IBI: impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles, tax on properties.
Calculated on the registered (“catastral”) value of the property and paid to the municipality on a yearly basis (even though it is the province that collect the IBI for practical purposes). The IBI varies between 0.2% and 0.4% depending on which municipality your property is located. The benchmark for the municipalities is that the “catastral” value represents no less than 70% of the current market value. In some rural areas there is no IBI.

ITP: Impuesto sobre transmisiones patrimoniales y actos jurídicos documentados (IAJD), tax on property transactions and registered legal contracts.
In any transaction there is a 7% tax on the sale value. If this tax is not paid it is impossible to register the new owners in the property register. The IAJD tax is paid on mortgaged properties and is 1% of the mortgage.

Hacienda, or Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish tax authority.
Both terms refer to the same body, Spain’s national tax authority, equivalent to the IRS. Some of Spain’s Autonomous Regions such as Catalonia and the Basque Country have their own tax authorities, though they are subordinate to the national tax authority.

Capital gains tax
To be paid by vendors on the increase in land value of a property if they have owned it for less than 20 years. The building on the plot is not taken into account. Capital gains tax varies between regions and is normally 16% to 30% of the increase in value since acquiring the property.

IVA, Impuesto sobre valor añadido. VAT, Value Added Tax.
There are three rates in Spain, 16%, 7% and 4%. The standard rate is 16%, foodstuff is levied at 7% and 4% is charged on books and certain other products. Lots with buildings or with planning permission are taxed at 16%.

Declaración de renta, income tax declaration.
Tax on income from personal work (IRPF) is applied only to people who are resident in Spain, and only if their income exceeds a base exemption level. Regardless of whether an individual is registered as a resident of Spain, the Spanish tax authority considers anyone who spends more than 183 days in Spain as being eligible for taxation on his income worldwide.
Foreign owners of Spanish property should make an annual declaration of any income generated by their property (IRNR), even if the amounts to pay are small.

Impuesto sobre el patrimonio, wealth tax.
Non-residents pay only for their estate located in Spain. Foreigners with Spanish residence ought to pay for their estate worldwide. This is currently a grey area where the various tax authorities of different countries have had no effective jurisdiction over the properties of citizens in other EU countries. This is now changing and will be under stricter control in the future.

Impuesto sobre sociedades, company tax.
Company tax in Spain is currently 35% of profits.

Representante, gestor, legal representative.
Some circumstances may require using a legal representative, though not necessarily a lawyer, who can be expensive and rather slow. It is generally more effective to entrust matters to a “gestor”, an expert in bureaucracy who will take care of paperwork and correspondence with the various administrative bodies involved in a property purchase.

Tasa, fees.
A general term for municipal charges for different services such as waste collection, maintenance of infrastructure, etc.