What is the Plusvalía Municipal?
The IIVTNU — known as the plusvalía municipal — is a local tax levied by Spanish town halls when urban land changes hands through a sale, inheritance, or gift. It taxes the theoretical increase in the value of the land between acquisition and disposal. It is completely separate from the national capital gains tax.
In Mijas and all Costa del Sol municipalities, it is administered by the local Ayuntamiento and calculated using the cadastral value of the land component.
The 2021 Constitutional Court Reform
The plusvalía was struck down because it was applied even when properties were sold at a loss. The Constitutional Court ruled this unconstitutional in October 2021. The government reformed the law (RD-Ley 26/2021), effective November 2021.
The reformed system provides two calculation methods — sellers choose whichever gives the lower tax liability:
- Method 1 — Objective method: Cadastral value of land × government coefficient (varies by ownership period). Simple and predictable.
- Method 2 — Real gain method: Based on actual proportional increase in land value between purchase and sale.
Zero gain / sale at a loss: If there is no real gain, the plusvalía is zero — no tax is due.
Who Pays the Plusvalía?
The plusvalía is legally the seller's tax in a sale. In an inheritance, the heirs pay it. In a gift, the recipient pays it.
Contractually, buyer and seller can agree otherwise — but it is unusual for buyers to accept this in normal private resale transactions. For non-resident sellers, the buyer may be designated as substitute taxpayer, meaning the buyer can be pursued if the seller fails to pay.
How Much is the Plusvalía?
The amount varies by municipality and ownership period. For a Mijas property with a land cadastral value of €50,000 sold after 10 years, the plusvalía might be €1,500–€4,000. For higher-value properties it can run to tens of thousands. Your lawyer calculates the exact amount using both methods before completion.
Plusvalía in Inheritances
When a property is inherited, the plusvalía is triggered and payable by the heirs within 6 months of death (with possible 6-month extension). It is always separate from the regional inheritance tax, regardless of Andalucía's near-zero ISD rates.