Caracas Revises Property Tax Valuations, Affecting Thousands of Homeowners

The Caracas municipal government began applying the Revised Property Assessment Ordinance this month after its approval by the city council in late June. The change affects how residential properties receive new valuations for the annual tax that funds local services such as street lighting and waste collection.

The ordinance was introduced to align assessments with transaction records from 2025 sales in the capital district. City budget documents list property taxes as one revenue source among several that support the 2026 operating plan, which totals 2.4 billion bolivars across all municipal departments.

Changes for property owners

Residents who own homes will receive updated assessment notices that use a formula based on recent comparable sales, lot size and building age. A homeowner in El Valle with a 120-square-meter property, for example, will see the valuation recalculated using 2025 sale prices rather than the prior 2023 schedule.

Local advocates note that the shift can produce different tax amounts depending on whether a neighborhood recorded higher or lower sale prices last year. The legislation states that owners may submit evidence of special conditions, such as structural damage, during a 30-day review window after receiving the notice.

Timeline and next steps

The municipal finance office projects that the first batch of revised notices will reach approximately 185,000 residential accounts by early September. Payments remain due on the same schedule as prior years, with the first installment set for October.

Staff at district offices will begin accepting appeals on 15 August. The ordinance requires the municipality to publish final valuation tables on its public website within 10 days of completing each neighborhood review.