Which Registro Público records sales in San Cristóbal?

SAREN lists two in the municipality: the Registro Público del Primer Circuito, in urbanización Mérida, and the one for the Segundo Circuito, on calle 6 con carrera 10, edificio Banco Caribe. SAREN does not say which sectors each one serves, so it is best to ask at the Registro.

What does the alcaldía ask for to issue the cédula catastral?

For the cédula catastral it asks for a copy of the registered title document, the receipt for the administrative fee, a copy of the cédula of all the owners, the application form, a photo of the façade, a copy of the last cédula catastral and a Google Maps map with the location. The alcaldía does not publish the amount of the fee.

What is the tax rate on housing in San Cristóbal?

According to the ordinance in Gaceta Municipal Extraordinaria No. 200 (November 3, 2021), housing occupied by its owner pays 5 to 8 per 10,000 by brackets in petros, and other uses 2 per 10,000 more. That text may have been replaced by the tax ordinances of November 2023, which are not published on the site, so ask SUMAT for the ordinance in force.

Is there a discount for paying the full year?

The 2021 text provides 25% if the full year is paid in January, 15% in February and 10% in March (article 22). Confirm with SUMAT that this ordinance is still in force.

Can a house built on a leased ejido be sold?

According to the 2021 Ordenanza sobre Terrenos Municipales, the lessee cannot sell or encumber the buildings without the prior written authorization of the alcaldía (article 27), and transferring the contract requires an express resolution (article 57). Transfers made without complying with it shall be nonexistent (article 126). That 2021 ordinance may have changed: ask Catastro for the text in force.

Buying in San Cristóbal: procedures, registry

The municipality and the offices involved

San Cristóbal is the capital of Táchira state and is in the Municipio San Cristóbal. The alcaldía (city hall; alcaldiasancristobal.gob.ve) has its headquarters on avenida Alberto Carnevalli, urbanización Mérida. Táriba is in another municipality (Cárdenas): there SAREN (the national registries and notaries service) lists a Registro Público (public registry) with notarial functions for Cárdenas, Guásimos and Andrés Bello. Confirm the municipality in the title document.

The tax office is SUMAT (San Cristóbal's municipal tax office): that is what the alcaldía's menu calls it, and the menu links to a portal with a username and password (sancristobal.vensat.io). The requirements page calls it Dirección de Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SUMATSC). The 2021 tax ordinance assigns registration and valuation to the División de Catastro (cadastre division) and collection to the Jefatura de Rentas Municipales (municipal revenue office) of the Dirección de Hacienda (finance department; articles 5, 15 and 17).

Procedure	Office	Published address
Cédula catastral (cadastral certificate)	División de Catastro	Not published
Tax payment and solvencia (municipal tax clearance)	SUMAT (online portal)	Not published
Recording the sale	Registro Público del Primer Circuito del Municipio San Cristóbal	Av. principal de la urb. Mérida, esquina calle 6, quinta Arvez N° 0-21
Recording the sale	Registro Público del Segundo Circuito del Municipio San Cristóbal	Calle 6 con carrera 10, edif. Banco Caribe, planta alta, parroquia San Sebastián
Authenticating an option or a power of attorney	Notarías Públicas Primera a Quinta de San Cristóbal	See the list

SAREN does not say which sectors each circuit serves: ask at the Registro which one corresponds to the property.

Notarías (notary offices) in the municipality:

Primera: carrera 9, esquina calle 3/4, edif. Martimar, locales 1 al 3.

Segunda: carrera 3 con esquina calle 6, edif. Santa Cecilia, planta baja.

Tercera: carrera 9 entre calles 3 y 4, detrás del Stadium Táchira, La Concordia.

Cuarta: 7ma. avenida con calle 13, edif. Olimport Center.

Quinta: La Concordia, calle 4 bis entre carreras 8 y 9, edif. La Concordia, planta baja.

Source: SAREN's office finder, October 2026.

Cédula catastral and solvencia

The alcaldía uses the term cédula catastral. Its requirements page (area División de Catastro, procedure Cédula Catastral) asks for:

A copy of the registered title document.

The receipt for payment of the administrative fee.

A copy of the cédula de identidad (national ID card) of all the owners.

The application form (downloaded from the page).

A photo of the façade.

A copy of the last cédula catastral.

A printed Google Maps map with the exact location.

The procedure for companies and estates (Cédula Catastral Jurídico) also asks for the RIF (tax ID) and, if it is an estate, the planilla sucesoral (inheritance tax return). The page does not say whether the procedure is online or how much the fee costs: Not published.

Solvencia: Not published. The site gives neither its requirements nor its fee. According to the newspaper La Nación (December 16, 2023), taxpayers can generate solvencia forms on SUMAT's page. Without the solvencia municipal the Registro does not record the sale (article 97 of the Ley de Registros y Notarías, the Registries and Notaries Law). General rules: solvencia municipal and cédula catastral.

The Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos (urban property tax)

The alcaldía publishes the Ordenanza de Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos (urban property tax ordinance) in Gaceta Municipal Extraordinaria No. 200 of November 3, 2021, with its partial amendment; it repeals the one in Gaceta Extraordinaria No. 086 of April 26, 2021.

This 2021 text may have been replaced: before calculating, ask SUMAT for the tax ordinance in force. According to La Nación, on November 13, 2023, 17 revenue ordinances adapted to the LOCAPTEM (the national law harmonizing state and municipal taxes) were promulgated, and the president of the Concejo (city council) said that all those that generate taxes were adapted; the published list includes cadastre and solvencias, but does not name the one for the Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos. Those texts are not on the site.

What the 2021 text says (article 18, second paragraph) for homes occupied by their owner, on the value set by Catastro (it does not say whether the rate is annual; the tax is assessed by quarters, article 15):

Value bracket	Rate
Up to 20 petros	5 per 10,000 (0.05%)
Portion between 20 and 40 petros	6 per 10,000 (0.06%)
Portion between 40 and 50 petros	7 per 10,000 (0.07%)
Portion of 50 petros and above	8 per 10,000 (0.08%)

- Other uses: single-family homes not occupied by their owner, multifamily buildings and commercial premises pay the same scale increased by 2 per 10,000. The text does not clarify which of the two scales applies to an apartment lived in by its owner.

Minimum: 0.05 petros for housing and 0.50 for commerce or other use (third paragraph), except for those who pay between January 1 and March 31 (fourth paragraph).

Late payment: those who pay after March 31 pay according to the planta de valores (values table) in force on the day of payment (fifth paragraph).

Rebates (article 22, sole paragraph): paying the full year, 25% in January, 15% in February and 10% in March.

Alterations: if they raise the value by more than 10% and are not reported within 30 days, the tax is owed on double the difference between the previous valuation and the new one (article 28).

Exoneration: homes of owners over 65 without sufficient means, by agreement of the Cámara Municipal (municipal council) with two thirds of the votes and for a maximum of five years (article 25).

The planta de valores is not on the site and we did not find which petro value SUMAT applies today: ask.

If the building stands on an ejido (municipal land)

If the title document shows that the house stands on an ejido leased by the alcaldía, the Ordenanza sobre Terrenos Municipales (municipal land ordinance; Gaceta Municipal Extraordinaria No. 083, April 26, 2021) applies:

The lessee cannot sell or encumber the buildings without the prior written authorization of the alcaldía; applying for it costs 0.30 petros (article 27).

Transferring the contract requires express authorization by resolution, and it is not allowed before two years from signing except for justified cause (article 57). It is requested through the Jefatura del Área Legal de Catastro (cadastre legal office; División de Catastro), with a fee of 0.30 petros (article 58).

Transfers made in contravention "shall be nonexistent" (article 126).

This ordinance may also have changed: La Nación's 2023 list includes an Ordenanza de Venta de Terreno del Municipio (ordinance on the sale of municipal land) that is not on the site. To buy the land from the municipality: ejido land. In a sale on an ejido, a lawyer is advisable.

The general steps of the purchase

Sign the opción de compra-venta (purchase option), if there is one, at one of the notarías.

Check title and liens at the corresponding Registro Público.

Request the cédula catastral and the SUMAT solvencia; if there is an ejido, the alcaldía's authorization.

Calculate the closing costs.

Sign and record the sale.

Ask Catastro for the cédula catastral in the buyer's name.

Buying a property in San Cristóbal: procedures, city hall and registry

The municipality and the offices involved

Cédula catastral and solvencia

The Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos (urban property tax)

If the building stands on an ejido (municipal land)

The general steps of the purchase

Frequently asked questions

Sources