If you paid the 2025 garbage fee without filing a claim, you are in the largest group… and also the most uncertain one. The annulment of the fee opens doors, but does not guarantee, as of today, that the City Council will refund your money on its own initiative.
The High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has declared the 2025 waste management fee, the so-called garbage tax, null and void due to substantial defects in its processing, because the City Council did not properly present the technical-economic report that was supposed to justify the amounts. The ruling applies only to the City Council of Madrid and only to the 2025 fiscal year, not to subsequent years.
This nullity implies that the ordinance was flawed from the outset, but the ruling is not yet final. The City Council has 30 days to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Until the ruling is final, there will be no automatic mass refund, and your ability to claim a refund depends on what you did at the time.
If you did not file a claim in 2025: what is your current situation
Taxpayers have divided into two very distinct camps:
- Some 130,000 residents filed administrative appeals against the 2025 bill with the Madrid Tax Agency or the Municipal Economic-Administrative Court within 30 days of notification.
- The vast majority (more than 1.5 million properties) paid without appealing.
The TSJM ruling directly protects only the first group: those who “are now in a position to have those amounts refunded” if the nullification becomes final, because they had an open case within the deadline.
If you paid and did not file a claim in 2025, your receipt is considered, in principle, a final and accepted act: you did not object when the law gave you 30 days to do so. That puts you in a less favorable position, but it does not leave you completely out of the running.
Can the City Council refund your money even if you didn’t file a claim?
Yes, it can, but it is not obligated to. Here lies the key difference, as the legal doctrine applied by the TSJM and experts is that, at a minimum, the City Council must refund the amounts collected to those who filed an appeal within the deadline. For everyone else, the refund is a political decision, not a direct legal requirement: the City Council may extend the refund to all payers, but it may also limit it to those who filed a claim.
Even if you missed the appeal deadline for that year, you’re not completely out of options. The avenues pointed out by legal experts and practical guides are as follows:
Request a refund of overpaid fees now
Several law firms and associations, such as FRAVM, remind the public that tax regulations allow individuals to request a refund of overpaid taxes from the Madrid Tax Agency within a general period of up to four years from the date of payment.
In practice, you must submit a refund request to the City Council’s Tax Agency (preferably via the online portal, or in person at their offices), attaching proof of payment for the 2025 bill.
That request does not guarantee a refund, but it formally records that you are claiming the payment was improper in light of the nullity declared by the TSJM.
Various experts (Legálitas, ASUFIN, specialized firms) agree that it is possible to recover the money, but not automatically and always subject to the ruling becoming final and, above all, to how the administration and, where applicable, the courts interpret the scope of that nullity with respect to non-claimants.