The tax rebate on overtime pay has been extended to cases of social interest

Sondika City Council has modified the municipal ordinance regarding the tax on construction, installations, and works —ICIO—, extending the 95% rebate to works designated as being of special interest or benefit for social, cultural, historical-artistic, or employment-promotion reasons. The change was initially approved by the Sondika Municipal Council in an extraordinary meeting held on July 1, 2026, and received final approval as no claims or suggestions were presented during the public exhibition period. The regulation has been published in the Official Gazette of Bizkaia, issue number 180, on September 21, 2026, in section II, with the official reference BOB-2026a180-(II-4857).

This ordinance regulates the ICIO tax at the municipal level, which is the tax on construction, installations, and works carried out within the municipality. The modification affects article 10.C of the ordinance, replacing the previous wording regarding the rebate. The text previously in force only recognized the 95% rebate for adaptation works and/or constructions carried out by the Department of Education of the Basque Government in the municipality’s educational centers. Now, however, the rebate is not limited to a specific entity: works by any promoter can be beneficiaries, provided the council recognizes them as being of special interest or benefit.

New provision of article 10.C

According to the approved text, construction, installations, or works will have a 95% rebate if they are recognized as being of special interest or benefit, provided they are justified by the following reasons:

• social environment
• cultural environment
• historical-artistic environment
• employment promotion

This recognition cannot be granted by any body: it requires the express approval of the Municipal Council (Plenary). That is, the application of the rebate is not automatic, and the highest municipal government body must decide on a case-by-case basis whether the work is of public interest.

Conditions and timing for obtaining the rebate

The ordinance itself sets certain limits on the rebate to specify the effect of the tax benefit:

• In general, the effect of exemptions and rebates begins from the tax period following the date of the request.
• The rebate cannot have retroactive effect.
• Exception: if the tax benefit is requested before the liquidation is final, the rebate will be granted if the conditions required to enjoy it were met on the date the tax was generated.

This means that the promoter must act before starting the work or before closing the liquidation; otherwise, the benefit will be postponed to the following period.

Entry into force and procedural steps

The change will not have an immediate effect. To enter into force, it must be published in full in the Official Gazette of Bizkaia following final approval, and it will begin to be applied after fifteen days. The procedural path has been as follows:

• Initial approval: Extraordinary meeting of the Sondika City Council, July 1, 2026.
• Public information: Twenty-day period, via the announcement published in issue number 143 of the Official Gazette of Bizkaia, on July 29, 2026.
• No claims or suggestions having been submitted, the change is considered final.
• Notification to the responsible municipal departments and publication of the ordinance on the Sondika City Council website.
• Final publication: Issue number 180 of the Official Gazette of Bizkaia, September 21, 2026.

The document was signed by Mayor Naia Landa Bilbao, in Sondika.

Impact for promoters

The tax impact is direct for those promoting works: it almost entirely removes the ICIO fee, at 95%, provided that the council accepts that the work is of social, cultural, historical-artistic, or employment-promotion interest. The expansion of the measure allows private municipal projects and association initiatives to benefit, whereas previously only school works from the Department of Education of the Basque Government had utilized this benefit. However, procedural requirements —recognition by the City Council and the request prior to closing the liquidation— are essential for the discount to be effectively applied.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia, 180. zenbakia, 2026ko irailaren 21a, II. atala (erreferentzia ofiziala: BOB-2026a180-(II-4857)).