Margalef definitively approves the capital gains tax ordinance with a rate of 30%

The Margalef City Council has definitively approved Fiscal Ordinance number 5, regulating the tax on the increase in value of urban land (IIVTNU), commonly known as the municipal capital gains tax. The text, which sets the tax rate at 30 percent, is published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Tarragona on November 2, 2026 (CVE 2026-10061, pp. 1-13) and enters into force the day after its publication.

The Plenary of the Margalef City Council, in its session on December 18, 2025, provisionally approved the modification of the ordinance. The agreement was submitted for public review through an announcement published in the BOP of Tarragona on April 1, 2026, under registration number 202602730, during the legal period of thirty days.

After this period elapsed without any claims being filed, the provisional agreement automatically became definitive, without the need for a new plenary agreement, in accordance with article 17.3 of the revised text of the Law regulating local treasuries, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5. The full publication of the text, required by article 17.4 of the same regulation, bears the signature of the mayor, Àlex Vilà Molina, and is dated in Margalef on October 27, 2026.

A rate of 30 percent on the real increase in value

The new ordinance structures the tax based on the real increase in the value of the land over a maximum period of twenty years, and not exclusively on the objective calculation method. Article 7 provides that, when requested by the taxpayer and it is proven that the real increase is lower than the taxable base calculated using the coefficients, the amount obtained by the difference between the transfer price and the acquisition price of the land shall be taken as the base.

Article 8 sets the tax rate at 30 percent. The gross quota results from applying this rate to the taxable base, and the net quota is obtained after applying the provided bonuses.

The text also regulates non-taxable acts, including the non-existence of an increase in value proven by the taxpayer, who must declare the transfer and provide the acquisition and transfer titles. In properties with land and construction, the value of the land is determined by the proportion between the cadastral value of the land and the total cadastral value.

95 percent bonus for inheritances of the primary residence

Article 15 establishes a 95 percent bonus of the quota in land transfers affecting the primary residence of the deceased, provided they are made for profit due to death in favor of:

• First-degree descendants and adoptees.
• Spouses.
• First-degree ancestors and adopters.

The habitual residence is considered to be the residence where the deceased is registered, and this status is maintained when the removal from the registry is due to duly accredited health reasons.

Filing deadlines and late payment surcharges

The management of the tax is carried out under the self-declaration regime before the City Council. The deadlines, counted from the date of accrual, are as follows:

• Thirty business days for inter vivos acts.
• Six months for mortis causa acts, extendable up to one year at the request of the taxable person, submitted before the initial deadline expires.

Anyone who declares outside the deadline without prior notice faces a surcharge of 1 per 100, plus another 1 per 100 for each full month of delay, without late payment interest or penalties. If the declaration arrives after twelve months, the surcharge is 15 per 100 with late payment interest, and in both cases, it is reduced by 25 per 100 if the remaining debt is paid within the terms of the General Tax Law.

Exemptions, dation in payment, and entry into force

The ordinance maintains exemptions for transfers of assets in historic-artistic complexes or those declared of cultural interest with accredited conservation works, for the dation in payment of the habitual residence, and for mortgage foreclosures that meet legal requirements. The State, autonomous communities, local entities, non-profit entities covered by Law 49/2002, the Spanish Red Cross, and holders of reversible administrative concessions, among others, are also exempt.

The sole final provision establishes that the ordinance, approved by the Plenary on December 18, 2025, begins to govern the day after publication and remains in force until its content is modified or repealed. A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against the final agreement before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia within a period of two months counted from the day after the publication of the announcement.

For the residents of Margalef, the regulation determines how much they will pay when selling, inheriting, or receiving an urban property and introduces the possibility of reducing the tax bill when it is demonstrated that the real increase in value is lower than that calculated by the official coefficients. The 95 per 100 bonus for inheritances of the habitual residence specifically limits the impact of the tax on the family transfer of residential assets.

Fuente: Official Bulletin of the Province of Tarragona, no. 2 of November 2026, section I, pp. 1-13 (official reference: CVE 2026-10061).