​Spanish tax authorities are looking for illegal construction with helicopters

Have you built an extra house in the garden? A swimming pool or a house extended?

Did you do that without a permit and without declaring this to the municipality? Watch out because the "big brother" Spanish tax authorities search with helicopters for all illegal constructions. To this end, fraud is being tackled by the tax authorities and that will cost many people money.

Using helicopters equipped with potent cameras, the tax authorities in Spain look for illegal constructions. This mainly concerns, for example, closed upper floors, swimming pools, garden sheds, garages, balconies, extensions to houses, etc. that have been built without a permit. Did you do this anyway and the cameras pick it up, then chances are you will receive a ticket.

At this moment the tax helicopters have already viewed and photographed 1,000 municipalities. That sounds like a lot, but it only concerns 12.5% of all municipalities in Spain. It is not only the goal to search for illegal constructions but also to renew the Spanish cadastre.

If the helicopter has seen something, the owner gets a ticket of 60 euros for not reporting to the tax authorities. In itself a small amount but with around 3 million households that will receive this until 2016, the Spanish greenhouse still delivers 180 million euros.

Municipalities may also request the surplus value of a property in respect of the real estate tax over the last four years from the owners of those houses where illegal constructions have been observed. After all, a larger built surface has to be included in the calculation of the Spanish IBI. Incidentally, this municipal tax has increased considerably in recent years with percentages between 25% and 100%. However, this property tax is very important for many municipalities because it accounts for 45% of municipal income.

The search for illegal constructions will be carried out throughout Spain, but especially those places where many residential districts will be examined thoroughly.