The government of Mariano Rajoy passed a new law of Common Administrative Procedure at the end of the last term. This law modifies important elements of the communication between the public administrations and the individual citizens. One of these elements concerns the Notification System, which will become electronic and digital in order to gain in swiftness and comfort.
Until now, if a public organism, like the Tax Agency wanted to notify something to a citizen, they had to send a written notification through the Post service. If the postman couldn’t find you at home, they had to try to deliver the notification again in three days. If they were unsuccessful again, the postman left a notice in the postbox, and the citizen had to collect their official notification at the Post office.
Now the process is much simpler. The Spanish Tax Authorities can send an electronic notification to a citizen’s electronic device or e-mail address. There is also the possibility of downloading an electronic version of the notification. This process is carried out even if a citizen hasn’t expressed their preference for the Electronic Notification System. The Spanish Tax Agency understands that in this way they are helping to save money and time to citizens and companies alike, as they won’t need to go to the Post office every time they receive a notification.
The Taxation in Spain and the Electronic Notification System can be difficult to understand for foreigners and expats. If you live in Alcaucin, La Vinuela, Velez-Malaga, Torre del Mar or are an expat in the area of La Axarquía, you may find complications when trying to establish communication with the Spanish Administration. In this case, we recommend that you get in touch with an expert accountant or Solicitor. A professional accountant or Solicitor can offer you help and information about your obligations with the Spanish Authorities.
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Tax Declarations: Penalties for late filing
To present a declaration out of term will always be an object of sanctions and surcharges on the part of the Tax Agency. The sanction will depend on whether the result is tax paying or returning. The surcharges suppose an additional amount to pay that is calculated applying a percentage to the result of the model of tax.
Tax Declarations: Penalties for late filing
To present a declaration out of term will always be an object of sanctions and surcharges on the part of the Tax Agency. The sanction will depend on whether the result is tax paying or returning. The surcharges suppose an additional amount to pay that is calculated applying a percentage to the result of the model of tax.
Surcharges of the untimely declarations presented without requirement of the Tax Authorities
The declarations and auto-liquidations presented out of term without previous requirement of the Tax Agency will not be an object of sanction. The taxpayer will only have to pay a surcharge on the result of the model, depending on the time passed from the end of the voluntary term of presentation of the tax. This surcharge will be:
- 5% of the result in the 3 following months to finishing the term.
- 10% within the period between 3 and 6 months from the end of the declaration term.
- 15% within the period 6 months and 12 months from the end of the declaration term.
- 20% if a year has passed since the end of the presentation term. There will be also additional interests applied to excess time passed after that year.
Sanctions for presentations out of term
If a negative declaration is presented out of term, there will be a sanction of a pecuniary fixed fine of 200€. In the case of informative declarations, the sanction will be 20€ for every set of information referred to the same person or entity that they should have included in the declaration. This sanction will be between 300€ and 20.000€.
If the payment of the sanction is made voluntarily and without presenting allegations, it is possible to benefit from a reduction of 25% of the sanction. If the models appear without previous requirement of the Tax Agency, the sanctions diminish to the half (50%).
The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.
Author: Rosana Tejada
Biographical Info: Rosana Tejada Crespo is a tax advisor holding a Master’s Degree in International Taxation. She specialises in companies and freelancers, tax regulations concerning foreign employees (Beckham Law), non-resident tax, inheritance tax and Spanish income tax. She is one of the founders of Tejada Solicitors, which comprises a group of English speaking solicitors, economists and architects.
