North America
Book a Call

Spain: Madrid City Council Opens Self-Assessment Filing Window for Fire Brigade Contribution (FBC) Levy

Edit Buliczka
May 21, 2026

Madrid City Council opened its online submission portal for the Fire Brigade Contribution (FBC) levy on 19 May 2026, following the adoption of the Ordenanza Fiscal 15/2025 (BOCM No. 307, 26 December 2025). The reform pursues two objectives: aligning the levy with recent judicial doctrine, and restoring cost recovery, which had fallen from 35% at inception to 11.31% as rates remained unchanged since 2012.

The collaboration agreement between Madrid City Council and Gestora de Conciertos para la Contribución a los Servicios de Extinción de Incendios (Gestora) — the UNESPA body that historically centralised FBC collection on behalf of member insurers — has not been renewed. The prepayment and adjustment mechanism previously administered by Gestora therefore no longer applies to FBC on premiums covering fire and natural-elements risks where the insured property lies within the municipal boundary of Madrid. Insurers that relied on Gestora must now treat the Madrid levy as a standalone obligation and file independently. This change is confined to Madrid; FBC arrangements in other municipalities are unaffected.

The Ordinance introduces three key changes:

  • Rate increase: Pure fire policy rate increases from 5% to 10% (applied to 100% of the fire premium). Multi-risk policy rate increases from 2.5% to 5% (being 10% applied to 50% of the multi-risk premium). This represents a doubling of rates across all applicable policy types.

  • Individual self-assessment: Each insurer must now individually calculate, declare, and pay the levy by way of self-assessment submitted directly to Madrid City Council. The self-assessment must be accompanied by a supporting communication containing policy-level information.

  • Annual deadline: Self-assessments must be filed and payment made before 15 July of each year. The first filing, due before 15 July 2026, is based on premiums collected during 2025. Accordingly, the previous prepayment and adjustment processes will not apply.

Insurers writing fire or multirisk policies in the Municipality of Madrid should review their exposure to the FBC levy without delay. Those that previously relied on Gestora for compliance will need to establish an independent self-assessment process ahead of the July 2026 deadline. Failure to file correctly and on time carries a significant risk of penalties.

Sign up for Email Updates

Stay up to date with the latest tax and compliance updates that may impact your business.

Author

Edit Buliczka

Edit is a senior regulatory counsel. She joined Sovos in January 2016 and has extensive IPT knowledge and experience. Her role ensures the IPT teams and systems at Sovos are always updated with legislative changes. She is a Hungarian registered tax expert and chartered accountant and has worked for companies in Hungary including Deloitte and KPMG and as an indirect tax manager she worked for AIG in Budapest. She graduated with an economist degree from Budapest Business School, faculty of finance and accountancy and also she has a postgraduate diploma from ELTE Legal University in Budapest.
Share This Post