Our meeting with SUMA

The lady who came to talk to us yesterday evening told us that she was very nervous because this was he first time she had spoken at such a meeting. She needn't have been nervous because she spoke in clear English and gave a very comprehensive explanation of the local tax system.

We were all given a booklet that SUMA have produced in English which I presume is available in SUMA offices. For those of you in England, the information is also available at SUMA's website at http://www.suma.es/.

A few points that I made a note of which might be useful.

• if you want to pay your taxes by direct debit you need to set this up two months before the voluntary payment period
• if you live in Spain for less than six months per year you must have a local tax representative
• SUMA bills are only be sent to Spanish addresses
• if you don't receive your SUMA bill you need to visit a SUMA office or telephone them to get a duplicate
• if you change or sell your car you need to inform Trafico in Alicante within ten days
• similarly if your car is stolen you need to inform Trafico
• if you are scrapping a car you need to take it to a CAT depot
• if you visit SUMA you can get a disc which gives you access to their Virtual Office which allows you to see your details online, ask questions and set up direct debits

One burning question which was asked from the floor was about the rates we pay for the collection of rubbish. It is the item called Basura which appears on our water bills.

When we first moved here, Villas Andrea was classified as outside the town and the rateable value of our houses was set accordingly. Last year the urbanization was reclassified as urban which entailed an increase in the catastral value of our properties and thus an increase in our IBI taxes.

Surely if we are now urban we should pay the same tax for rubbish collection as other parts of the town. To be classified as in the town for one tax and out of it for another doesn't make sense. The lady kindly agreed to look into this matter for us and report back upon what she finds out.

Finally, the Chairman of our Residents' Association, Jim Ryder thanked the lady on our behalf for taking the time to come and speak to us.

I would like to also thank the Ayuntamiento for arranging the meeting and Germán Martín for informing us about it.