La criticable declaración de constitucionalidad del valor de referencia: STC 13/2026, de 12 de febrero

Abstract

The Constitutional Court has held in Judgment 13/2026 that structuring the tax base oI certain taxes by reIerence to a value predetermined by the tax authorities, known as the ‘reIerence value’, does not infringe the principles of tax justice. This finding is clearly open to criticism, because the judgment draws no legal conclusion from the fact that the reference value is determined on the basis of decisions adopted by the Land Registry authorities, in breach of the principle of reservation of law in tax matters; and because it also fails to take into account the opacity with which that reIerence value is determined, even though such opacity restricts the right of defence.