Checking and challenging your IBI and cadastral value

Terms used

• DNI — The DNI is the national identity card of Spanish citizens.
• Catastro — The Catastro is Spain's property register for tax purposes, recording each property's owner, use, area and value.
• IBI — The IBI is the yearly municipal property tax, calculated from the cadastral value.
• Referencia catastral — The referencia catastral is the unique code that identifies your property in the Catastro.
• Modelo 900D — Modelo 900D is the standard Catastro form for declaring changes to a property, such as a new building or extension.
• Recurso de reposición — A recurso de reposición is a first appeal sent to the same office that issued the decision.
• Ayuntamiento — The ayuntamiento is your town hall, which issues and collects the IBI.
• Gerencia del Catastro — The Gerencia del Catastro is the provincial Catastro office that handles corrections and appeals.

Key rules

• Deadline: Challenge a cadastral valuation or an IBI bill within one month of the notification.
• Where to complain: Data and valuation complaints go to the Catastro; the IBI bill itself is challenged at your ayuntamiento.
• Errors: Factual errors in your record can be corrected on request at any time.
• Refunds: Overpaid IBI can be reclaimed for up to four years, often fewer.

Start by checking your record

Your IBI bill is based on the data held by the Catastro, so check that data first. Anyone can look up basic data for free on the Catastro's online office, using the referencia catastral or the address. It shows the use, area, year built and cadastral value.

You find the referencia catastral on your IBI bill and your title deed.

To see the full certificate with the owner's details, you must identify yourself. This is free for the owner. You can use an electronic certificate, DNI electrónico or Cl@ve, or go to a Catastro office or a collaborating town hall with an appointment.

Navarra and the Basque Country have their own cadastres, so this page does not cover them.

What you can correct and what you can only challenge

You can ask for a correction when the record has a factual error. Typical examples:

• the wrong owner or share
• the wrong built area, use, year of construction or quality category
• wrong plot boundaries
• a building that is missing or no longer exists

The general valuation behind your value is different. This is the municipal valuation report (ponencia de valores) and the figures derived from it. You cannot appeal it on its own. You can challenge it only within the deadline after it is approved or published. You can also challenge it through your own valuation notice, but only on the grounds that the notice applied the wrong data to your property.

If you are unsure whether something is an error or part of the general valuation, the Gerencia del Catastro for your province decides. Ask them.

How to ask for a correction

1. Compare the record with your title deed and plans.
2. Gather proof, such as the deed, a land registry note, a building licence or plans.
3. File your declaration with the Gerencia del Catastro for your province. You can do this online, in person by appointment, or at a collaborating town hall.

Errors can be corrected on request at any time. For changes to the property itself (new building, extension, change of use, division), use Modelo 900D. You must declare these alterations within two months of the event. Confirm the current form with your local Gerencia. Changes of ownership normally reach the Catastro through the notary or the land registry, so you rarely need to report them.

The Catastro normally decides within about 6 months.

Challenging a valuation or an IBI bill

You have one month from the notification to challenge a cadastral valuation or an IBI bill. Missing it usually closes that route, so act as soon as the notice arrives.

• Cadastral valuation or data: go to the Gerencia del Catastro. You can file an optional recurso de reposición, or go straight to an economic-administrative claim (reclamación económico-administrativa) before the regional tribunal (TEAR). If you file a reposición, it must be resolved first.
• IBI bill: go to your ayuntamiento, or the provincial tax agency that collects for it. File a recurso de reposición within one month of the notification or of the end of the voluntary payment period. A TEAR claim is possible only for the tax-handling side of the bill.

The bill itself cannot be used to attack the cadastral data. Those complaints must go to the Catastro. After either route, the next step is the contentious-administrative courts.

Getting back IBI you overpaid

You can ask your ayuntamiento for a refund of undue income (devolución de ingresos indebidos) within four years of the day after the payment. A successful correction usually changes your bill only from the year it takes effect. For corrections of error, the Catastro can backdate up to four years, and the refund includes legal interest. So you may get back fewer than four years.

The decision, timeline, documents and checklist below help you pick a route and prepare.

Choosing between options

Which route do you take to challenge your cadastral value or IBI bill?

• Ask the Catastro to correct a factual error: The record has the wrong owner, area, use, year built, category or plot boundary. You can ask at any time.

• Challenge the cadastral valuation before the Catastro: You disagree with a valuation notice because wrong data was applied to your property. File a recurso de reposición with the Gerencia del Catastro, or a claim with the TEAR, within one month of the notification.

• Challenge the IBI bill before your ayuntamiento: The problem is the tax itself, not the cadastral data.

If the error is in the property data, go to the Catastro. If the problem is only in the bill, go to the ayuntamiento. The valuation report cannot be appealed on its own.

Timeline and deadlines

• Declare a change to the property, such as a new building or extension, to the Catastro: within two months of the change

• Ask the Catastro to correct a factual error in your record: at any time

• Wait for the Catastro to decide on your correction: normally about 6 months after you file

Documents you need

• Proof of identity: your DNI or other ID, needed to get the full certificate with owner details and to file a declaration.

• Modelo 900D, the standard Catastro form for changes to the property itself, such as a new building, extension, change of use or division.

• Title deed or a land registry (Registro de la Propiedad) note, as proof of the change.

• Building licence or end-of-works certificate, if the change is to the building.

• Plans or measurements of the property, to support a corrected area.

Checklist

• Look up your property on the Catastro website by reference or address to see its use, area, year built and cadastral value.

• Get the full certificate with your owner details by identifying yourself with an electronic certificate, DNI electrónico or Cl@ve, or by booking an appointment.

• Compare the owner, share, area, use, year built and quality category with your title deed and plans.

• Gather proof of the correct data, such as the title deed, a building licence or plans.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get back IBI I overpaid in earlier years?

Yes, you can ask your ayuntamiento for a refund of overpaid IBI for up to four years, counted from the day after each payment. A refund includes legal interest.

Can I challenge the cadastral value through my IBI bill?

No, you cannot challenge the cadastral data through the IBI bill, because the bill only covers the tax side. Challenge the data before the Catastro itself. The IBI bill goes to your ayuntamiento, or the provincial tax agency it has handed collection to.

Can I challenge the municipal valuation report itself?

No, you cannot appeal the municipal valuation report (ponencia de valores) on its own, only within the deadline after it is approved or published. You can also challenge it indirectly by appealing your own valuation notice, but only for wrong data applied to your property.

Who do I ask if I do not know whether something is an error?

Ask the Gerencia del Catastro for your province, because it decides whether an item is a correctable fact or part of the general valuation.