By destination · Orihuela Costa · Alicante
Spansk skatt i Orihuela Costa
Modelo 210, IBI-rabatter, ITP og arveavgift (ISD) for boligeiere i Orihuela Costa — håndtert av en lisensiert colegiado som selv bor på Costa Blanca.
What property owners in Orihuela Costa need to know
Orihuela Costa — covering Playa Flamenca, Cabo Roig, Campoamor and Villamartín — runs the highest foreign-buyer ratio in the entire province of Alicante (~87 %, 2024 data). Despite the "Costa" name, Orihuela Costa is fiscally part of Orihuela municipio inland: the IBI ordenanza, plusvalía municipal and ITP authority all answer to the Orihuela town hall, not Torrevieja. This distinction trips up many newly-arrived British, Dutch and Belgian owners.
Top services for Orihuela Costa
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 fiscal before any filing.
In Orihuela Costa: municipal taxes and paperwork
- Plusvalía settled with
- Ayuntamiento de Orihuela
- IBI billed by
- SUMA Gestión Tributaria (Diputación de Alicante)
Municipal plusvalía (IIVTNU) when you sell
Orihuela Costa is a coastal district of the municipality of Orihuela, whose town hall sits some twenty-five kilometres inland — and it is that ayuntamiento, not the beach urbanisation, that levies the plusvalía municipal and sets its rate in the ordenanza fiscal. The IIVTNU falls on the increase in land value, which in the low-density urbanisations of the south costa is a larger share of the price than in an apartment block. The seller is the taxpayer under art. 106.1.b TRLRHL, but for a non-resident seller art. 106.2 shifts the obligation to the buyer as substitute taxpayer. Two calculation methods have coexisted since RDL 26/2021 and the taxpayer takes the lower; a sale below the purchase price triggers no tax at all, which after the 2008-2013 correction is still a live scenario here.
Plusvalía calculator →The 3 % retention and modelo 211
Orihuela Costa turns over a lot of second-hand villas and townhouses owned by British, Irish, Scandinavian and Belgian sellers, and virtually all of them are non-residents — so the 3 % retention is the norm at completion. The buyer keeps back 3 % of the price and files modelo 211 with AEAT within a month of the deed; the seller settles the actual gain on modelo 210 at 19 % (EU/EEA) or 24 %. Two local traps recur. First, joint owners: each non-resident co-owner files their own modelo 210 for their share, and the 3 % is apportioned the same way. Second, the community and IBI arrears that surface during the pre-completion checks — they do not affect the retention, but they do delay the refund because AEAT expects the seller to be current on the property's own obligations.
Guide: selling as a non-resident →IBI: the annual bill and who issues it
IBI in Orihuela Costa is billed by SUMA Gestión Tributaria, not by the Ayuntamiento de Orihuela: the municipality delegated assessment and collection to the Diputación de Alicante's tax body under art. 7 TRLRHL, so the receipt, the direct-debit mandate and any appeal all go through SUMA. The rate and the bonifications remain the ayuntamiento's own decision in its ordenanza fiscal and are revised annually, so the current figure has to be read from the live ordenanza. Two things are worth knowing here. Cadastral values in the coastal urbanisations were set in valuation exercises that do not always match what the property is worth today, and correcting a wrong cadastral description is a Catastro procedure, not a SUMA one. And because IBI accrues on 1 January (art. 75 TRLRHL), a purchase completed in June still leaves that year's whole receipt with the seller unless the contract says otherwise.
IBI calculator →NIE and empadronamiento
You will need a NIE before you can sign anything in Orihuela Costa, and the practical route for a buyer who is still abroad is either the consulate in your own country or a Spanish power of attorney that expressly authorises the EX-15 application, so the number is ready on completion day. In Spain it is the EX-15, the €9.84 fee on form 790 code 012, and an appointment in Alicante province. Empadronamiento is the municipal register kept by the Ayuntamiento de Orihuela and covers residents of the coastal district as well as the inland town. It matters more here than people expect: the padrón is what proves habitual residence for municipal bonifications and services, and — because the register drives the town's funding and its foreign-resident representation — the ayuntamiento actively encourages coastal residents to sign on. It is required only of those who actually live here; holiday owners do not register.
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 Orihuela Costa
Is Orihuela Costa a separate municipality for tax purposes?
No. Orihuela Costa is administratively part of Orihuela municipio (the inland town). All municipal taxes — IBI, plusvalía municipal, vado licences — are settled with the Orihuela town hall ordenanza fiscal, not Torrevieja. The cadastral references for Orihuela Costa urbanisations all start with the Orihuela INE code 03099.
My urbanisation charges a fee — can I deduct it from rental income?
For EU/EEA residents filing modelo 210 on rental income (19 % rate), community fees (cuotas comunidad) charged by the urbanisation are deductible as expenses incurred in earning the rental income. We itemise each cuota for the quarter when filing.
Brexit + Orihuela Costa: what changed for British owners?
UK residents post-Brexit retain access to the 19 % EU rate and expenses deduction on modelo 210 rental income — this was confirmed via the UK-Spain bilateral framework on effective information exchange. The change that did stick is tax-representative recommendation: AEAT can only notify a Spanish address, so we provide that role for every Orihuela Costa client.
Do I deal with the Orihuela town hall or with SUMA for my Orihuela Costa property taxes?
Both, for different taxes. IBI is billed and collected by SUMA Gestión Tributaria under the delegation the Ayuntamiento de Orihuela granted it (art. 7 TRLRHL), so payments, direct debits and IBI appeals go to SUMA. The plusvalía municipal on a sale or an inheritance is settled with the ayuntamiento, which also sets the IBI rate and bonifications each year in its ordenanza fiscal. Check the issuing body printed on your receipt before you pay anything: it tells you which counter your file sits behind.
Recent regulatory changes
The Orihuela town hall consolidated its IBI ordenanza in 2018 (the version in our KB) with successive annual updates published in BOP Alicante. The plusvalía municipal regime was rewritten nationally after the 2021 Constitutional Court ruling — Orihuela now uses the optional valor real method when more favourable to the taxpayer.