaries,1 a total ransacking with an insurance Co.refusing to pay out)and with insurance, gestoria fees and taxes its now getting very close to unaffordable. Our house is now 50ft from the AVE line and along with the drop in prices we stand little chance of selling even if we halved the initial buying price.

I offer no answers just wanted to thank you for pointing out what still can happen in Spain.  It does sound like a nightmare, I hope it is resolved fairly for you. Kind regards, Helen

Thankyou, I added my post mainly to inform people like yourself as to this happenning and hope someone who has "illegal areas" can comment on whether they still get taxed on that area as it isnt on the cadastral valuation(not being on the deeds).

I can't offer many insights as your situation seems quite complex so contacting a lawyer is going to be your best bet.

One thing I will add however is the whole 4 year thing for declaring previously undeclared buildings  is now a relic of the past in the Valencian region and it is now set at 15 years. Look into the LOTUP rule changes as it is possible that this may be at least part of your issue.

Still our local town hall is still giving advice about the 4 year thing, it is wrong advice but the other day we went and a local was up in arms over the 3 grand increase to his suma bill over undeclared buildings. Maybe she was trying to calm him down but she was still stating if over 4 years old it wont be a problem, well now it is over 15 years so he will not be happy when he figures this out. She also said you have no idea of some of the complaints I have been getting.

A lot of this problem seems to stem from the brilliant idea of flying drones over areas and mapping properties with dodgy software which then somehow gives suma the right to alter your land registry to whatever it was the software made up. For instance they have reduced the size of our property boundaries enough to render our entire house illegal. They did this without notice(however told our lawyer they sent us a letter) and there is frankly nothing we can do about it aside from spending money to have a surveyor come and then reapply to the land registry which they say can take as long as 2 years leaving us out of pocket and with a property we can't build on or sell until it is sorted which is somehow our responsibility.

So yeah, I can't really offer any advice but get a good lawyer and hope for the best because even when your are not in the wrong you basically still have to pay up for their mistakes.

There is a very good English speaking Spanish solicitor in Villena.  His name is Carlos Hernandez Cantos and his phone number is 966 154 368 and email address is: [email protected]

I suggest you contact him. I'm sure he will be able to help you.

My goodness, what a terrible experience for you, yes the "architect" spouted wrongly the 4yr rule, but now it stays illegal because of shortage of land. Somewhere I read "if land anywhere in Spain was purchased then it could be tied to the houses' parcel to result in land big enough to legalise the property", but I cant remember where I read it or if its true. You are right, its unfair how its always our responsibility to pay for others mistakes.

To be fair to the architect if this was pre 25th of July 2014 then that part of his advice would of been correct. The law changed as we were conveyancing a house which meant it was get in quick or get another evaluation afterwards. That house fell through for other reasons.

Thankyou Charlie for that info, we will contact him.We used a solicitor recommended by a neighbour originally but he comes from Alicante and isnt very communicative.(But he always manages to ask for money every visit!)