Selling property in Spain: two taxes, two calculation bases
A Spanish property sale can create an IRPF capital gain and a municipal IIVTNU, commonly called plusvalía municipal. They are not duplicates. IRPF looks at the overall economic gain, while IIVTNU is linked to the increase in urban land value and local municipal parameters.
IRPF: start with the real transaction economics
The basic capital-gain calculation compares sale proceeds with the acquisition value after eligible acquisition costs, improvements and seller-paid disposal costs. The applicable savings-tax scale and exemptions depend on the taxpayer's facts. Main-residence reinvestment, age and residency are not automatic assumptions; they should be checked separately. AEAT guidance
IIVTNU: the municipality changes the result
IIVTNU concerns urban land. The ayuntamiento's coefficient and rate matter, so a national-looking estimate can be misleading. Ask for the cadastral land value, holding period and current municipal ordinance. Compare the objective method with the actual increase method when this is relevant to your facts.
A sale checklist
Keep purchase deed, invoices for qualifying improvements, sale invoices and agency evidence. Obtain a municipal pre-calculation before agreeing a net-proceeds figure in a contract. Model the two taxes separately, then combine them only for cash-flow planning.
Use the Spain Sale Tax Calculator for an educational IRPF plus municipal-IIVTNU estimate. For a cross-country capital-gain comparison, use Capital Gains.