Santander launches new fiscal ordinance to manage, inspect, and collect its taxes

The Santander City Council has made final the General Fiscal Ordinance for the Management, Inspection, and Collection of Taxes and Other Public Law Revenues, published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria no. 209, dated October 30, 2026, with reference CVE-2026-8454. The regulation will enter into force the day following its publication and establishes how the Council collects, inspects, and surcharges all its taxes and public law revenues. This agreement concludes the administrative process, and a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against it.

The municipal Plenary provisionally approved the project in the session of July 30, 2026 and, after the public exhibition period elapsed without any claims being filed, the text is made final in accordance with article 17, paragraphs 3 and 4, of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, which approves the consolidated text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries. The announcement, signed in Santander on October 14, 2026, by the delegated councilor for Economy, Contracting, Procurement, and European Funds, Javier García Ruiz, spans pages 55691 to 55725 of the gazette and includes the full text as an annex.

The ordinance is based on the regulatory power that article 106.2 of Law 7/1985 recognizes for local entities and is structured into 36 articles distributed across six titles: general provisions, tax obligors, application of taxes, tax inspection, collection, and administrative review. Its repealing provision nullifies the General Ordinance for the Collection of Taxes and Other Public Law Revenues published in the BOC on March 26, 2003, and modified in 2015 and 2021.

A management body with competencies for large populations

The ordinance attributes regulatory power regarding public revenues to the Plenary and reserves management, settlement, inspection, and collection to the Tax Management Body, created by plenary agreement on September 30, 2004, with the competencies of article 135 of Law 7/1985 for large population municipalities. Its head, the director of public revenues, is a position reserved for officials with national qualification since the Resolution of March 20, 2023, of the General Directorate of Local Administration (BOC no. 60, of March 27, 2023).

The scope of application covers the entire municipal district of Santander and reaches all natural and legal persons with tax rights or obligations with the City Council, including vacant inheritances and communities of assets. Among the duties detailed are:

• Pay the tax debt and any imposed penalties.
• Submit the required declarations for each tax, providing DNI, CIF, or NIF.
• Facilitate municipal inspections and verifications.
• Declare the tax domicile; failure to communicate a change is classified as a minor infringement, punishable by 100 euros.

Fewer procedures and new payment channels

The statement of motives emphasizes that the regulation seeks to reduce ancillary burdens and promote electronic procedures. To this end, the Personalized Payment Plan is regulated, payment methods are simplified (direct debit, account charge, bank card, and Bizum), and the Santander Virtual Tax Office is enabled alongside the municipal electronic office.

The ordinance allows for automated administrative action in the granting of installments and payment plans, certificates of assets, activities, and debts, requests, notifications, and receipts. It also sets efficiency thresholds: no settlements or penalties will be issued for debts equal to or less than 6 euros, and debts included in an enforcement file that do not collectively exceed 30 euros may be canceled.

Deferrals of up to five years and installment caps

Article 29 regulates deferrals and installments, which shall be requested via the Virtual Tax Office, in person, or by telephone and paid via bank direct debit, with due dates on the 5th and 20th of each month. The limits are:

• Installments: up to 36 months, with a minimum monthly quota of 50 euros.
• Deferral: up to 24 months for debts exceeding 18,000 euros.
• Exceptional cases: up to 5 years, with a minimum amount of 20 euros per month.

Guarantees are accepted via credit institution bonds, mortgages, pledges, or personal guarantees, with coverage of 25% of the debt and interest during the voluntary period and an additional 5% during the executive period; a waiver is provided when insufficiency of assets is proven.

Enforcement, auctions, and claims process

In the executive phase, the City Council may refer debts to the State Tax Administration Agency under the agreement with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces: a minimum amount of 60 euros is required for tax debts and 1,500 euros for non-tax revenues, following an enforcement order and with at least three months remaining until the statute of limitations. In auctions, the mandatory deposit will be 5% of the price (10% for vehicles), with bidding increments of 100, 200, and 500 euros and twenty calendar days for bidding.

Against acts of management, liquidation, collection, and inspection, an economic-administrative claim must be filed before the Municipal Economic-Administrative Court, following an optional appeal for reversal. Filing the claim does not suspend execution unless sufficient guarantee is provided, although enforcement action is cautiously suspended until a resolution is reached; if dismissed, the outstanding debt will carry the already accrued executive surcharge of 5%.

The regulation replaces a text from more than two decades ago and unifies into a single body the procedures affecting any taxpayer in the municipality, from the payment of a bill to the auction of seized assets. The complete ordinance is published as an annex to the announcement, so interested parties may consult the details of deadlines, guarantees, and surcharges before it enters into force.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 209, of October 30, 2026, section I (Santander City Council), page 55691 (official reference: CVE-2026-8454).