The bills nobody chases you for until they cost more
Local property taxes: IBI, refuse and plusvalía
Nobody writes abroad to tell you that you owe €80
The town hall chases nobody: it publishes, notifies inside Spain and waits. When the notice reaches an empty house or a frozen account, the bill does not disappear — it changes name, becomes an enforcement order, and grows.
What you get
- The inventory of everything your house pays each year: property tax, refuse, sewerage, vehicle access.
- A check for unpaid bills or bills already in enforcement, and what they add up to today.
- Direct debits set up for all of them, plus the direct-debit discount if your town hall gives one.
- The written yearly calendar, with the month of each charge, so the account has funds.
- The plusvalía warning the day you sell or inherit, with its exact deadline.
Why this matters now
Property tax is owed by whoever owned the house on 1 January, full stop: the Local Finance Act does not look at who lives there. If the bill is not paid in the voluntary period, the General Tax Act adds a 5 % surcharge, rising to 10 % with the enforcement order and to 20 % plus interest once that order's deadline passes. And the municipal capital gains tax has a deadline almost nobody knows because it is short: 30 WORKING days on a sale or gift, six months on an inheritance. The seller who signs and flies home on Thursday is already inside the clock without knowing it.
What this service is NOT
We are not a tax firm and we do not appeal assessments: if your bill is wrong or a seizure has started, that is an appeal signed by a professional, who charges separately and says so beforehand. Nor do we pay from our own account: we set the direct debits on YOURS, so nobody has to trust us with money. And the plusvalía is calculated by the town hall or your adviser; we watch the deadline and gather the papers.
Questions about this service
Everything is on direct debit already. Do I need this?
Maybe not, and we will say so after looking. What we often find is that the property tax is debited and the refuse charge is not, or that the mandate died when the bank changed the IBAN. A returned bill does not warn you twice.
What if I already have a debt in enforcement?
We look at what exists, ask the town hall for the breakdown and see whether to pay, split or appeal. What never helps is waiting: the surcharge is fixed, but the interest and the seizure are not.
I sold last year and a property tax bill arrived. Do I pay it?
If you owned the house on 1 January, in principle you owe it to the town hall, whatever you agreed with the buyer in the deed. That agreement is claimed from the buyer, not from the town hall. It is the mistake we have seen most often.
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This page was last checked on 4 September 2026
Responsible for this content Sullivan Benedetto · Torrevieja (Alicante), España
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