Plusvalía municipal in Manilva — the second tax that catches UK sellers.

When a UK owner sells a Manilva apartment, two tax bills arrive. The bigger one is national capital gains tax — that is the 3% retention story. The smaller one, paid to Manilva town hall directly, is plusvalía municipal. It is a distinct tax on the theoretical increase in the land value during your ownership. The rules changed materially in October 2021 after the Constitutional Court struck down the old formula, and most UK sellers now have a choice of two calculation methods — plus, in loss cases, an outright exemption. This guide is Manilva-specific.

What plusvalía municipal is (and is not)

Plusvalía municipal is the informal name for the Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana (IIVTNU). Its legal basis is Articles 104 to 110 of the Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004). It is collected by the town hall — in this guide, the Manilva town hall.

Two things it is not. It is not a tax on the building. It is exclusively on the urban land component (the suelo). And it is not the same as capital gains tax. National capital gains tax is paid to the Spanish Tax Agency via Modelo 210. Plusvalía municipal is paid to the town hall on a separate form. UK sellers pay both.

Who pays it and when

• Sale between living parties (compraventa). The seller is legally liable. Filing deadline: 30 calendar days from the notary date.
• Gift (donación). The recipient is liable. Same 30-day deadline.
• Inheritance (herencia). The heir is liable. Filing deadline: 6 months from the date of death, extendable to 12 months on written request submitted within the first six months.

Contractual arrangements between buyer and seller can shift the economic cost, but the legal obligation stays where the law puts it. In practice, in every Manilva sale we handle, the seller pays — and the buyer's lawyer verifies at completion that the plusvalía is being paid or held back for that purpose.

The 2021 constitutional reform — STC 182/2021

The Constitutional Court judgment STC 182/2021, published in the BOE on 25 November 2021, struck down the objective method of calculating plusvalía as unconstitutional. The method had produced tax bills even where the seller sold at a loss — because the formula assumed land values always rise. The Court held this violated the principle of economic capacity in Article 31.1 of the Constitution.

The judgment created a legislative vacuum, filled a few days later by Real Decreto-ley 26/2021, in force from 10 November 2021. The RDL:

• Reintroduced the tax with two alternative calculation methods.
• Exempted from the tax any transfer where the seller can prove there was no real increase in the land value.
• Preserved municipal discretion over the specific rates within statutory ranges.

The two calculation methods since 2021

The taxpayer may choose the lower of two methods.

Method 1 vs Method 2 — Sabinillas apartment example

Same sale. Same law. Different numbers.

Method 1

Objective (cadastral)

Cadastral land value

€40,000

Coefficient (21 yrs)

× 0.45

Notional gain

€18,000

Municipal rate

× 25%

Tax due €4,500

Lower — use this

Method 2

Real gain (land value)

Land at acquisition

€75,060

Land at disposal

€83,640

Real land gain

€8,580

Municipal rate

× 25%

Tax due €2,145

— Difference: €2,355 saved by using Method 2. A UK seller who files under Method 1 by default pays over twice the tax due.

Method 1 — Objective (cadastral).

• Take the cadastral value of the land (from the IBI receipt).
• Multiply by a coefficient set by the town hall for the years of ownership, capped by the statutory table in the RDL.
• Apply the town hall's tax rate (up to 30% under the general law; Manilva sets its own within that ceiling).

Method 2 — Real gain (land value).

• Take the acquisition value of the property (from the purchase escritura).
• Take the disposal value (from the sale escritura).
• Apportion each to the land component using the ratio of cadastral land value to total cadastral value at the relevant time.
• The difference is the taxable gain on the land. Apply the town hall's tax rate.

Method 2 typically produces a lower tax on short holding periods or on properties where the land accounts for a small share of cadastral value. Method 1 typically produces a lower tax on very long holdings. A competent filing runs both calculations and files under the lower.

Manilva Ayuntamiento — how filing actually works

The Manilva town hall's tax office (Oficina de Recaudación) handles plusvalía filings. The practical points:

• Location. Ayuntamiento de Manilva, Villa Matilde.
• Form. Municipal auto-assessment (autoliquidación) form for the IIVTNU. Filed with copies of the escritura of transfer, the previous escritura, the IBI receipt for the year, and the seller's identification (passport and NIE).
• Method choice. The form allows the taxpayer to declare which method they are using. It is worth submitting both calculations and requesting the lower where the difference is meaningful.
• Payment. At the town hall's bank counter or by online banking to the account referenced on the assessment.
• Buyer's involvement. On a sale, the buyer's lawyer will normally hold back the estimated plusvalía from the sale price at the notary and pay it directly, delivering the receipt to the seller. This is to prevent the buyer from becoming secondarily liable.

Worked example — a Sabinillas apartment

A UK owner bought a two-bedroom apartment in Sabinillas in 2005 for €180,000. The cadastral value at the time was €72,000, of which €30,000 was land value. They sell it in 2026 for €205,000. Current cadastral value: €98,000, of which €40,000 is land value. Holding period: 21 years.

Method 1 (objective, cadastral):

• Cadastral land value: €40,000
• Coefficient for 20+ years: 0.45 (illustrative from the RDL statutory table)
• Notional gain: €40,000 × 0.45 = €18,000
• Municipal rate: 25% (illustrative Manilva rate)
• Tax: €4,500

Method 2 (real gain, land only):

• Land share of cadastral at acquisition: 30,000 / 72,000 = 41.7%
• Land share of cadastral today: 40,000 / 98,000 = 40.8%
• Acquisition land value: €180,000 × 41.7% = €75,060
• Disposal land value: €205,000 × 40.8% = €83,640
• Real land gain: €83,640 − €75,060 = €8,580
• Municipal rate: 25%
• Tax: €2,145

Method 2 is materially lower. A UK seller who files under Method 1 by default pays over twice as much tax as necessary.

Reduce the disposal price further (say to €175,000 — sold at a loss on the land), and the seller enters the exemption regime.

Proving "no real gain" for exemption

Since STC 182/2021 and RDL 26/2021, no plusvalía is payable where the taxpayer can show that no real increase in land value occurred. The evidence relied on is:

• The purchase escritura (declaring the acquisition price).
• The sale escritura (declaring the disposal price).
• Documented improvements to the land itself — walls, retaining structures, driveways — which count as part of the acquisition value. Improvements to the building do not count for plusvalía (though they do count for national CGT).
• Cadastral records confirming the land component at each date.

The burden of proof is on the taxpayer. The town hall does not volunteer the exemption. In practice a proper filing includes a short technical note comparing the two escrituras and cadastral records, concluding on "no gain". If the file is well presented, exemption is straightforward. If it is not, the town hall will assess under Method 1 and the taxpayer will need to appeal.

Plusvalía on inheritance

On the death of a UK owner of Manilva property, the heir pays plusvalía in addition to any Spanish inheritance tax. The heir-facing points:

• Deadline: 6 months from date of death, extendable to 12 months on written request within the first six.
• The heir chooses between the same two calculation methods.
• If the property has decreased in value during the deceased's ownership, exemption applies. Rare but not impossible for owners who acquired at the top of the 2007 market.
• The plusvalía paid on inheritance can be claimed as a deduction against national inheritance tax under certain conditions.

For UK owners planning ahead, a separate Spanish will handling the Spanish estate — combined with a UK will handling the UK estate — materially simplifies both the plusvalía filing and the national inheritance tax process for the heirs.

What buyers should verify at completion

A buyer's lawyer's job on the plusvalía side is to protect the buyer from secondary liability if the seller does not pay. The checks at completion:

• Estimate plusvalía on both methods and use the higher of the two as the amount held back. Any surplus is returned to the seller after filing.
• Hold the retained amount as an escrow line on the completion statement.
• File the plusvalía on the seller's behalf within 30 days, pay it, and deliver the receipt to the seller.
• On a sale where the seller has demonstrated exemption (no gain case), file the exemption claim in the same 30 days and refund the held-back amount when confirmed.

Refund claims for pre-2021 overpayments

Owners who paid plusvalía before October 2021 under the old formula sometimes ask whether they can reclaim now. The short answer is: in narrow cases only. The two 2021 judgments (STC 59/2017, STC 126/2019 and STC 182/2021) each set specific retroactivity limits. Assessments that were already final on those dates cannot be reopened. Assessments that were still within the four-year challenge window can, subject to procedural rules that differ by year.

Any owner considering a retroactive claim should have a lawyer review the specific assessment date, whether it was final, and whether any interruption of limitation period exists (challenges, proceedings). Most pre-2021 files are closed; a minority remain open. It is worth a look for owners who paid a large plusvalía on a loss sale between 2017 and 2021.

Cited legislation & official sources

• Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004) — BOE. Articles 104-110 define the plusvalía municipal / IIVTNU.
• STC 182/2021 — Constitutional Court (BOE). The judgment that struck down the old objective method.
• Real Decreto-ley 26/2021 (BOE). Post-judgment reform introducing the two calculation methods and no-gain exemption.
• Sede Electrónica del Catastro. Source for cadastral land values used in both calculation methods.
• Ayuntamiento de Manilva. Municipal authority responsible for plusvalía collection in this municipality.

Disclaimer. This guide is published by Duquesa Chambers for general information about plusvalía municipal as applied in Manilva under the 2026 rules. Rates, coefficients and procedural detail can change and are applied to specific facts. For a plusvalía calculation on your Manilva property or an assessment of a refund claim, contact us with the escrituras and IBI receipt.