MORE than 16 municipalities in the Alicante Province are currently under the Finance Ministry’s scrutiny to find properties which fail to pay the correct local tax (IBI/SUMA).
The new BOE (National Official Bulletin) has announced that the surveillance would once again be intensified when the summer season ended. The most recent bulletin includes 82 new municipalities in the Valencian Community which are to be analysed around the end of 2015.
From the total, 16 are located in Alicante amongst which are Orihuela, Pilar de la Horadada, San Miguel de Salinas, and Torrevieja.
More than 200 towns across the three Valencian provinces have already been examined in the last three years, using aerial photographs or with the help of inspectors. The fiscal pressure of the IBI has rocked during this period and the Finance Ministry has reinforced this plan to boost the weak municipal coffers.
It is estimated that there are at least 315,000 illegal homes in Alicante, Valencia and Castellon, which would represent more than €18 million in revenue for the councils if they were legalised.
The ministry has hired specialised companies to carry out the inspections, which will be on the lookout for illegal extensions and constructions such as porches or pools of which the local administration has not been properly notified.
Source: Euro Weekly News 01/09/2015