# What are the property & land taxes in Spain?



## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

Hi.
What are the property & land taxes in Spain?
I think I read a long while back there are differences depending on your status in the country.
I've been thinking and looking at making the move to Spain on and off for a very long time now but not looked at this until now. Currently looking to find a country property as I want a bit of space and away from city life!
I've had a search on this forum but didn't find what I was looking for.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what are the monthly and/or yearly costs involved etc?

E.g. I've been looking at places on 1000m2 plots right up to 20,000m2 of land. But not much point going big if the running costs are too high!

So what would be the difference be comparing a 5000m2 and 10,000m2 plot in total with a breakdown would be nice? 
Many thanx for any info or links to where I can find it!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Muddy said:


> Hi.
> What are the property & land taxes in Spain?
> I think I read a long while back there are differences depending on your status in the country.
> I've been thinking and looking at making the move to Spain on and off for a very long time now but not looked at this until now. Currently looking to find a country property as I want a bit of space and away from city life!
> ...


I'm not an expert, but IBI (property tax) is fixed by the local authority & varies from area to area - but I believe is the same for residents & non-residents

non-residents DO have an income tax to pay - based on imputed rent of a property you don't live in full time

I think this is up to date & it's in English http://www.agenciatributaria.es/AEAT/Contenidos_Comunes/No_residentes/Tributacion_de_no_residentes/Folletos_divulgativos/irnringles.pdf


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

Muddy said:


> Hi.
> What are the property & land taxes in Spain?
> I think I read a long while back there are differences depending on your status in the country.
> I've been thinking and looking at making the move to Spain on and off for a very long time now but not looked at this until now. Currently looking to find a country property as I want a bit of space and away from city life!
> ...


can't give you a great deal of info, but what I can say, is the rates/council tax/roof tax or whatever they call it these days, always shocks friends and relatives. The general reaction is along the the lines " You jammy b£st£rd! That for a whole year? We pay 5 times that for 1 month for a 2 bedroom house in the town, and you've got all that land!! "

I usually wait until we all get drunk, before telling them what the anual road tax for a 2 litre car is(where we are it's about £45.... it varies from place to place, set by the local town hall)and if you want to live in the countryside, you NEED a car. Having gotten wrecked on cheap cava or vodka, they can go home and wonder if those figures were actually right


However, a word of warning. We stopped working in Hong Kong, thinking that a nice little place in the Spanish counrtyside(didn't want to go back to Scotland) would be great to have and relax..... but, as we found out, just keeping the house maintained, tending the olive, fig, apricot,almond and walnut trees is hard


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Muddy said:


> Hi.
> What are the property & land taxes in Spain?
> I think I read a long while back there are differences depending on your status in the country.
> I've been thinking and looking at making the move to Spain on and off for a very long time now but not looked at this until now. Currently looking to find a country property as I want a bit of space and away from city life!
> ...




Just to give you a couple of figures - We live in the province of Valencia, in the campo. We have about 7000m2 of land and pay 18euros per year for that. Our property is quite large and ALL legal (pool, garage, outside pool house and kitchen), all-in-all it's about 500m2 - for this we pay 900 euros per year.


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

Thanx everyone for the info.
dunmovin;
That's good to know on the car tax cost. I run an old 2.8 V6 which I intend to bring with me. Likely to need a 2nd car/pickup and maybe a motorbike. Hopefully if you're paying 45euros for 2L then mine will fall short of 100 and that will be under half what I'm paying in the UK  Another saving to add to my Excel sheet :clap2:

As far as maintaining the land, yes that has been on my mind for a long while. I've been over about 7 times in the past inland Alicante and done more of what you might call a working holiday. Ploughing using a walking plough just one job in and around the olive trees. My plan is to perhaps share the work with some local Spaniards and share the profits. That might be a bit of a pipe dream but would be nice to make at least a little off the land rather than let it sit idle and at the same time it will be a bit of cash for me, some locals and the local economy.

snikpoh;
That's great, I was hoping someone would give give an example.
Can you confirm this is correct?


> 7000m2 of land and pay 18euros per year for that.


 :eyebrows:
If that's correct it's really good news as I had seen a few country places with very big plots and thought I would never be able to afford the land tax etc 
Would love to have a 500m2 house but can't afford it. Half that would be perfect but most I've looked at for my price budget are smaller than that! Prices need to come down a bit more for me really. So is that 900 euros per year based on the price you paid etc? or is it based on price and size?

One problem with some of the more remote places I've looked at is lack of water, phone and electric.
Any thoughts on these anyone and how you manage if you don't have all 3 of these?
How much does it cost to have a water well drilled out these days? I would love to have one, it's high on my list.
I couldn't manage without water, don't want delivered water really.. Electric would be nice lol. Seems to defeat the idea of looking for a quiet place in the sticks and then need a Diesel Genny running outside the house!

Thanx everyone. Your advice, info and input is very appreciated.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

Muddy said:


> Thanx everyone for the info.
> dunmovin;
> That's good to know on the car tax cost. I run an old 2.8 V6 which I intend to bring with me. Likely to need a 2nd car/pickup and maybe a motorbike. Hopefully if you're paying 45euros for 2L then mine will fall short of 100 and that will be under half what I'm paying in the UK  Another saving to add to my Excel sheet :clap2:
> 
> ...


Two out of those three we have, but we cant get a telephone line and rely on mobiles and dongles for internet (mobile internet....may the fleas of ten thousand camels infest the underwear of the tech that said it was too difficult to get the line across the road)

quick note on motorcycles: a full car licence will allow you to drive up to a 125cc bike without having to take a seperate test... not great, but faster than a moped:ranger:

lack of water.... well we couldn't do without it, but still have to filter drinking water(one of those filter jugs... but it's still cheaper than UK water rates)it's temporary hard water and unfiltered it scales up the kettle, coffee machine and pots (the dish washer and the washing machine usually get treated to an empty run with a large amount of vinegar to descale them, now and again)


IF you really want your own well, look for a place with canes(slim bamboo) growing. They won't grow without ground water.

Gas: out in the sticks, you won't get piped gas,(for cooking and hot water) so bottled butane is the norm (now about 15.50 euros for a 13kg bottle... which lasts ages) and most petrol stations have them


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I can certainly confirm the land tax at 18 euros - however, a lot of people I know pay nothing:confused2:

Your property tax (IBI or contribution), is not based on what you paid for the house but rather the value as decided by some Body somewhere (catastral). Clearly this will have a relation to the size and value and this figure is then multiplied to give a final 'catastral value' - it's all VERY smoke and mirrors!


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

dunmovin said:


> Two out of those three we have, but we cant get a telephone line and rely on mobiles and dongles for internet (mobile internet....may the fleas of ten thousand camels infest the underwear of the tech that said it was too difficult to get the line across the road)
> 
> quick note on motorcycles: a full car licence will allow you to drive up to a 125cc bike without having to take a seperate test... not great, but faster than a moped:ranger:
> 
> ...


Ummmm why how wide is the road regarding telepgone company not able to do that, sounds strange.
Not able to go underground either I guess, other pipes in the way!
Well I've never installed one but you can get repeaters for wi-fi, so I would have thought the same thing exists for places that are impossible to wire!
I guess your tech guy is regretting not getting that job done now lol
Is anyone using Satellite for phone and internet BTW? If so is it fast and what's the cost & contract?

Motorbike;
I have a full UK motorbike license also. Do I need to take the Spanish test to ride over a 125cc? I use to ride a 350cc & was thinking of getting a 500cc for a bit off road fun and as a backup in case car dies!

Water;
I've drunk mountain water, was amazing. I do remember reading on this forum it's wise to have the quality checked. I guess there are several reasons that's a good idea like pesticides and natural background radiation etc etc.. 
Would be good to have piped into house but having my own water well is very high on my list! Anyone know how much this might cost. I assume depends on how deep they have to drill!
I'm looking forward to not paying £400 a year for water, such a pee take!! 
So why is the water so hard? And when you say unfiltered, is it not treated for bugs and the like?
Big thanx for the tip looking for Canes! 

Gas;
Year I remember years ago going with a friend to pick up gas bottles at the petrol station. Funny when one an out in the middle of a shower!! 15euros sounds reasonable, no idea how long they will last, will always be down to use and how cold it is I'm sure.

All very helpful info,
Cheers.



snikpoh said:


> I can certainly confirm the land tax at 18 euros - however, a lot of people I know pay nothing:confused2:
> 
> Your property tax (IBI or contribution), is not based on what you paid for the house but rather the value as decided by some Body somewhere (catastral). Clearly this will have a relation to the size and value and this figure is then multiplied to give a final 'catastral value' - it's all VERY smoke and mirrors!


This is good news for me, will be able to include a lot of places I liked but thought the costs would be too high 
I'm very picky on details! So it's annoying to find out it's more smoke and mirrors on how they work out the IBI. I really need to know my running costs as best I can before coming over and looking around!
Must be a way to find out how much it will all cost!


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

Muddy said:


> *Ummmm why how wide is the road regarding telepgone company not able to do that, sounds strange.
> Not able to go underground either I guess, other pipes in the way!*
> 
> I have been told that, even if you manage to prove their excuses are nonsense, you then go on a waiting list, which can be anything from a month to 10 years. Intensely stupid business practice in my opinion, as theywould get the land line and adsl, whereas, Orange get both.
> ...


good luck


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Before you get too carried away you have to remember that vehicle road tax varies from region to region & from council to council within regions. A 2L car will cost you around 140€ here. My 2,9L diesel is 165€. Our 2,8L van is 65€. It is based on the hp of the vehicle . IBI , council tax, is the same. I pay 16€ a year for a 144m2 property . The 3000m2 of land is divided up as A) In product ion ( olives )
B) non-productive ( outbuildings , stables, animal pens, etc. ) 
C) House. 
You do not pay tax on the land here unless the taxable value is over 1200€ , which equates to around 6000m2, as the cost of collecting would outweigh the income.
I use satellite ( wi-fi ) , reciver with line of sight to antenna for my internet & use skype, voip, etc; with no problems . I used to have telefonica landlines but am outside the 4km limit for adsl , as well as the fact that even if it was available the infrastructure is **** & the lines hang like norah battys stockings. Telefonica are a law unto themselves & even if you are found to be in the right they will still never pay you until the last possible moment. They are fined millions of euros every year by the EU , machine gunning is too good for them !!
I have a friend with a telefonica manhole, in the pavement, 2' from his front gate & less than 20' to the house. . Took him 6 years to get a line installed !!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

dunmovin said:


> ... no need for another test, you UK licence will cover you. (Legally you are supposed to apply to change it a Spanish one, again without having to do a test....



Good post but just to correct one point - you do NOT have to change your UK licence. It only needs 'converting' once it expires (which is every 10 years for the plastic card).


However, I would always encourage anyone to convert the licence as it makes things so much more simple - and is widely accepted as proof of ID.


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

dunmovin said:


> good luck


dunmovin; Thanx very much for the detailed info, very helpful and appreciated.
You're a bit of an online library of info.
Cheers.



gus-lopez said:


> Before you get too carried away you have to remember that vehicle road tax varies from region to region & from council to council within regions. A 2L car will cost you around 140€ here. My 2,9L diesel is 165€. Our 2,8L van is 65€. It is based on the hp of the vehicle . IBI , council tax, is the same. I pay 16€ a year for a 144m2 property . The 3000m2 of land is divided up as A) In product ion ( olives )
> B) non-productive ( outbuildings , stables, animal pens, etc. )
> C) House.
> You do not pay tax on the land here unless the taxable value is over 1200€ , which equates to around 6000m2, as the cost of collecting would outweigh the income.
> ...


Many thanx Gus, very helpful info.

Oh I see. So my 2.8 petrol is probably going to cost me similar to what I pay now in the UK possibly. Oh well, the cost saving on what I pay for water will cover that I should think  Bit unfair that's just based on HP as older cars like mine are not that quick even if the HP looks like it might be!

IBI; Thanx for expanding on this. I've been looking at some big ish plots between 10k and 40k m2 and one crazy size plot. Doesn't have a great house on it but very tempting to have a very big plot which has lots of future potential. But I'll have to work out how much in tax I'll be paying as not really much point paying out too much for all that land if it's not earning me much in return!

Can you tell me how to work out what the cost is per 1000m2 once it's over the 6000m2 size?
Assuming land values are the same to keep less complicated!
I assume then if you go over 6km2 then that also in included in the total?
Would be great if there was a table or graph somewhere but if you can give me a close enough idea how to work it out that would be most helpful.
very important for me this land size issue, as would really love to have a big plot but no point in getting stuck with a huge tax bill to match!

Satellite ( wi-fi );
Can you tell what the range is and what uplink and downlink speeds you get?
As I'm looking to be rural I think this might end up being my only available choice!

The telefonica story sounds familiar. It took a friend 3 years and the poll was around 60m away. Think it cost them 3k to get it done in the end.




snikpoh said:


> Good post but just to correct one point - you do NOT have to change your UK licence. It only needs 'converting' once it expires (which is every 10 years for the plastic card).
> 
> 
> However, I would always encourage anyone to convert the licence as it makes things so much more simple - and is widely accepted as proof of ID.


Thanx snikpoh
Don't laugh. I still have my old paper version here in the UK, it was updated many years back but is a bit of a relic I guess. 
Something I should sort out ASAP before I leave UK as I'm sure I read on here you have to carry your licence at all times when driving, and a credit card size would make a lot more sense!

I've got so much info off this thread, so again many thanx everyone :clap2:
Did anyone see my question on how much is the cost of drilling a water well?
Anyone gone through this process?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

A quick word on the driving licence (a couple in fact):

It is a simple matter to exchange a UK plastic card licence to a Spanish one which you do at the nearest DGT office (Dirección General de Tráfico : Trámites y Multas: JEFATURA VIRTUAL : Jefaturas Provinciales : Jefaturas) and costs about €60.
As somebody has already said - the Spanish driving licence acts as your ID (by law) and saves having to carry your passport around to prove ID when you want to pay by card although invariably if you are known and your card is chip and pin, you may not need to prove ID but in some places you will.
You don't say how old you are but if you are nearing the magic age of 70 when your UK licence will run out, converting to the Spanish one (I did mine at 69½) saves having to go through the rigmarole of getting a Spanish one after the UK one has expired (i.e. taking the test, etc...) or at least put it off for a bit.


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> A quick word on the driving licence (a couple in fact):
> 
> It is a simple matter to exchange a UK plastic card licence to a Spanish one which you do at the nearest DGT office (Dirección General de Tráfico : Trámites y Multas: JEFATURA VIRTUAL : Jefaturas Provinciales : Jefaturas) and costs about €60.
> As somebody has already said - the Spanish driving licence acts as your ID (by law) and saves having to carry your passport around to prove ID when you want to pay by card although invariably if you are known and your card is chip and pin, you may not need to prove ID but in some places you will.
> You don't say how old you are but if you are nearing the magic age of 70 when your UK licence will run out, converting to the Spanish one (I did mine at 69½) saves having to go through the rigmarole of getting a Spanish one after the UK one has expired (i.e. taking the test, etc...) or at least put it off for a bit.


Thanx baldilocks
Good to know it's just a matter of a simple change over from a UK plastic CC version. I'll get it replaced here in the UK so just in case I have any problems with the paper version once I'm on Spanish soil!
I'm a bit of a ways yet to get to the magic 70's! but interesting all the same to know how a test can be avoided in the future 

I just found some info on "International Driving Permit, which is a document valid for one year that is translated into 8 languages and valid only with the original driving licence. It has wide international recognition."
Maybe a good idea if someone has to make a trip and worrying about if the licence gets delayed in the post! Just a thought..

I can see you have to renew the Spanish licence every 5 to 10 years depending on age, is this just a payment or any theory or actual test involved? I wouldn't have thought so! But something else embarrassingly I don't know.

Cheers.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

If you have a UK licence (including the plastic one) you don't need an IDP. 

For anyone else who might need one, be careful, there are a lot of rip-off merchants out there. The correct name is International Driving Permit (IDP). Anyone offering you an International Driving Licence or any other name is a dud. In most countries there is usually only one authorised issuer of an IDP and that is usually one of the main motoring organisations in the countrry of issue (e.g., AAA in the USA).


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

gus is correct about the variations in road tax. This because the tax is paid to the town hall and unlike UK not a set national fee. General "rule of thumb" is that the smaller the village, the less you pay.

When we were in Muro del Alcoy (a reasonable sized town) it was 126 euros per year, now we are in Gorga it has dropped to under 40 per year (same car)


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Re ; satellite . I pay for 2mb & receive 1,95 download on average & 300kbps upload with a ping of around 22.

Although for 4 or 5 weeks , until last week, I've been receiving this ;

http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/1613596374.png :clap2:


I am about 6kms from the transmitter on Lorca castle , although I've also been on the westerly Puerto Lumbreras transmitter which is about 10km away & the easterly one which is around the same. The main signal can be relayed & boosted by additional antenna to clear mountains etc ; as the company I use also supply in Águilas 32km away. 
I have no problems with skype, voip calls, downloads etc; & the wife watches live stream tv back-ups with no probs. Just need to make sure that you have a good provider.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Muddy said:


> ...
> 
> I can see you have to renew the Spanish licence every 5 to 10 years depending on age, is this just a payment or any theory or actual test involved? I wouldn't have thought so! But something else embarrassingly I don't know.
> 
> Cheers.



AFAIK it's just a medical - anyone know differently?


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

wow, 3 times difference on the road tax, that's interesting. I'll most likely end up near a smaller town so I might get lucky.
I'm assuming the logic is smaller town, smaller roads with less links so less to pay. I like that if that's how it works 

Funny Guss
You get almost the same upload as me here on TalkTalk (who are a bit crap BTW!)
I should be getting 9.5 Down and .4 up, but the actual real speed is much less and stop/go sometimes and will be glad to see the back of it and the rip off £5 they just added on to my billing cos I don't pay by DD!
Funny, I get a slower local ping than you do there lol

Hearing this takes some stress away as sounds like you have a reliable service and not too shabby on the speed either. I think I can get by with 2mb. Bit slow for some moving a lot of data around but who cares, as long as it's reliable is the most important thing!
Your latest speed test is amazing!

Any chance you could PM me the company name to avoid advertising if that's an issue?
Would like to go take a look at what options they have!

Good to hear you can possibly get connected that far away. Holds some hope out if I end up out in the sticks! I've got an app on my phone so I can scan for signals when I'm out looking at property in the hopefully near future.
Cheers.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

This is who I use.
https://www.wimaxonline.es/


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## Muddy (Jan 14, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> This is who I use.
> https://www.wimaxonline.es/


Thank you.


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