Irene Mora sold a flat in Málaga on 8 May 2026. Between the house move and a change of job she forgot about the plusvalía municipal, the local tax on the increase in value of urban land. In September, going through her papers, she sees the notary's warning in the deed: thirty working days. More than four months have gone by. She has received nothing from the town council. She wants to know how much it will cost her to catch up and whether she should do it now or wait and see whether the council remembers.
The deadlines the law sets
Article 110.2 of the consolidated text of the Local Government Finance Act (TRLRHL) sets two periods, counted from the date the tax falls due:
- Transfers between living persons (sale, gift, exchange): thirty working days.
- Transfers on death: six months, extendable to one year at the request of the taxpayer.
Working days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, including local and regional ones. For Irene:
- Date the tax fell due: 8 May 2026, the date of the deed.
- First day of the count: Monday 11 May.
- Thirtieth working day, with no holidays in between: 19 June 2026.
- If there were a local holiday in those weeks, the end would move one working day later.
By 25 September, Irene is three complete months late.
The surcharges are the same as Hacienda's
You often hear that municipal surcharges are different from those of the Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax agency. As far as the percentage is concerned, they are not: local taxes are governed by the Ley General Tributaria (the General Tax Act), and its article 27 applies in the same way to an income tax self-assessment as to a plusvalía. What changes are other things:
- the management system: some councils require a self-assessment and others ask for a declaration and issue the assessment themselves, as article 110.4 allows;
- who manages it: many municipalities delegate the plusvalía to the provincial council or to a provincial tax collection body, with its own forms and online offices;
- the counting of days, which depends on the municipality's public holidays;
- the relief, which in inheritances can be lost through delay if the council's tax bylaw so provides.
How much it costs Irene, step by step
Article 27.2 sets a surcharge of 1 % plus an additional 1 % for each complete month of delay, when the return is filed without a prior request. It excludes penalties and interest up to twelve months. After that, the surcharge is 15 % and late-payment interest is added from the thirteenth month.
Irene does the calculation with the lower base out of the objective method and the actual method, and the tax comes to 2,400 €.
- End of the period: 19 June 2026.
- Filing: 25 September 2026. Complete months: three (19 July, 19 August, 19 September).
- Surcharge: 1 % + 3 × 1 % = 4 %.
- Amount of the surcharge: 2,400 × 0.04 = 96 €.
- 25 % reduction under article 27.5 if she pays the tax when she files and the surcharge within the period she is notified: 96 × 0.75 = 72 €.
- Total cost of the delay: 72 €.
The table shows how the surcharge grows over time for that same tax bill:
| Delay | Surcharge | Amount | With the 25 % reduction | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than a month | 1 % | 24 € | 18 € | No |
| Three complete months | 4 % | 96 € | 72 € | No |
| Eleven complete months | 12 % | 288 € | 216 € | No |
| Fourteen months | 15 % | 360 € | 270 € | From the thirteenth month |
If the council works by declaration rather than self-assessment, the surcharge is calculated on the assessment it issues on the basis of the late declaration, and article 27.2 excludes interest between the filing and the end of the payment period for that assessment.
If the council gets there first
The article 27 surcharge only exists when you file without a prior request. The council finds out about sales from the lists that notaries send it every quarter, as article 110.7 requires. If Irene waits and the council sends her a request or an assessment first, there is no longer a surcharge, but:
- late-payment interest will be charged from the end of the period;
- penalty proceedings may be opened. If the municipality requires a self-assessment, the offence is the one in article 191 of the General Tax Act, for failing to pay; if it works by declaration, the one in article 192, for failing to file it. A minor offence is punished with a fine of 50 % of the base, and there are reductions for agreeing to the penalty and for prompt payment;
- she will lose, where relevant, the chance to ask for the actual method in her declaration and will have to do it by way of appeal.
Waiting to see whether the council forgets usually costs more than the surcharge. The difference between the two is set out in what is the difference between a surcharge and a penalty.
If you have already been notified of an assessment and do not pay it within the period in article 62.2 of the General Tax Act, the debt moves into the enforcement period with other surcharges: 5 %, 10 % or 20 % depending on when you pay, under article 28. Appealing does not avoid them, because the appeal for reconsideration does not suspend collection without a guarantee. They are two different problems and should not be confused.
The cases where there is nothing to pay
Being late does not create a tax that did not exist. If Irene sold for less than she bought for, the transfer is not liable, as we explain in I sold at a loss. Even so, it is worth filing the declaration with the deeds, because article 104.5 requires a declaration in order to prove non-liability, and that way you stop the council from assessing the tax by the objective method with the notary's data.
Inheritances: the long period that also slips by
In an inheritance, the six months are counted from the death, not from the deed of acceptance. Many families let them pass while they gather documents. The extension to one year has to be requested, and it is not treated as requested just because one was requested for Inheritance Tax. As well as the surcharge, the delay can put at risk the relief for the close family if the bylaw makes it conditional on the deadline. We develop this in who pays the plusvalía on an inheritance.
How to catch up
Irene needs the sale deed, the purchase deed and the latest bill for the IBI (the annual council property tax). With them the tax is calculated under both methods, the self-assessment or declaration is filed on the form of the council or of the body that manages the tax, and then you wait for the surcharge assessment, which usually arrives later. You can send us those documents with the plusvalía form. For the general picture of a missed tax filing, the question on what happens if I file late is a useful complement, and the guide on when no plusvalía is payable goes over the cases with no tax to pay.
The Salama Tax page on the municipal plusvalía summarises the deadlines, the calculation and the review of the tax in one place.