It is the value determined by the General Directorate of Cadastre as a result of the analysis of the prices of all real estate sales and purchases made before a notary public, based on the data of each property in the Real Estate Cadastre.
The reference value of a property is one of the economic characteristics of its cadastral description.
The reference value shall not exceed the market value. For this purpose, a reduction factor will be applied in its determination.
The reference value does not affect the current cadastral value in any way.
It has no effect on the Real Estate Tax, nor on the rest of the taxes that have the cadastral value as a taxable base.
In addition to its descriptive function, the reference value of each property will be used to determine the taxable base for Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty (ITP and AJD) and Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD).
When a transfer of a property is subject to one of these taxes, the reference value of the property will be the taxable base of the corresponding tax.
The reference value may not exceed the market value, for which purpose reduction factors are used in its determination, so that its use as the tax base does not imply an increase in taxation.
However, if the declared value, the price or the consideration paid is higher than the reference value of the property, the higher of these values is taken as the tax base.
Thus, the reference value of the property will be the minimum taxable base for these taxes.
In addition, in the case of the first copies of public deeds relating to real estate being subject to the ITP and AJD in the modality of legal acts, when the taxable base is determined according to the value of the real estate, this cannot be less than the reference value of the real estate.
Finally, when the reference value has been the taxable base in the tax levied on the acquisition of a property, it shall be taken into account in applying the rule for determining the taxable base of the Wealth Tax to which it may be subject. Therefore, the reference value may only affect Wealth Tax with regard to properties acquired as from 1 January 2022, and in no case to pre-existing assets.
The cadastral value of real estate is updated, where applicable, by the General State Budget Laws, and serves as the taxable base for Real Estate Tax. It is protected data and is therefore not published, and its revision takes place, in the case of urban properties, within the framework of collective valuation procedures.
The reference value of properties is determined year by year, simultaneously in all municipalities, and will be used to determine the taxable base for Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty and Inheritance and Gift Tax. It is not protected, and is permanently published in the Electronic Headquarters of the Cadastre.
The reference value of real estate is determined, year by year, by the application of average value modules, based on the prices of all real estate sales and purchases actually carried out before a notary or registered in the Land Registry, and obtained in the framework of the annual reports on the real estate market prepared by the General Directorate of Cadastre.
These modules are assigned to representative real estate products by areas of the territory known as homogeneous territorial valuation areas, and correspond to the average prices of sales and purchases.
In the case of urban real estate, the General Directorate of Cadastre calculates the reference value of a specific property on the basis of the average value module applicable in the area in which it is located, taking into account, among others, the differences in categories, age and state of conservation between this property and the representative real estate product to which the module refers. For this purpose, the cadastral valuation regulations are used on a transitional basis.
In the case of rural properties without construction, the reference value is calculated on the basis of the average value module, depending on their characteristics, and the corrective factors for location, agronomic and socio-economic factors that are determined in the corresponding annual real estate market report.
In any case, in order to ensure that the reference values do not exceed the market values, the reduction factors determined by Ministerial Order are applied.
The average value modules applicable in each case are published annually, in the form of value maps, in the Electronic Headquarters of the Cadastre. In this site it is possible to consult the amounts of the modules, the characteristics of the representative real estate products, and the delimitation of the homogeneous territorial areas for each fiscal year.
The manner of individualising the reference value of each property on the basis of the corresponding average value modules, by means of coefficients and calculation rules, is detailed in annual resolutions of the Directorate General of Cadastre, which are also published in the Electronic Headquarters of Cadastre.
Prior to their approval, these resolutions are subject to a collective hearing, so that all interested parties may make allegations and present whatever evidence they consider appropriate.
Once approved, and within a period of 1 month, an economic-administrative appeal may be lodged before the Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal or, alternatively and prior to this, an appeal for reconsideration before the Directorate General of Cadastre.
Annually, the maps of values corresponding to the Reports of the Real Estate Market of this financial year, of the General Directorate of Cadastre, are published in the Electronic Headquarters of the Cadastre (www.sedecatastro.gob.es). This publication is a legal requirement of the procedure for determining reference values, and in the interests of transparency, is accompanied by the aforementioned Reports.
The maps, published each year, contain the average value modules applicable for the determination of the reference values of properties for the following year in accordance with the corresponding resolutions of the Directorate General of Cadastre to this effect.
The value maps are the first and most important step in the determination of reference values. The maps reflect the behaviour of the entire market of real estate sales and purchases made before a notary, so that for the representative real estate in each area of the territory, they provide the average value.
They are drawn up, year by year, as follows:
Urban real estate.
Rustic properties.
The reference values of properties are available at the Electronic Headquarters of the Cadastre (www.sedecatastro.gob.es) from 1 January 2022, in accordance with the provisions of the third final provision of the revised text of the Law on Real Estate Cadastre.
At this site, cadastral titleholders can also find out the elements that have been applied in the individualised determination of the reference value of their properties.
Likewise, the reference values are provided through the Cadastre Hotline (telephone numbers 91 387 45 50 and 902 37 36 35) and at the Cadastre Offices, which can be contacted by making an appointment at the aforementioned telephone numbers. To do so, citizens must identify themselves by means of the details of their National Identity Document.
The Cadastre e-Office will offer the possibility of consulting and certifying the reference value of a property on a given date. To access the consultation, the citizen will have to identify himself/herself, by means of the data of his/her National Identity Document, with digital certificate, or through Cl@ve.
Likewise, reference values are provided through the Cadastre Hotline (telephone numbers 91 387 45 50 and 902 37 36 35) and at the Cadastre Offices, which can be contacted by making an appointment at the aforementioned telephone numbers.
In addition, cadastral titleholders may obtain, through the aforementioned channels, a certificate of motivation of the reference value at a given date, so that they have all the data and technical elements used for its determination.
The reference value can only be challenged when it has a fiscal effect and is the taxable base for Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty or Inheritance and Gift Tax.
If, on the occasion of a transfer in which the reference value is used as the taxable base for these taxes, the taxpayers consider that the determination of the reference value is detrimental to their legitimate interests, they may request the rectification of the self-assessment they have submitted or lodge an appeal for reconsideration with the Tax Administration, or an economic-administrative claim with the Regional Economic-Administrative Court, against the settlement which, where appropriate, is made by the Administration managing the tax.
This does not prevent the cadastral owner from submitting declarations at any time or, in the event of disagreement with the descriptive data of the property, from instigating, before the General Directorate of Cadastre, the cadastral procedures envisaged in the regulation.
There are circumstances that prevent the existence of the reference value.
This fact has no effect, legal or fiscal, by itself.
The causes are of a legal-technical nature:
There is no reference value for properties that are not included in the scope of application of the corresponding resolution of the General Directorate of Cadastre on precise elements for the determination of the reference value, or when the causes of a technical nature foreseen therein concur.
The reference value of real estate is determined year by year, in accordance with the cadastral regulations, by application of average value modules, based on the prices of all real estate sales and purchases actually carried out before a notary or registered in the Land Registry, and obtained within the framework of the annual real estate market reports drawn up by the Directorate General of Cadastre.
For this purpose, the conclusions of the analysis of these prices are included in an annual real estate market report, and in a value map containing the delimitation of homogeneous territorial valuation areas, to which average value modules of representative real estate products are assigned.
The aforementioned maps are published in the Electronic Headquarters of the General Directorate of Cadastre.
The specific criteria applied in the determination of the reference values for each year, based on the aforementioned average value modules, are set out in the resolutions on the elements required for the determination of the reference values, which are approved by the Directorate General of Cadastre each year, separately for urban and rural real estate.
In the annual determination of the reference values in accordance with the aforementioned criteria, for the individualisation of the average value modules resulting from the analysis of purchase and sale prices carried out in each year, the most up-to-date description of the real estate in the Cadastre is taken into account, and the reduction factor provided for in the cadastral regulations is applied to ensure that the reference value does not exceed the market value, currently approved by ministerial order published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 246 of 14 October 2021, pages 124987 to 124988).
