The I.B.I. (IMPUESTO DE BIENES INMUEBLES) It is an ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX charged by local administrations, that is, the CITY COUNCIL to the owners of REAL ESTATE.
(In this article we are only going to refer to the application of the I.B.I. on properties such as: houses, apartments, commercial premises, garages, storage rooms, urban or rustic plots, farmhouses and similar since this tax also falls on the ownership of other non-tangible elements such as real usufruct rights, etc.. These latter cases will not be discussed in this article)
As we have mentioned before, this tax is paid to the City Council of the town where the property is located.
The I.B.I. It is paid once a year on the date that each City Council has determined.
For example, in the case of Vera City Council, the payment period begins in the month of July
The I.B.I. It has a voluntary payment period within which it can be paid without penalties.
Once this voluntary payment period has ended without said tax having been paid, the payment period within the executive term begins, notifying the person who owns the real estate that he has a debt pending payment due to this tax in his name at the City Council. .
The main consequence is that from now on the taxpayer will suffer surcharges.
These are the surcharges for entering the executive payment period:
5% to be added to the amount of the I.B.I. if the debt is paid after the voluntary period but before receiving the enforcement notice.
10%
to be added to the amount of the I.B.I. if the debt is paid after receiving the notification of judgment and is settled within 3 to 6 months from the judgment.
20%
to be added to the amount of the I.B.I. if the aforementioned periods pass, plus interest for late payment.
If even so, these deadlines pass and the debt remains unpaid, the City Councils can initiate the seizure procedure on the assets and rights of the debtors, that is:
The City Council can seize our bank account for the amount owed, including surcharges and interest, or seize assets. or rights that we have and always to cover this debt.
In the latter case, a seizure procedure is issued applying the General Tax Law.
You can pay the I.B.I. in two ways:
One: Domiciliating the receipt to the City Council so that the I.B.I. will be collected annually through your bank account on the date established by each City Council. For example, the Vera City Council goes into collection starting in the month of July.
To direct debit I.B.I receipts you must do so either by going to the City Council or online following the instructions that each City Council has enabled to direct debit the receipts.
Two: Pay the payment letter that you will receive at your house by post or if it does not arrive, requesting the payment letter from the City Council to pay it at our bank.
No natural person is exempt from paying this tax. Although there are some bonuses in some municipalities
It is the obligation of the OWNER.
However, by agreement between the parties, it can be agreed that this tax will be paid by the tenant.
This is a clause that must appear in writing in the rental contract.
Are you going to buy a house, a garage, a storage room, a piece of land?
It is very important that you make sure that the property you are going to buy is free of charges (mortgages, loans, taxes and duties).
For this reason you must investigate whether the property you want to buy is up to date with payments in relation to the I.B.I tax.
Normally the Real Estate Agency or your solicitor ensures that, on the date of the sale of the property, this tax, among others, is up to date with payments.
The seller must be required to issue a copy of the I.B.I. receipts. with an antiquity, if possible, since he is the owner of said property and always with an antiquity of FOUR YEARS.
You will ask for this in order to avoid that, if there is any outstanding debt from years prior to the purchase, it will subsequently fall on you.
Indeed, as established by the legislation applicable to the I.B.I., the City Councils can claim payment of this tax, which was owed to previous owners, from the new owner since this tax is a property tax, that is: the taxpayer is always the CURRENT OWNER OF THE PROPERTY AND IF THERE IS OUTSTANDING DEBT FROM PREVIOUS OWNERS, THESE DEBTS MAY REACH YOU up to four years old.
The General Tax Law in its article 78 says that the current owner is only responsible for the IBI of the year in which he purchases and the previous year, due to the existence of a guarantee known as “tacit legal mortgage.”
HOWEVER: City Councils can benefit from the figure of INITIATION OF SUBSIDIARY LIABILITY DUE TO CONDITION so that in the event of a previous debt due to this tax that had not been paid by the previous owner, the City Council can proceed to the derivation due to condition against the current new owner of the property taxed by the tax (in this case by the I.B.I.).
Be very careful with this.
Who is obligated in a sale to pay the I.B.I. of the current year?
For example: If we buy a house on July 18 of this year, by law, the person obliged to pay the I.B.I. is the OWNER of the property as of January 1 of the current year.
So the I.B.I. of this year will be paid by the owner.
However, the usual practice of having an agreement between buyer and seller is beginning to become common (a practice not included in the law so it is NOT MANDATORY) that each party pays the percentage of the I.B.I. that corresponds to the enjoyment of the property, that is, depending on the time in which each party has been or will be the owner of the property.
In this way, if we buy a house on July 18: the seller will pay from January to July and the buyer from August to December, thus establishing a "pro rata".
This would be an agreement between the parties to be reflected in the Deeds of Sale.
