Solar panels in Barcelona: IBI and ICIO tax rebates

ICIO rebate: 95% of the quota

Works with thermal or electrical solar systems have a 95% rebate on the ICIO quota. It applies provided they are not carried out on properties where the installation is mandatory by legal requirement, and the Ajuntament has accepted the works communication with the self-assessment paid.² The text we have read is the one published in the BOPB in February.

The interested person applies for it before the works begin. It is submitted with the ICIO self-assessment and with a technical report or project with an itemised budget. It covers only the part of the quota that corresponds to the solar installation, not the rest of the works.²

Both ordinances exclude installations that are mandatory under regulations.¹² We have not found in the sources read which installations are, so we cannot tell you whether yours is in that case. Ask the Ajuntament or whoever designs the installation.

Who can carry out the installation?

Electrical installations must be carried out only by installer companies.⁴ Low-voltage installer companies are the natural or legal persons who have submitted the responsible declaration of commencement of activity.⁴ You can check whether a company is registered with the public open-data search of the RASIC.⁵

This links to the rebate: for the IBI, the itemised installer invoice must be submitted.¹

How and when are they applied for?

The order, according to the ordinances read, is as follows:

1. Before the works begin, apply for the ICIO rebate with the self-assessment and the technical report or project with an itemised budget.²
2. Apply for the legalisation of the installation at the RAC or RIPRE. From that date the IBI deadline runs.¹
3. Apply for the IBI rebate within a maximum of 12 months from that legalisation application.¹

The IBI deadline changes the number of years rebated: if you apply within the first 6 months, 3 tax years are rebated; between 6 and 12 months, only 2. After 12 months the application is late and the right is lost.¹ The municipal aid page we have read does not cover this detail of the deadline.

With the IBI application you must bring the application form, the ICIO self-assessment paid, the itemised installer invoice and the agreement on economic participation. In the case of photovoltaics, also the certificate of direction and completion of works and the acknowledgement of the application for operating authorisation or the RAC register.¹

If you have doubts, the Energy Advice Points and the Self-Consumption Information Service ([email protected]) can resolve them.³

How much is saved?

It depends on the IBI and ICIO quotas of each property. We do not have that data, so we give no figures in euros. With what we have read, you can only calculate the saving by applying the percentages to your own bills, with the caps and deadlines above.

Are there subsidies or other aid?

The municipal page presents only the IBI and ICIO rebates as financial incentives, for residential buildings with voluntary self-consumption photovoltaic generation.³ We have not found in it any direct subsidy with an amount, budget or deadlines.

We have not consulted other self-consumption aid calls, nor the income tax (IRPF) deduction that appears on some comparison sites, because we could not verify it in an official source. For that reason this guide does not state whether they exist.