Ana Beltrán sold a flat in Benalmádena in February 2026 that she had bought in 2019. She filed nothing with the town council because she thought the notary would take care of it. On 3 September 2026 she received an assessment for 2,910 € for the plusvalía municipal (the local tax on the increase in value of urban land), calculated by the objective method, with payment due by 20 October. Ana sold for 12,000 € more than she paid and has the impression that the figure is out of proportion. She can appeal, but the clock is already running and two decisions have to be taken at once: on what grounds, and what to do about the payment.
Assessment or self-assessment: two different routes
First of all you need to know what you have in front of you, because the route changes completely.
- Assessment. This is an act of the council that fixes the debt and notifies it to you. Article 110.5 of the consolidated text of the Local Government Finance Act (TRLRHL) requires it to be notified with the payment period and the appeals available. It can be challenged with the appeal for reconsideration in article 14.2 of the same Act, which is addressed to the council itself.
- Self-assessment. You made it yourself, or your notary or adviser did it on your behalf, and you paid. There is no act to appeal against: what you ask for is the correction of the self-assessment under article 120.3 of the Ley General Tributaria (the General Tax Act), within the four-year limitation period in its article 66.
Ana has an assessment. If she had self-assessed, her route would be the one in getting back a plusvalía already paid.
Ana's timetable
Article 14.2 sets one month to appeal, counted from the day after notification. Periods expressed in months end on the same day of the following month and, if that day is not a working day, move to the next working day.
| Milestone | Rule | Date in Ana's case |
|---|---|---|
| Notification of the assessment | — | 3 September 2026 |
| End of the voluntary payment period | Art. 62.2.a) General Tax Act | 20 October 2026 |
| End of the period for the appeal for reconsideration | Art. 14.2.c) TRLRHL | 3 October, a Saturday: it moves to Monday 5 October 2026 |
| Period for deciding the appeal | Art. 14.2.l) TRLRHL | One month from when it is lodged |
| If there is no reply | Art. 14.2.l) TRLRHL | It is deemed dismissed |
| Court challenge against an express decision | Art. 46 of the Administrative Courts Act (LJCA) | Two months from notification |
In some large municipalities there is also a municipal economic-administrative claim, heard by a separate local tax tribunal. When it makes sense and in what order we explain in appeal for reconsideration or economic-administrative claim.
Appealing does not stop collection
Article 14.2.i) is clear: lodging the appeal "will not suspend the enforcement of the act". If Ana appeals and does not pay before 20 October, the debt moves into the enforcement period with its surcharges, even if she later wins. She has two reasonable options:
- Pay and appeal. If the appeal succeeds, the council refunds what she overpaid with late-payment interest, which article 32.2 of the General Tax Act grants without the need to ask for it.
- Ask for suspension by providing a guarantee. The same article allows suspension with a guarantee, and the application is filed together with the appeal. It makes sense when the amount is large or paying it would be a strain.
For an assessment of 2,910 €, the usual course is to pay and claim. A guarantee has its own cost and paperwork.
The grounds worth checking first
Review on reconsideration covers every issue in the file, whether or not it has been raised. Even so, the appeal has to say why the assessment is wrong, and not all grounds carry the same weight. These are the ones we review, in order:
| Ground | What is checked | Document that proves it |
|---|---|---|
| There is no increase | Value of the land at the sale compared with the purchase (art. 104.5) | Deeds and IBI bill |
| Actual increase lower than the objective base | Alternative base under art. 107.5 | Deeds and IBI bill |
| Years of ownership miscounted | Real date of acquisition, complete years | Purchase or inheritance deed |
| Percentage transferred | If you sold a half, the base is that half | Sale deed |
| Wrong cadastral value | Land or total value different from the one in force on the date | Certificate from the Cadastre |
| Rural land | If the land is not urban there is no tax (art. 104.2) | Certificate from the Cadastre |
| Exemption | Handing over the main home in payment of a mortgage debt and the other cases in art. 105 | Deed and mortgage documents |
In Ana's case, the main ground is the second one. The 2026 bill for the IBI (the annual council property tax) gives her 32 % land. She bought for 186,000 € and sold for 198,000 €.
- Increase in price: 198,000 − 186,000 = 12,000 €.
- Share attributable to the land: 12,000 × 0.32 = 3,840 €.
- Base used in the assessment: 11,640 €.
- If the appeal succeeds, the base drops to 3,840 €, 33 % of the original one, and the tax falls in the same proportion: from 2,910 € to about 960 €.
It has to be said clearly: the actual method is not applied automatically, and not every council is equally willing to accept it being requested for the first time in the appeal. Ana asks for it there because it is her first opportunity to do so, since she did not file a declaration. We cannot guarantee the outcome.
Article 14.2.k) allows the body deciding the appeal to examine issues you have not raised, after giving you five days to make representations. In practice it rarely makes things worse, but the written appeal should stick to what you can prove with documents. Simply arguing that "the tax is unconstitutional" has been of no use since the reform of November 2021.
What to include in the written appeal
Article 14.2.f) lists the minimum content: details of the appellant and of the representative, the body it is addressed to, the act being appealed with its date and file number, an address for notifications, place and date. The arguments of fact and law go in the same document, with the supporting papers. Under article 14.2.e) you do not need a lawyer or a court representative, although the actual-method calculation has to be done properly for the appeal to have a real chance.
If you need to see the file before appealing, article 14.2.g) lets you ask for it at the office that manages the tax within the appeal period. This is useful when you do not know which cadastral value or which acquisition date the council has used.
You can send us the assessment, the deeds and the IBI bill through the plusvalía form. With the notification date in view, we can see how much time is left.
If the deadline has already passed
Once the month has passed without an appeal, the assessment becomes final. Article 221.3 of the General Tax Act only allows a refund of a payment arising from a final act to be sought through the special review procedures (declaring the act null and void, revocation, correction of errors) or through the extraordinary appeal for review. These are narrow routes, meant for serious errors or new facts, not for arguing about the method of calculation. That is why the month for appealing is the decisive moment. If you are not sure when you were notified, we look at it in I have been notified and did not realise.
What is not argued in this appeal
The appeal against the plusvalía is not the place to challenge the cadastral value itself, which has its own procedure before the Cadastre, nor the income tax on the sale. Nor does it settle any differences with the buyer if the contract said something else about who would pay. The guide on claiming back plusvalía paid in excess sets out every route with its deadlines, and the one on the two methods develops the calculation behind Ana's appeal.
The Salama Tax page on the municipal plusvalía describes the whole tax, from the declaration to the review of an assessment.