THE REFERENCE VALUE OF A PROPERTY.

What is the reference value?

This is the value that the Directorate General of Cadastre assigns to a property. It is obtained by carrying out an analysis of the prices of all the sales made before a notary and on the basis of the data of each property appearing in the real estate cadastre. You should know that the reference value cannot exceed the market value, in fact to calculate this value they use reduction coefficients which take into account the market fluctuations of each current year.

What is this reference value for?

The reference value serves as a basis for calculation when an individual has to pay taxes, whether on the purchase of real estate, an inheritance or the gift of property, and it also counts for the calculation of the Wealth Tax.

For the purchase of real estate.

The regulations governing the tax on asset transfers and documented legal acts (ITP and AJD) establish that the taxable base of the tax is the greater of the following values: the reference value or the value declared by the interested parties or price or consideration agreed.

Example: If you buy a villa for €200,000 but its reference value in the cadastre is €250,000, then the costs due on the purchase will be calculated on this amount and not on the price you have agreed with the seller.

Similarly, if you buy the property for €250,000 but its reference value is €200,000, then the costs will be calculated on the basis of €250,000.

For inheritance and gift taxes.

It is the same thing, the regulations establish that the tax base will be the greater of the following values: the reference value or the value declared by the interested parties.

For estate tax.

If you buy a property on the tax base of the reference value, this will be taken into account to calculate the tax base of the inheritance tax. This regulation only applies to real estate acquired from January 1, 2022, in no case to pre-existing assets.

NB: The minimum amount exempt from tax in Catalonia is €500,000. For residents you will be taxed on your global assets and for non-residents you will only be taxed on assets located in Catalonia.

What if I don't agree?

For the first two taxes, when taxpayers believe that the determination of the reference value has undermined their legitimate interests, once the corresponding reverse charge has been filed, they can request rectification of the reverse charge to contest the reference value. Clearly you will have to pay first and then you can claim. The Tax Agency of Catalonia, Agencia Tributaria de Cataluña (ATC), will rule on the matter, with a mandatory, prior and binding report from the General Directorate of Cadastre, which will ratify or correct the reference value once the allegations and evidence provided will have been noted.

Does the reference value modify the cadastral value?

The reference value does not affect the current cadastral value of your property. It has no effect on the property tax, nor on the rest of the taxes which have the cadastral value as the tax base.