By destination · Costa Blanca · Alicante
Spanish taxes in Costa Blanca
The Costa Blanca · Comunidad Valenciana · Región de Murcia tax framework, explained by a licensed colegiado based in Torrevieja.
What property owners in Costa Blanca need to know
Costa Blanca — the 200-km Mediterranean strip running from Dénia down through Benidorm, Altea, Calpe, Jávea, Alicante and Torrevieja to Orihuela Costa — has the highest concentration of foreign property owners of any Spanish coastline (Alicante province leads the country with ~44 % foreign buyers, 2024 data). British, Dutch, German, Belgian and Scandinavian residents all have specific tax obligations driven by Comunidad Valenciana's autonomic rules: 9 % general ITP for accruals from 1 June 2026 under Ley 5/2025 GVA (11 % on the portion above €1,000,000; reduced rates of 6 % or 3 % possible for vivienda habitual up to €180,000), 1.4 % AJD on notarial deeds, 50 % ISD bonification for direct family heirs, and municipal IBI rates that vary widely by town. We are based in Torrevieja and handle every Costa Blanca municipio.
Municipios we cover on the Costa Blanca
Regional tax framework
- ITP general rate
- 9%
- ITP reduced rate (vivienda habitual)
- 6%
- AJD (stamp duty)
- 1,4%
- ISD bonification grupo I/II
- 50%
- Autonomic law reference
- Ley 13/1997 CV
These rates reflect the autonomic (CCAA) framework in force at the time of writing. Municipal IBI rates and bonifications are set separately by each ayuntamiento and we confirm the current figures from the latest ordenanza tax before any filing.
In Costa Blanca: municipal taxes and paperwork
- Plusvalía settled with
- the Costa Blanca town halls
- IBI billed by
- SUMA Gestión Tributaria (Diputación de Alicante)
Municipal plusvalía (IIVTNU) when you sell
Plusvalía municipal — properly the IIVTNU — taxes the increase in the value of the land under a property between the day you bought it and the day you sell it, and it is charged by the town hall, never by the Agencia Tributaria. It is an optional municipal tax (art. 59.2 TRLRHL): every Costa Blanca ayuntamiento levies it, but each one sets its own rate and coefficients in its ordenanza fiscal, within the 30 % statutory ceiling of art. 108 TRLRHL. In an ordinary sale the seller is the taxpayer (art. 106.1.b), with one exception that matters here: when the seller is a non-resident individual, art. 106.2 makes the buyer the substitute taxpayer, which is why the amount is normally retained at the notary's table. Since STC 182/2021 and RDL 26/2021 there are two ways to compute the base and you may take whichever is lower — and where the land produced no gain at all, nothing is due.
Plusvalía calculator →The 3 % retention and modelo 211
When a non-resident sells Spanish property the buyer is legally obliged to withhold 3 % of the agreed price and pay it to AEAT on modelo 211, generally within one month of the notarial deed. This is not an extra cost for the buyer and it is not the seller's final tax: it is a payment on account of the seller's non-resident income tax on the capital gain. The seller then files modelo 210 for the gain — 19 % for EU/EEA residents, 24 % otherwise — and either tops up the difference or reclaims the excess. Selling at a loss or after many years almost always means money to recover, but only if the return is actually filed: no modelo 210, no refund. Keep the stamped modelo 211 the buyer hands over; it is the document the refund rests on.
Guide: selling as a non-resident →IBI: the annual bill and who issues it
IBI is the annual municipal tax on owning the property. It accrues on 1 January (art. 75 TRLRHL), so whoever is registered as owner on that date owes the whole year, and each ayuntamiento sets the rate and the bonifications in its ordenanza fiscal. The part that surprises foreign owners is who sends the bill. Across most of Alicante province the town halls have delegated assessment and collection to SUMA Gestión Tributaria, the Diputación de Alicante's tax body, under art. 7 TRLRHL — so the receipt arrives from SUMA, not from the ayuntamiento. Alicante city and Xàbia bill through their own municipal tax offices, and outside the province — València, Murcia, Cartagena — the ayuntamiento bills you directly. If you live abroad, set up a direct debit: an unpaid IBI does not lapse quietly, because art. 64.1 TRLRHL attaches the debt to the property itself, and it surfaces at the next sale.
IBI calculator →NIE and empadronamiento
The NIE is your Spanish tax identity: without it you cannot sign an escritura, open the utility contracts or file a modelo 210. It is applied for on form EX-15, the fee is €9.84 (form 790, code 012), and the authorities must resolve within five days. In Spain the application is made by prior appointment at the Oficina de Extranjería or an authorised National Police station in Alicante province; from abroad, at the Spanish consulate for your area or through a representative with a power of attorney that expressly covers it. Empadronamiento is a completely different thing and it is municipal: under Ley 7/1985 anyone who habitually lives in Spain must register in the padrón of the town where they live, and the certificate is what the ayuntamiento asks for before granting local bonifications, a health card or a school place. You do not need padrón to obtain a NIE (RD 1155/2024 art. 205.1), and an owner who only uses the property for holidays does not register at all.
Guide: how to get a NIE →Municipal rates, coefficients and bonifications are set by each ayuntamiento in its ordenanza fiscal and revised every year, so none are quoted here. We read the ordenanza in force and confirm the exact figures before any filing.
Specific questions about Costa Blanca
Which Costa Blanca town has the lowest property tax for non-residents?
IBI rates and bonifications vary by ordenanza fiscal municipal. As an order of magnitude, urban IBI rates on the Costa Blanca sit between 0.4 % and 0.75 % of cadastral value depending on the town; Torrevieja and Orihuela offer direct-debit and family bonifications, Benidorm has stricter terms, Valencia capital has a structured familia-numerosa bonification. We always quote the exact current rate before any compraventa closes.
Is the ISD inheritance bonification the same across all Costa Blanca?
Yes for the autonomic part: every town in Comunidad Valenciana applies the 50 % grupo I/II bonification under Ley 13/1997 art. 12 bis. The cross-CCAA gap matters when comparing Costa Blanca (CV) vs. Costa Cálida (Región de Murcia) — Murcia historically bonifies grupo I and II at higher percentages. We compare both side-by-side when a property straddles the border.
Do I need a local Costa Blanca advisor or can a Madrid gestoría handle it?
Technically a Madrid gestoría can file modelo 210 anywhere in Spain. Practically, the autonomic ITP/ISD bonifications, the per-municipio IBI ordinance bonifications, and the language coverage (UK/NL/DE/RU) are where local specialisation matters. We're physically based in Torrevieja, hold the CV colegio number, and read every ordenanza fiscal that comes out of the Costa Blanca town halls.
Is the plusvalía municipal the same across the whole Costa Blanca?
No. IIVTNU is a municipal tax: each ayuntamiento fixes its own rate and its own coefficients in its ordenanza fiscal, under the 30 % ceiling of art. 108 TRLRHL, so the same gain produces a different bill in Dénia and in Torrevieja. What is identical everywhere is the mechanism — two calculation methods since RDL 26/2021, the lower one applies, and no tax at all where the land produced no gain. We run both methods against the current ordenanza before completion.
Recent regulatory changes
Comunidad Valenciana consolidated its ISD bonification for groups I and II at 50 % in the recent revision of Ley 13/1997 (art. 12 bis), confirming the Costa Blanca as one of the friendliest inheritance regions for direct family heirs. Several Costa Blanca town halls (Valencia capital, Alicante, Torrevieja) refreshed their IBI ordenanzas for 2025-2026 with adjusted family-bonification thresholds. We track BOE + DOGV + each municipal BOP weekly.