Inheritance Tax in Spain: Valencia Region Guide 2026
Inheriting a home on the Costa Blanca sounds far more frightening than it usually turns out to be. Spanish inheritance and gift tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones) is governed by Ley 29/1987, but the body that decides the real bill is the autonomous region: in the Valencia region (Comunitat Valenciana), a spouse, children and parents apply a reduction of €100,000 per heir and a 99% credit against the tax due, and the deceased's habitual residence carries a further 95% reduction capped at €150,000 per heir. Non-resident heirs have been entitled to those same Valencian rules since the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment of 3 September 2014, including residents of third countries such as the United Kingdom after Brexit. What is genuinely expensive is the clock: 6 months from the date of death, and the extension can only be requested during the first five. This guide explains every piece of it, under the rules in force in 2026.
Quick answer
Inheriting a home in the Valencia region is taxed under Spanish inheritance tax, with a €100,000 reduction per heir in Groups I and II and a 99% credit against the tax due. The modelo 650 must be filed within 6 months of the date of death, extendable by another 6.
Reviewed by
Valery Grinkevich
Licensed economist · tax adviser · 20+ years of experience · Torrevieja, Costa Blanca
Key takeaways
- In the Valencia region, Groups I and II (spouse, children, parents) apply a 99% credit against the inheritance tax due, with no cap on the amount.
- The regional family-relationship reduction is €100,000 per heir in Groups I and II, against the €15,956.87 of the state rules.
- The deceased's habitual residence carries a 95% reduction capped at €150,000 per heir with a 5-year holding period, better than the €122,606.47 and 10 years of the state regime.
- New for 2026: siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces by blood (Group III) have a 25% credit for deaths from 1 June 2026, rising to 50% on 1 June 2027.
- The deadline is 6 months from the date of death, and the further 6-month extension can only be applied for within the first five months, counted from date to date: once that fifth month has passed, the extension is refused.
- Non-resident heirs, including those in third countries such as the United Kingdom, apply the Valencian regional rules even when they file with the State tax administration.
- The taxable base of the property is the Catastro reference value at the date of death, not the cadastral value and not a valuation figure.
On this page
- How much inheritance tax will you pay on a home in the Valencia region?
- What Spanish inheritance tax charges, and when the tax debt arises
- Why the bill changes so much from one Spanish region to another
- Groups I to IV and unmarried couples: where each heir fits
- State reductions vs Valencian reductions for close family
- The main-home reduction for the deceased's habitual residence
- The 99% credit on the tax bill, and the new relief for siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces
- The 6-month deadline for Spanish inheritance tax and the 6-month extension
- Modelo 650, modelo 652 and where each one is filed
- Inheriting property in Spain as a non-resident: case C-127/12 and third countries
- The Catastro reference value as the taxable base
- Plusvalía municipal on an inherited home, and its own deadlines
- Spanish will vs English will: foreign wills and EU Regulation 650/2012
- What happens if you miss the 6-month deadline: surcharges and interest
- How to settle an inheritance that includes a home in the Valencia region
- Frequently asked questions
How much inheritance tax will you pay on a home in the Valencia region?
A spouse, a child or a parent inheriting a home in the Valencia region pays very little Spanish inheritance tax: a 99% credit (bonificación) is applied to the resulting tax bill, and before that a family-relationship reduction of €100,000 has already been deducted for each heir. The headline Valencian scale runs from 7.65% to 34%, but quoting that rate without the reduction and without the credit is the single most repeated mistake on pages written for foreign owners.
The calculation always follows the same order. First you add up the value of all the assets — the property at its Catastro reference value — plus 3% for household goods, and you deduct debts and allowable expenses. Then you apply the reductions each heir is entitled to. The regional rate scale and the multiplier coefficient for pre-existing wealth are applied to the net taxable base. And only at the very end, on the tax due, does the credit come in.
The result changes radically depending on who inherits and where the deceased lived. A sibling, a nephew or an unregistered partner has neither the €100,000 reduction nor the 99% credit, and on top of that faces much higher multiplier coefficients. That is why the first question to answer is not what the house is worth, but which family-relationship group each heir falls into.
What Spanish inheritance tax charges, and when the tax debt arises
Spanish inheritance tax is charged on what each heir receives individually, not on the estate as a whole, and the debt arises on the day the deceased dies, under article 24.1 of Ley 29/1987. That date, the accrual date (devengo), determines which rules apply: the ones in force that day, not the ones in force when the deed of acceptance is signed or when the modelo 650 is filed.
An heir who is tax resident in Spain is taxed on everything received, wherever the assets are located — what the law calls personal liability. A non-resident heir is taxed only on assets and rights located in Spain, under real liability. In the typical Costa Blanca estate — a home in Torrevieja, Guardamar or Jávea plus a Spanish bank account — the outcome is usually the same, but the distinction becomes decisive when the deceased held wealth outside Spain.
Household goods (ajuar doméstico) are always added to the estate, and article 15 of Ley 29/1987 sets them at 3% of the estate unless proved otherwise. Pulling in the other direction, you deduct the deceased's properly evidenced debts, the mortgage still outstanding on the property and allowable expenses. Documenting those items well reduces the taxable base even before the regional reductions come into play.
Why the bill changes so much from one Spanish region to another
Spanish inheritance tax is a state tax ceded to the autonomous regions, which is why the same estate can cost thousands of euros in one territory and almost nothing in another. Ley 29/1987 sets the skeleton — taxable event, family-relationship groups, minimum reductions, default rate scale and coefficients — while each region can improve the reductions, approve its own scale and grant a credit against the tax. The Valencia region does exactly that in Ley 13/1997 de la Generalitat.
The connecting factor that decides which regional rules apply is the habitual residence of the deceased, understood as the region where they spent the most days over the five years immediately before death. Where the heirs live is irrelevant to this rule: children living in Manchester or Amsterdam apply the Valencian rules if their father was resident in Altea.
Every regional figure in this guide belongs to the Valencia region and does not apply in Madrid, Andalucía, Cataluña or neighbouring Murcia, each of which has its own reductions and credits. If the deceased was not resident in Spain, the applicable rules are those of the region where the greatest value of the assets located in Spanish territory lies: with a single home on the Costa Blanca, that means Valencia.
Groups I to IV and unmarried couples: where each heir fits
Article 20.2 of Ley 29/1987 sorts heirs into four groups, and the reduction, the multiplier coefficient and the credit all depend on that classification. Group I is descendants and adopted children under 21. Group II is descendants and adopted children aged 21 or over, the spouse, ascendants and adoptive parents. Group III is second- and third-degree collaterals — siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces — plus ascendants and descendants by affinity. Group IV is fourth-degree collaterals, more distant degrees and unrelated persons.
The difference is not a matter of nuance. In the Valencia region, Groups I and II have multiplier coefficients running from 1.0000 to 1.2000 depending on the heir's pre-existing wealth. Group III faces coefficients of 1.5882 to 1.9059 and Group IV of 2.0000 to 2.4000 — in other words, the tax is more than doubled before any credit is applied.
For unmarried couples, registration changes everything. Article 12 quáter of Ley 13/1997 treats as spouses — and therefore places in Group II — de facto couples whose union meets the requirements of Ley 5/2012 de la Generalitat on formalised de facto unions in the Valencia region and is also entered in the Valencian register of formalised de facto unions (Registro de Uniones de Hecho Formalizadas) or in comparable registers of other Spanish public administrations, of the European Union, of the European Economic Area or of third countries. Without that double requirement, the partner falls into Group IV: no family-relationship reduction, the highest multiplier coefficient and no credit.
Watch out
For a British, Irish or Russian couple with a civil partnership registered at home, checking whether that register counts as comparable to the Valencian one is probably the highest-impact tax question in the whole estate. The gap between Group II and Group IV is the gap between a €100,000 reduction plus a 99% credit and having neither of them.
State reductions vs Valencian reductions for close family
In the Valencia region the family-relationship reduction is €100,000 for each heir in Groups I and II, far above the €15,956.87 set by the default state rules for that same Group II. It is a reduction per heir and not per estate: three children inheriting their father's home in equal shares bring €300,000 of reductions to the estate before the regional rate scale is applied.
Heirs in Group I add €8,000 for each year they are short of 21, up to a maximum of €156,000. Group III has no regional reduction of its own, so the state figure of €7,993.46 applies, and Group IV has no family-relationship reduction at all. Where relevant, the Valencian disability reduction is added on top: €120,000 for a degree of 33% or more, and €240,000 for a degree of disability of 65% or more, or for permanently recognised intellectual or mental disability of 33% or more.
There are also reductions that do not depend on the family relationship. Life insurance proceeds received by the spouse, ascendants or descendants attract a 100% reduction capped at €9,195.49 per taxpayer, whatever the number of policies. And the transfer of a sole trader business, a professional business or qualifying shareholdings attracts a 99% reduction in the Valencia region with a 5-year holding period, against 95% and 10 years under the state regime.
The main-home reduction for the deceased's habitual residence
The deceased's habitual residence attracts a 95% reduction of its value, capped at €150,000 per taxpayer and subject to keeping the property for 5 years, under article 10.Uno.c) of Ley 13/1997. That is appreciably better than the equivalent state reduction, which applies the same 95% but with a cap of €122,606.47 and a 10-year holding period.
Not every heir can claim it. Only the spouse, ascendants, descendants, or a collateral relative over 65 who had lived with the deceased for the two years before death. A nephew who inherits the property but did not live with his uncle cannot access this reduction, however genuinely the property was the deceased's main home.
The decisive requirement is that the property was the deceased's habitual residence, not the heir's. A holiday second home in Dénia or Orihuela Costa belonging to someone who lived in Manchester or Düsseldorf gives no right to this reduction, although it does still qualify for the €100,000 family-relationship reduction and the 99% credit. It is a distinction that many English-language guides leave out, and it produces incorrect self-assessments.
Example
Two children inherit their mother's main home in Alicante in equal shares. Each applies their own family-relationship reduction of €100,000 and, on their half of the property, the 95% reduction with the €150,000 cap per heir. The 99% credit is then applied to whatever tax remains after the rate scale and the coefficient. If they sell within 5 years they lose the main-home reduction and must regularise within 1 month with late-payment interest.
The 99% credit on the tax bill, and the new relief for siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces
The Valencia region grants a 99% credit against the tax due on inheritances received by heirs in Groups I and II, with no cap on the amount. It is set out in article 12 bis of Ley 13/1997 as worded by Ley 6/2023 de la Generalitat, with effect for taxable events accruing from 28 May 2023. This is the piece that explains why an inheritance between parents and children is barely taxed at all in this region.
The development that almost no published content picks up is that Group III is no longer excluded. Second- and third-degree collaterals by blood — siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces — have a 25% credit against the tax due for taxable events accruing from 1 June 2026, and 50% from 1 June 2027, under the amendments introduced by Ley 5/2025 de la Generalitat. The date that governs is the date of death, not the date the modelo 650 is filed.
The nuance deserves careful reading. The Group III credit reaches only blood relatives: ascendants and descendants by affinity are left out, even though the state law places them in that same group. Group IV still has no credit whatsoever. And there is a separate 99% credit for people with a degree of disability of 65% or more, or with permanently recognised intellectual or mental disability of 33% or more, which is mutually exclusive: you apply one or the other, never both.
Watch out
The credit is neither automatic nor unconditional. It reaches only the part of the tax corresponding to assets declared in a self-assessment filed within the voluntary period, or filed late but without a prior demand from the tax authority. If the tax authority uncovers an undeclared account or property during a review, that slice of the tax loses the 99% and is paid in full.
The 6-month deadline for Spanish inheritance tax and the 6-month extension
The deadline to file and pay Spanish inheritance tax is 6 months from the date of death, under article 67.1.a) of the tax's Regulation and article 12 ter of Ley 13/1997. It is not a deadline to accept the inheritance or to see a notary: it is the deadline for the self-assessment to be filed and paid, with every preliminary formality already resolved.
You can apply for an extension of an equal period, that is, 6 additional months, taking the total to 12 months from the date of death. The application must be filed within the first five months of the filing period and must enclose the death certificate, the names, addresses and relationship of the heirs, the location and approximate value of the assets and the reasons for the request. If a month passes without notification, the extension is deemed granted by positive silence.
The extension is not free: once granted, it carries the obligation to pay late-payment interest from the end of the sixth month until filing. What it avoids is late-filing surcharges and the risk of penalties, not the interest. If what you actually need is to unfreeze a bank account or collect on a life policy before settling the whole estate, the Regulation also allows a partial self-assessment on account.
Watch out
The window to apply for the extension is absolute. The tax's Regulation provides that no extension will be granted where the application is filed after the first five months of the filing period have elapsed. Those five months run from date to date from the death, not in days: submitted a single day later, it is simply refused. It is the most expensive mistake made by the heir who remembers the tax at the last minute, and there is no way to put it right afterwards.
Modelo 650, modelo 652 and where each one is filed
The modelo 650 is the self-assessment form for inheritance and gift tax on acquisitions on death, and one form is filed per taxpayer, not one per estate. Four heirs means four modelo 650 forms, each with its own reductions, its own family-relationship group and its own pre-existing wealth. Online filing is available with a digital certificate, which is particularly useful when the heirs live outside Spain.
The modelo 652 should not be filed. It used to be the simplified return for acquisitions on death and was abolished by Orden HAP/2488/2014, with no effect from 1 January 2015. The forms in force are the modelo 650 for inheritances, the modelo 651 for gifts and the modelo 655 for consolidation of ownership on the extinction of a usufruct at state level. In the Valencia region, consolidation of ownership is declared on the modelo 650 itself, enclosing the deed that split the ownership and the tax number of the usufructuary.
Which counter you go to depends on whether the heir is a Spanish tax resident. If both the heir and the deceased were resident in the Valencia region, the modelo 650 is filed with the Valencian tax authority (Agència Tributària Valenciana), at the settlement office for the municipality of the deceased's habitual residence, or online with a digital certificate. Every non-resident heir files with the State tax administration (AEAT, Oficina Nacional de Gestión Tributaria), even where the deceased was habitually resident in the Valencia region, and the State is also competent when the deceased was non-resident. That is the combination that confuses people most: regional rules, state counter.
Inheriting property in Spain as a non-resident: case C-127/12 and third countries
Non-resident heirs can indeed apply the Valencian regional rules, including the €100,000 reduction and the 99% credit. This is recognised by the second additional provision of Ley 29/1987, which the Spanish legislator introduced to bring the tax into line with the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment of 3 September 2014, case C-127/12, which held that the difference in treatment between residents and non-residents breached the free movement of capital.
The rule has two branches. If the deceased was not resident in Spain, the rules of the region where the greatest value of the estate's assets located in Spanish territory lies will apply: a villa in Jávea or an apartment in Torrevieja lead to the Valencian rules. If the deceased was resident in a particular region, non-resident heirs apply that region's rules.
The extension to residents outside the European Union and the European Economic Area is settled law. The Spanish Supreme Court judgments of 19 February and of 21 and 22 March 2018, binding ruling V3151-18 of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Ley 11/2021 moved the second additional provision to speak of taxpayers with no limitation by country of residence. It covers British, American, Swiss, Russian and Kazakh heirs. In practice, a non-resident heir will need a Spanish tax number (NIE) in order to self-assess and register the property, and should weigh up whether appointing a fiscal representative in Spain is worthwhile.
Tip
Brexit did not strip British heirs of the regional reliefs. The basis for equal treatment is not the free movement of people but the free movement of capital under article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which applies to non-member States as well. An heir resident in the United Kingdom today applies the same €100,000 and the same 99% as an heir resident in Alicante.
The Catastro reference value as the taxable base
Since Ley 11/2021, the taxable base of an inherited property is its Catastro reference value at the accrual date, unless the value declared by the heirs is higher, in which case the declared value governs. This is set out in article 9.3 of Ley 29/1987. The reference value is not the cadastral value shown on the council tax (IBI) bill, nor is it a mortgage valuation: it is a value of its own that the Catastro publishes and that can be checked on its electronic office.
Where no reference value has been published for the property, the taxable base is the higher of two figures: the value declared by the parties or the market value. And if the reference value looks disproportionate, article 9.4 sets out one specific route: challenge it when appealing the assessment or when applying to rectify the self-assessment. In practice, you pay first and argue later.
The Spanish Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of this system in 2026, in judgment 13/2026 of 12 February, handed down on transfer tax (ITP) but with reasoning that carries over to inheritance tax: it treats the reference value as a rebuttable presumption (iuris tantum) that requires sufficient evidence to the contrary. It is therefore worth checking the reference value on the Catastro electronic office before signing the deed, and keeping valuations, surveyors' reports or evidence of the property's real condition if you intend to dispute the value: without supporting evidence, a rectification rarely succeeds.
Plusvalía municipal on an inherited home, and its own deadlines
The plusvalía municipal, formally the tax on the increase in urban land value (Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana), is a separate formality before the town hall where the property is located, with a deadline of its own: 6 months from the date of death, extendable up to one year at the taxpayer's request, under article 110.2.b) of the consolidated Local Finance Act. These are two authorities and two separate files: an extension for inheritance tax does not extend the plusvalía.
You must declare even when nothing is payable. Article 104.5 of the same text treats as outside the scope of the tax those transfers where the absence of any increase in value between the deceased's acquisition and the death is evidenced, but that absence has to be proved by producing the acquisition and transfer deeds. It is also worth comparing the result of the objective method, based on maximum coefficients that the law sets between 0.09 and 0.40 according to years of ownership, with the actual increase, and applying whichever is lower.
The exact amount depends on each municipality's tax bylaw and on the cadastral value of the land, so Torrevieja, Orihuela, Guardamar or Dénia can produce different results for equivalent properties. What does not create a cost is income tax on the deceased: article 33.3.b) of the Personal Income Tax Act excludes any capital gain on transfers on death, so heirs do not inherit a latent income tax gain. That will appear if they later sell the home.
Spanish will vs English will: foreign wills and EU Regulation 650/2012
The law governing the succession of a foreign national who dies in Spain is, as a general rule, the law of their habitual residence at the time of death, under article 21 of Regulation (EU) 650/2012, applicable to successions opened from 17 August 2015. The exception is the professio iuris of article 22: the testator can expressly choose the law of their nationality in the will.
The practical consequence takes many families by surprise. A British national resident in Torrevieja who did not include a choice-of-law clause passes under Spanish succession law, with its forced-heirship shares, and not under English law of free disposition. The fact that the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark are not bound by the Regulation changes nothing: in Spain the Regulation applies universally, including to the succession of a national of those States.
Where there is a will made outside Spain, or foreign succession documents, they have to be legalised or apostilled and translated by a sworn translator, and it is worth considering whether to obtain a European Certificate of Succession, which the Regulation itself creates to evidence heirship in another Member State. It is also worth knowing that, where the document was executed before a foreign official, the limitation period runs from the moment it is submitted to a Spanish authority: a foreign estate does not quietly time out.
What happens if you miss the 6-month deadline: surcharges and interest
Filing the modelo 650 after the 6 months, but on your own initiative and without a prior demand from the tax authority, triggers a surcharge of 1% plus a further 1% for each full month of delay, up to twelve months. From month thirteen the surcharge is 15% and late-payment interest is added. This is set out in article 27.2 of the General Tax Act as worded by Ley 11/2021.
The old 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% scale still circulating online no longer exists. In addition, article 27.5 provides for a 25% reduction of the surcharge if the rest of the surcharge and the debt are paid within the period opened by the notification, or under a secured deferral applied for in time. Tax late-payment interest sits at around 4% a year and is set in the annual Budget Act, so it is worth checking the rate in force at the moment of regularising.
The serious scenario is a different one: the tax authority getting there first. In that case there is no late-filing surcharge but there is the possibility of penalty proceedings on the tax not paid, and the part of the tax corresponding to the assets uncovered loses the 99% credit. The authority's right to assess lapses after 4 years counted from the end of the filing period, which in practice places the limitation point at four and a half years from the date of death.
Step-by-step
How to settle an inheritance that includes a home in the Valencia region
Obtain the full death certificate
Apply for the full death certificate (certificado literal de defunción) at the Civil Registry of the place of death; it is free and nothing else can start without it. If the death occurred outside Spain, you will need the foreign certificate apostilled under the Hague Convention and translated by a sworn translator before you can produce it to a notary or to the tax authority.
Request the last-will certificate and the insurance certificate
The certificate of last wills (certificado de actos de última voluntad) cannot be requested until 15 working days have passed since the death, and it is applied for on form 790 code 006, with a fee of €3.86. Request the certificate of death-cover insurance contracts at the same time: it uncovers mortgage-linked life policies that form part of the estate.
Get the authorised copy of the will or the declaration of heirs
The last-will certificate identifies the notary holding the last will, so you can request an authorised copy from them. If there is no Spanish will, you will need a notarial deed declaring the intestate heirs, which requires two witnesses and which the notary resolves once 20 working days have passed from the initial request.
Inventory the assets and check the reference value
Gather the land registry extract and the IBI bill for each property, bank balances at the date of death, vehicles, insurance policies, debts and mortgages. Check the property's reference value on the Catastro electronic office, because that is the taxable base. Every non-resident heir needs a NIE in order to self-assess the tax and later register the home in their name.
Decide on the extension before the fifth month
If by around the fourth month the paperwork is not closed — a foreign will, heirs who cannot be traced, a dispute over value — apply for the 6-month extension within the first five months of the period, enclosing the death certificate, the heirs' details, the location and approximate value of the assets and the reasons. If a month passes with no reply, it is deemed granted.
Sign the deed of acceptance and distribution of the estate
All the heirs appear before a notary, or an attorney under a notarial power of attorney that has been apostilled and translated, which is the usual route for those living outside Spain. The deed sets out the inventory, the value of each asset and the specific allocation to each heir. It is the title that will allow the home to be registered and, later on, sold.
File and pay the modelo 650
File one modelo 650 per heir within 6 months from the date of death, or within 12 months if you obtained an extension, with the Agència Tributària Valenciana only if the heir is resident in Spain and the deceased lived in the Valencia region; if the heir is non-resident, or the deceased was, file with the State tax administration (AEAT, Oficina Nacional de Gestión Tributaria). Enclose the deed, the certificates, the will or declaration of heirs, the statement of pre-existing wealth and the evidence supporting the reductions.
Settle the plusvalía municipal at the town hall
Declare the tax on the increase in urban land value at the town hall where the home is located, within the same 6-month period, extendable up to one year. Declare even if nothing is payable: if there was no increase in value between the deceased's acquisition and the death, you will have to evidence it by producing the acquisition and transfer deeds.
Register the property and tidy up what comes afterwards
With the deed, the filed modelo 650 and the plusvalía receipt, register the property in the heirs' names at the Land Registry. Then change the name on the IBI and the utility supplies and, if you are non-resident, include the home in your annual non-resident income tax return on the modelo 210 for as long as you keep it.
| Group | Who it covers | Family-relationship reduction | Credit against the tax due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group I | Descendants and adopted children under 21 | €100,000 + €8,000 for each year under 21, up to €156,000 | 99% |
| Group II | Descendants and adopted children aged 21 or over, spouse, ascendants and adoptive parents | €100,000 per heir | 99% |
| Group III | Siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces; ascendants and descendants by affinity | €7,993.46 (state reduction) | 25% from 1 June 2026 and 50% from 1 June 2027, blood relatives only |
| Group IV | Fourth-degree collaterals, more distant degrees and unrelated persons | No family-relationship reduction | No credit |
| Item | State rules (Ley 29/1987) | Valencia region (Ley 13/1997) |
|---|---|---|
| Reduction percentage | 95% | 95% |
| Cap per taxpayer | €122,606.47 | €150,000 |
| Holding period required | 10 years | 5 years |
| Group II family-relationship reduction | €15,956.87 | €100,000 |
| Formality | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Apply for the inheritance tax extension | Within the first 5 months | Art. 68.2 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulation |
| File and pay the modelo 650 | 6 months from the date of death | Art. 67.1.a) of the Regulation; art. 12 ter Ley 13/1997 |
| File with an extension granted | 12 months from the date of death, with late-payment interest | Arts. 68.1 and 68.6 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulation |
| Declare the plusvalía municipal | 6 months, extendable up to 1 year | Art. 110.2.b) of the consolidated Local Finance Act |
| Regularise after losing a tax relief | 1 month from the breach, with interest | Art. 12 ter.Dos Ley 13/1997 |
| Limitation of the authority's right to assess | 4 years from the end of the filing period | Art. 66 General Tax Act |
| Situation | Surcharge | Extras |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 12 months late | 1% plus 1% for each full month of delay | No late-payment interest and no penalty |
| More than 12 months late | 15% | Plus late-payment interest from month 13 |
| Surcharge and debt paid within the period given | 25% reduction of the surcharge | The 15% becomes 11.25% |
| Regularising after a demand from the tax authority | No late-filing surcharge | Possible penalty and loss of the credit on undeclared assets |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much inheritance tax will I pay in the Valencia region?
Very little where the spouse, children or parents inherit: a reduction of €100,000 per heir applies, plus a 99% credit against the tax due. The Valencian scale runs from 7.65% to 34%, but it is applied to the base left after the reductions and before the credit, so the final amount on an average home is usually marginal.
How long do you have to pay inheritance tax in Spain?
The deadline is 6 months from the date of death, and within that period the self-assessment must be both filed and paid. You can apply for a further 6-month extension, taking the total to 12 months. The clock does not run from the reading of the will or from signing the deed, but from the death itself.
What happens if you miss the 6-month inheritance tax deadline in Spain?
If you file late on your own initiative, you pay a surcharge of 1% plus 1% for each full month of delay up to twelve months; from month thirteen, 15% plus late-payment interest. If the tax authority demands first, there is no surcharge but there is a possible penalty, and the part of the tax relating to undeclared assets loses the 99% credit.
How and when do I apply for the six-month extension?
The extension must be applied for within the first five months of the filing period, enclosing the death certificate, the names, addresses and relationship of the heirs, the location and approximate value of the assets and the reasons. If a month passes without notification, it is deemed granted. Submitted after the fifth month, the authority refuses it.
Can a non-resident heir apply the Valencian 99% credit?
Yes. The second additional provision of Ley 29/1987 recognises the right of non-resident taxpayers to apply the relevant regional rules, following the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment of 3 September 2014. Where the deceased was resident in the Valencia region, or the highest-value property is located there, the Valencian rules apply.
Did British owners lose the regional reliefs because of Brexit?
No. Equal treatment between residents and non-residents rests on the free movement of capital under article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which applies to third States as well. The Spanish Supreme Court judgments of 2018, the doctrine of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Ley 11/2021 confirmed that it reaches residents outside the European Union.
Do I need a NIE to inherit property in Spain?
Yes, every foreign heir who does not already hold a Spanish tax number. Spanish heirs identify themselves with their DNI; foreign heirs need a NIE in order to file the self-assessment, pay the tax and register the home in their name at the Land Registry. It is worth starting the application early in the process, because appointment and processing times can eat up weeks of the 6-month deadline.
Which form do I file: modelo 650 or modelo 652?
The modelo 650, and one form per taxpayer rather than one per estate: four heirs means four modelo 650 forms, each with its own reductions, its own group and its own pre-existing wealth. The modelo 652, the old simplified return for acquisitions on death, was abolished by Orden HAP/2488/2014 and has had no effect since 1 January 2015. Gifts use the modelo 651 and consolidation of ownership the modelo 655 at state level.
Where is the modelo 650 filed if the deceased did not live in Spain?
With the State tax administration (AEAT, Oficina Nacional de Gestión Tributaria), not the Agència Tributària Valenciana, even though the Valencian rules apply because the greatest value of the assets lies in the Valencia region. You also file with the AEAT where the deceased was habitually resident in the Valencia region but the heir is non-resident: the tax is only assigned to the Generalitat in respect of taxpayers resident in Spain. Only where heir and deceased both live here does the modelo 650 go to the Agència Tributària Valenciana, at the settlement office for their municipality.
What value do I declare for the inherited property?
The Catastro reference value at the date of death, unless the value declared by the heirs is higher. It is not the cadastral value on the IBI bill and it is not a valuation figure. If no reference value has been published for the property, you take the higher of the declared value and the market value.
Do you pay plusvalía municipal when you inherit a home?
Yes, unless you can evidence that there has been no increase in the land value. It is a separate formality before the town hall, with a 6-month deadline extendable up to one year. Even where the outcome is that the tax does not apply, you must declare and produce the acquisition and transfer deeds to prove it.
Do siblings, nephews and nieces get any relief in the Valencia region?
Yes, from 2026. Second- and third-degree collaterals by blood — siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces — have a 25% credit against the tax due for deaths occurring from 1 June 2026, rising to 50% for deaths from 1 June 2027. Relatives by affinity and Group IV still have no credit.
What taxes apply if we later sell the inherited property?
The sale generates a capital gain under income tax or non-resident income tax, calculated on the value declared in the estate and not on what the deceased paid, plus a fresh plusvalía municipal. The buyer pays Transfer Tax (ITP), which in the Valencia region is 9% as a general rule and 11% where the value exceeds €1,000,000, for transactions accruing from 1 June 2026.
Spanish will or English will: which law applies to a British owner living in Torrevieja?
Spanish law applies, unless the will expressly chose the law of their nationality. Regulation (EU) 650/2012 applies the law of the deceased's habitual residence at death, and in Spain it applies universally even though the United Kingdom is not bound by it. With no choice-of-law clause, the succession is governed by Spanish law, with its forced-heirship shares.
Sources
- Ley 29/1987, Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (arts. 9, 15, 20 to 25 and second additional provision)
- Real Decreto 1629/1991, Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulation (arts. 67, 68 and 89: deadlines, extension and partial self-assessment)
- Ley 13/1997 de la Generalitat Valenciana (arts. 10, 11, 12 bis, 12 ter and 12 quáter)
- Ley 6/2023 de la Generalitat Valenciana: 99% Valencian inheritance tax credit from 28 May 2023
- Ley 5/2025 de la Generalitat Valenciana: Group III credit from 1 June 2026
- Ley 58/2003, General Tax Act (arts. 26, 27 and 66: interest, surcharges and limitation periods)
- Ley 11/2021 on the prevention of tax fraud: the reference value and the new surcharge scale
- Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004, Local Finance Act (arts. 104, 107 and 110: plusvalía municipal)
- Ley 35/2006, Personal Income Tax Act (art. 33.3.b): no capital gain arises on transfers on death
- Orden HAP/2488/2014: approves forms 650, 651 and 655 and abolishes form 652
- Generalitat Valenciana — official procedure sheet for the modelo 650 inheritance tax return
- Agencia Tributaria — Inheritance and Gift Tax for non-residents (modelo 650)
- Regulation (EU) 650/2012 on succession and the European Certificate of Succession (arts. 21, 22 and 83)
- CJEU judgment of 3 September 2014, case C-127/12 (European Commission v Kingdom of Spain)
- Constitutional Court judgment 13/2026 of 12 February: constitutionality of the Catastro reference value
- Ministry of Justice — Certificate of Last Wills (form 790-006)
Last updated: 2026-08-01