IBI Mallorca by municipality

How high is the IBI on Mallorca?

The IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles, the Spanish property tax) is a municipal tax — which is why there isn't just one rate for Mallorca, but as many as there are municipalities. Each one sets its own tax rate (tipo de gravamen, the percentage applied to the assessment base) itself, in its own tax statute (ordenanza fiscal). The legislator only sets a framework for this: for properties classified as urban (urbana) between 0.4% and 1.1%, for properties classified as rural (rústica) between 0.3% and 0.9%. Municipalities are allowed to exceed or fall below this framework in certain cases.

Two neighbouring houses with the same cadastral value can therefore receive very different bills if a municipal boundary runs between them. The calculator above states the rate we've looked up for your municipality in the statute published in the Butlletí Oficial de les Illes Balears, and calculates your amount from it. What you need for this can be found on your latest bill.

How it's calculated

The common shorthand formula "cadastral value times tax rate" is only correct in the case where nothing else comes into play. The Law on Municipal Finances (RDLeg 2/2004) calculates in four steps, and the second is the one that causes most estimates to come out too high.

Step 1: the cadastral value (base imponible)

The starting point is the valor catastral — the official value that the Spanish Land Registry (Catastro) sets for land and buildings combined. It is neither the purchase price, nor the market value, nor the reference value, and as a rule it lies well below all of them. In the language of the law, it is the base imponible, the unreduced assessment base (Art. 65). You'll find it on the IBI bill and in the Catastro portal.

Step 2: the reduced assessment base (base liquidable)

Here is where the calculation and reality diverge. What's taxed isn't always the full cadastral value, but the base liquidable: the cadastral value minus a reduction (Art. 66 to 70). The most common of these reductions arises after a revaluation by the cadastral office — the new, higher value doesn't take effect all at once, but is phased in gradually over nine years. In addition, some municipalities have their own reductions: Pollença, for example, taxes plots classified as rural on only part of the cadastral value, and this isn't stated in the rate schedule but in a different article of the same bylaw.

In practical terms, this means: if you calculate from the full cadastral value while a reduction applies to your property, you'll arrive at too high a figure — the actual bill will then turn out lower than your own estimate. That's why the calculator first asks which of the two figures you have. If your bill shows a base liquidable, use that: every reduction is already factored into it, and the result is the legally owed amount. If you only know the cadastral value, you'll get an amount honestly labelled as a rough estimate.

Step 3: the tax amount (cuota íntegra)

The base liquidable multiplied by the municipality's tax rate gives the cuota íntegra — the tax amount before any reductions (Art. 71.1 in conjunction with Art. 72). This is the figure the calculator displays when you calculate using the figure from your bill.

Step 4: the amount payable (cuota líquida)

What is ultimately debited is the cuota líquida: the cuota íntegra minus the reductions and exemptions that apply in your case (Art. 71.2, 73 and 74). This can be significantly lower than the tax amount — and, in one special case, higher, namely the surcharge for permanently unoccupied dwellings. The calculator deliberately doesn't factor in reductions: they depend on personal circumstances it cannot know, and most have to be applied for.

Worked examples

The calculator above comes with ready-made example cases — the same property in a cheap, a middling, and an expensive municipality. One click loads the inputs, and you can see how much the amounts differ purely because of the municipality. The figures are drawn from the verified rate register, not from an example that goes stale in the text.

Special cases

After a revaluation

If the cadastral office resets the values for a municipality, the reduction from step 2 is phased in over nine years and applied automatically — you don't need to apply for it. It appears on the bill as the base liquidable. During these years, the gap between the estimate and the actual bill is at its greatest.

Reductions and exemptions

A bonificación is a percentage reduction on the tax amount. Some are mandated by law (Art. 73, for instance for properties held in a developer's stock or for protected housing), others are set voluntarily by each municipality (Art. 74, for instance for large families, for photovoltaic installations, or for a main residence). Voluntary reductions almost always require that you be registered in the padrón, the municipal population register, and they only apply from the year following the application. Which ones exist on Mallorca and how to apply for them is covered in the guide to IBI reduction on Mallorca.

Commercially used properties

Larger municipalities may levy an increased rate for certain properties not used for residential purposes — retail, office, tourism, industry — and only for the most valuable ones within each usage category. Residential use is explicitly excluded. The calculator shows the general municipal rate; anyone who owns a shop or a hotel should check the ordenanza fiscal.

Permanently unoccupied dwellings

A municipality may levy a graduated surcharge on the amount payable if a dwelling stands permanently empty. The requirements are strict, and unlike the tax itself, the surcharge does not arise on 1 January but on 31 December. Whether your municipality levies it at all is set out in its ordenanza fiscal.

Garage, storage room, multiple cadastral units

What is taxed is not the property as you inhabit it, but each cadastral unit individually. A garage and a storage room often have their own cadastral reference and therefore their own tax bill. Calculate them separately and add them up at the end, otherwise part of your annual burden will be missing.

Undeveloped plots and the urbana/rústica classification

Urbana and rústica are classifications assigned by the land registry office, not descriptions of the location. A house far outside the town can be classed as urbana, while an undeveloped plot within the town boundary usually is too — in which case the municipal rate applies even though nothing has been built on it. The classification is shown on your tax bill and in the cadastral extract. Don't guess, check: it determines the rate.

BICE

Properties with special characteristics (bienes inmuebles de características especiales, BICE for short) — power stations, dams, airports, commercial ports — follow their own rules and their own rate framework. For private owners this is not a trap: an expensive villa is not a BICE.

Co-ownership

If the property belongs to several people, a single tax bill for the property is still issued. The municipality can address it to one co-owner, who then settles internally on a proportional basis; on request, many administrations split the collection according to the shares registered in the land registry. The calculator always shows the full annual tax for the property, not your share of it.

Year of purchase: who pays the IBI?

The tax arises on 1 January. The person liable is whoever holds ownership, the leasehold right, or the usufruct on that day (Art. 63.2 and 75.1) — and for the whole year, even if they sell in February. A sale partway through the year changes nothing about this.

In practice, however, the tax is split at the time of purchase. The Tribunal Supremo ruled in judgment 409/2016 that, in the absence of any other agreement, the seller may pass it on to the buyer on a pro-rata basis. Proportional division is therefore the standard legal outcome, not merely a matter for negotiation — any departure from this must be made explicit, and belongs in the notarial contract. How the purchase process works overall is covered in the Guide to the legal process of buying property.

Strictly separate from this is the point at which buyers can genuinely lose money: the real (in rem) liability of the property for outstanding IBI debts (afección real, Art. 64.1). This liability attaches to the property, not to the person. Anyone who acquires a property with arrears can be held liable for these old debts, even though they never owed them themselves — regardless of what the purchase contract states. This is why the certificate of outstanding charges must be obtained before the notary appointment, and separately for each cadastral object.

Deadlines and payment methods

For most municipalities in Mallorca, the Balearic tax administration ATIB (Agència Tributària de les Illes Balears) collects the IBI. The voluntary payment period (periodo voluntario de pago) there usually falls in autumn, from early autumn to the beginning of December. Some municipalities collect it themselves and have their own deadlines — Calvià and Inca are the best-known examples. So never rely on a period you've read somewhere, but on the official notice from your municipality for the current year.

Important for owners who don't live on the island: most municipalities no longer send a paper bill. No letter arrives to remind you — but the deadline still applies, and late-payment surcharges become due afterwards. The safe route is a direct debit mandate (domiciliación) on a Spanish account: the amount is debited on the due date, and many municipalities even grant a small discount or instalment option for this. Anyone who wants to pay online can find the notice and amount in the ATIB portal.

Waste fee and vado: the items alongside it

The waste fee (tasa de residuos, formerly usually called tasa de basura) is not a tax but a fee for a service — and it is entirely separate from the IBI: its own regulations, its own assessment basis, its own due date. It does not appear on the IBI bill, even though it sometimes shows up in the same direct debit collection. How it is assessed is decided by the municipality: by living area, by type of use, by number of dwelling units. A large house pays noticeably more than a small flat.

The vado is the permit to permanently cross the pavement to reach your garage or driveway, and it is billed annually. It, too, has nothing to do with the IBI. What matters is the legal consequence: a vado sign without a valid, paid permit has no effect — only with it can you take action against people parking in front of your driveway. All municipal charges that apply alongside the IBI are compiled in the Overview of Taxes and Law.

The Catastro: where the value comes from

The Catastro is the state register in which every plot of land and every building in Spain is recorded with its physical characteristics, type of use, and cadastral value. It is not the Land Registry: the Registro de la Propiedad records rights, charges and mortgages, while the Catastro describes the property itself. For the IBI, only the Catastro counts — it provides the assessment basis, the municipality only the rate.

From this follows the most important lever you hold yourself: if the cadastral data is wrong, the assessment is wrong too. An extension, a converted basement, a pool built later that was never registered — sooner or later it surfaces, at the latest when aerial photos are compared, and then retroactively. Conversely, you pay too much if a demolished outbuilding is still on the register. You report changes via a declaración de alteración catastral; this is mandatory, not optional. What to do about unauthorised buildings is explained in the guide on legalising illegal buildings on Mallorca.

IBI and Modelo 210 are two different taxes

This is the most common and most costly misunderstanding among owners without Spanish residency. The IBI is a municipal tax on property and goes to the town hall or to ATIB. The non-resident income tax, declared via Modelo 210, is a state income tax and goes to the Agencia Tributaria. Both concern the same property but run independently side by side — whoever has paid only one of them has not settled the other. What applies to you and how the amount is calculated is shown by the calculator for self-use tax.

Common mistakes

• Calculating from the full cadastral value even though a reduction is in place. Then your own estimate exceeds the assessment — take the base liquidable from the assessment.
• Waiting for the letter. Most municipalities no longer send a paper invoice; the deadline still applies.
• Only calculating for the flat. The garage and storage room often have their own cadastral reference and their own assessment.
• Not checking for arrears when buying. Outstanding IBI debts attach to the property via afección real, not to the seller as a person.
• Not reporting the cadastral data after a renovation. The comparison comes later and retroactively.
• Not applying for reductions. The municipality's voluntary reductions are not granted automatically.
• Confusing IBI and Modelo 210. Two taxes, two authorities, two deadlines.

Legal basis and status

IBI is regulated in the Texto Refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales, the law on local finances (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004), Art. 60 to 77: subject matter of the tax and in rem liability in Art. 60 to 64, taxpayer in Art. 63, assessment bases in Art. 65 to 70, tax amount, rates and reductions in Art. 71 to 74, accrual and tax period in Art. 75. The cadastral value is regulated by the Cadastre Act (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2004). The specific rate for your municipality is set by its ordenanza fiscal, published in the Butlletí Oficial de les Illes Balears.

The rates in the calculator are taken from these municipal ordinances, each checked individually and cross-checked against the database of the Ministry of Finance. Which version applies to which municipality is shown by the calculator itself. This page provides orientation and is no substitute for individual advice; what ultimately counts for your assessment is whatever the Cadastre Office and your municipality have determined.

Frequently asked questions

What you need next

First work through your own case — and if a garage or storage room with its own cadastral reference belongs to the property, calculate each reference separately. Then check whether an IBI reduction applies to you; it doesn't apply automatically. As an owner without Spanish residency, the deemed-use tax via Modelo 210 also applies, and above the tax-free allowances the wealth tax comes into play too — what this means in the year of purchase is explained in Wealth tax when buying property.

If a sale is coming up, you'll need to reckon with the taxes on selling property; if the property is passed on within the family, with the rules on inheritance and gifting in the Balearics. And anyone still at the very beginning will find the whole path to owning property under Property in Mallorca.