Municipal · Spain

Liquidación de la plusvalía municipal (IIVTNU): the bill after a sale, inheritance or gift

This is the town hall's bill for the 'plusvalía' tax after a Spanish urban property was sold, inherited or given away. Since the 2021 reform, no tax is due if the absence of an actual gain can be proven — but that exemption must be actively claimed and documented.

How serious: needs actionAlso called: plusvalía municipal, plusvalía, IIVTNU, impuesto de plusvalía del ayuntamiento

The IIVTNU taxes the increase in value of urban land when it changes hands. The taxpayer is generally the seller in sales, and the acquirer in inheritances and donations.

The transfer had to be declared within 30 working days (six months for inheritances, extendable to a year). The liquidación is the ayuntamiento's calculation of the tax, or a check on a self-assessment already filed.

The no-gain rule matters: since the 2021 reform, no tax is due where the absence of an actual increase in value can be proven with the acquisition and transfer titles (TRLRHL art. 104.5) — but the exemption is not applied automatically.

Who sends it

The ayuntamiento (town hall) of the municipality where the property lies. The IIVTNU is a municipal tax on the increase in value of urban land when it changes hands — by sale, inheritance or donation.

Ayuntamiento letterhead; it names the tax 'Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana' or 'plusvalía'. It identifies the transferred property (referencia catastral), the transfer date, the years held, the taxable base and the amount, and states the payment window and the pie de recurso (reposición, one month).

The deadline

Declaration duty: 30 working days from an inter-vivos transfer, six months (extendable to one year on request) from a death (TRLRHL art. 110.2). Payment of a notified liquidación: the art. 62.2 LGT window (until the 20th of the next month or the 5th of the second month). Appeal: reposición within one month (TRLRHL art. 14.2.c)

Three clocks run here. Declaring the transfer: 30 working days from an inter-vivos transfer, six months (extendable to one year on request) from a death (TRLRHL art. 110.2), counted from the devengo — the date of sale or death. Paying a notified liquidación: the art. 62.2 LGT window (until the 20th of the next month, or the 5th of the second month), counted from the day after notification. Appealing: reposición within one month (TRLRHL art. 14.2.c).

If you do nothing

Not declaring the transfer at all lets the ayuntamiento liquidate it later within the four-year prescription period, with sanctions and interest on top. Ignoring a notified liquidación: after the art. 62.2 window the debt enters período ejecutivo with 5-20% recargos, then apremio and embargo — and after one month the liquidación is firm, including in cases where no gain could have been proven and nothing was due (TRLRHL art. 104.5).

How it escalates

01Undeclared transfer: a municipal liquidación de oficio plus a possible sanction and interest (the declaration duty of TRLRHL art. 110; notaries report all transfers to the ayuntamiento quarterly, art. 110.7).
02Notified but unpaid: período ejecutivo with recargos of 5%/10%/20% (Ley 58/2003 arts. 28, 161), providencia de apremio, embargo.
03Unappealed within one month: the liquidación becomes firm even if the transfer produced no real gain — the art. 104.5 exemption must be invoked; it is not applied automatically.

Your options, procedurally

The transfer can be declared in time — 30 working days inter vivos; 6 months plus an optional 1-year extension mortis causa (TRLRHL art. 110.2) — attaching the deed.
Where there was no gain, TRLRHL art. 104.5 can be invoked: declaring the transfer and providing both the acquisition and the transfer titles to prove the absence of increase — then no tax is due.
The more favourable of the two legal calculation methods (objective coefficients vs. real gain) can be chosen where the ordinance allows (TRLRHL art. 107.5, post-2021 reform).
A notified liquidación can be paid in the art. 62.2 window; aplazamiento or fraccionamiento can be requested from the ayuntamiento if needed.
A recurso de reposición can be filed within one month (the obligatory first step, TRLRHL art. 14.2) and thereafter the courts.

Common questions

The property was sold at a loss — is the tax still due?

Since the 2021 reform, no tax is due if the absence of an actual gain is proven — by declaring the transfer and providing both the acquisition and transfer titles (TRLRHL art. 104.5). The exemption must be actively invoked; it is not applied automatically, and an unappealed liquidación becomes firm after one month regardless.

Who pays — the seller or the buyer?

Generally the seller in sales, and the acquirer in inheritances and donations.

How long is there to declare an inherited property?

Six months from the death, extendable to one year on request (TRLRHL art. 110.2). Inter-vivos transfers, such as sales, must be declared within 30 working days.

What if the transfer was never declared?

The ayuntamiento can liquidate it later within the four-year prescription period, with sanctions and interest on top — notaries report all transfers to the town hall quarterly (art. 110.7).

Sources

Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.