Property value checks in Spain: does the tax office always do them?

Value verification is not automatic or mandatory in every property sale: the Spanish tax agency can open one when the declared price seems low to it, and the buyer has the right to contest it with evidence of the property's real condition. Receiving it twice in a row is not usual, but it is not impossible either: it depends on the indicators the Administration has.

## What value verification is and when it is triggered

Value verification is the power the tax Administration has to review the value declared in a tax and replace it with another it considers adjusted to market. In a sale, the tax affected is usually the one levying the transfer: the **Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales** (a transfer tax on second-hand property) in regions with their own rules, or the **Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana** (a municipal tax on land value gains) when there is a gain. The law allows the tax agency to verify the declared value and, if it does not add up, issue a parallel assessment for the difference.

It is not triggered on every deed. It is triggered when the Administration's systems detect that the declared price deviates from its reference points: cadastral values, prices of comparable transfers, market coefficients. That detection can be automatic or the result of a later review. The procedure is not immediate: the law gives the Administration a maximum of **six months** to notify the assessment resulting from the verification, counted from the start of the procedure or from the filing of the declaration, as the case may be.

## The letter is not a firm accusation

Receiving the notification does not miccionan the tax agency is right or that the buyer has done anything wrong. The verification is a checking procedure, not a penalty. The buyer can submit a written response with evidence of the property's real condition: a photographic report, technical reports, witnesses. In the case of a plot with derelict buildings, the key is to prove that the built area is neither habitable nor has market value comparable to a dwelling.

The burden of proof is distributed awkwardly: the Administration starts from its reference points and the buyer must dismantle them. That asymmetry is real and is in the law, not in anyone's bad faith. If the verification is done using the market price method, the Administration must justify the value it proposes; if the buyer provides an independent valuation report, it can be challenged through the economic-administrative channel.

## Two verifications in a row are not the norm

That the same person receives two verifications on different purchases is possible, but not common. The Administration does not select out of sympathy or by a buyer's face: it selects by indicators. A declared price far below the reference points, a plot with buildings the land registry records as built area, or a transfer between private individuals without intermediaries are factors that raise the probability of review.

The experience of someone who already went through a verification on their main home and resolved it with a detailed written response is not an infallible manual, but it is a guideline: documenting the real condition before the letter arrives saves time and prevents the uncertainty from dragging on. The **six-month** deadline works in the buyer's favour in one sense: if the Administration does not notify in time, the verification lapses.

## What you can do if you receive one

First, do not sign acceptance without reading. Second, gather evidence of the property's real condition: dated photographs, a report from a technician, deeds and invoices for works if there are any. Third, submit arguments within the deadline stated in the notification. Fourth, if the assessment is confirmed and you disagree, there is the economic-administrative appeal and, after that, the courts.

A lawyer or a tax adviser with experience in value verifications can work out whether it is worth fighting or settling. The amount of the difference and the cost of the defence decide. And it is worth remembering that the verification is not a fine: if it is proven that the declared value was correct, the parallel assessment is annulled.