Madrid has activated this year the new garbage tax, a measure that affects owners of more than 1.5 million homes in the city, after a decade without being applied to individuals.
The average bill is around 130-140 euros per year, although the final figure can vary significantly depending on the neighborhood and the cadastral value of the property. For example, while in San Cristóbal (Villaverde) the rate is only 45 €, in Recoletos it exceeds 430 €, and in El Plantío (Moncloa-Aravaca) it reaches 574 €, which shows the disparity in the distribution of the new tax.
Compared to Madrid capital, other large municipalities of the Community have much more moderate amounts: in Getafe the average rate for a home is 49 €, and in Valdemoro reaches 159 €, which makes Madrid one of the cities with the highest rate in the region.
How the garbage tax is calculated
The calculation in the capital has three components: a basic rate (81% of the total, linked to the cadastral value of the property), a variable rate for generation and quality in the separation of waste (up to an additional 19%), and a coefficient that rewards or penalizes according to the environmental performance of the neighborhood.
With the data seen above, a property with a cadastral value of 120,000 € in the Imperial neighborhood, in Arganzuela, will represent the following amount:
- Cuota = TB + (TG x CCS) → Cuota = 119.14 € + (6 € x 1.70) = 129.34 €.
The payment of the receipt is unique and annual, and will be received by individualized letter, with a period of two months to pay the corresponding amount from the notification; the following years will be processed by registration. Exempt from payment are storage rooms, garages linked to the dwelling, plots of land and buildings in a state of ruin or without use. Empty dwellings or premises with no activity will only pay for the availability service, subject to annual justification.
This fee responds to Law 7/2022 for a circular economy, which obliges municipalities to make progress in the reuse and recycling of waste and which sets the target at 55% by 2025. For property owners in Madrid, the bill can mean a difference of more than 500 euros depending on the neighborhood.
This way of applying the new rate has been criticized by groups such as Más Madrid for giving little incentive to recycling and for considering mostly the value of the property rather than the cost of the waste generated, which, according to consumer associations such as the OCU, results in an unbalanced and unfair formula.
