General rules for Spanish taxes and dealings with the tax office

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law sets the general principles and rules of the entire Spanish tax system and applies to all tax administrations. It replaces the 1963 law and brings together rules that were previously scattered.
2. Taxes are classified into fees, special levies and taxes proper. Taxes proper are paid without direct consideration; fees correspond to services or use of public property; special levies correspond to the benefit obtained from public works or services.
3. Taxpayers' rights are strengthened: the right to use the official languages of their autonomous community, to file complaints and suggestions, to have their statements recorded in official documents, and to submit any documents they consider appropriate.
4. The tax office's written replies to tax consultations are binding, not only on the person asking but on any taxpayer in the same situation. Information given in advance on the value of real estate to be bought or sold is also binding for three months.
5. If you pay late but before any official request, surcharges of 5, 10, 15 or 20 percent apply depending on the delay, instead of a penalty and interest. Once the enforcement period has started, the surcharge is 5, 10 or 20 percent depending on when payment is made.
6. In tax inspections, 'agreed audit reports' are created: for especially difficult cases or hard-to-quantify values, the taxpayer and the inspector can agree on the outcome. This carries a 50 percent reduction of the penalty if no appeal is filed, and the assessment and penalty cannot be challenged through administrative channels.
7. Tax offenses are classified as minor, serious or very serious according to the degree of fault: they are serious if there is concealment or false invoices, and very serious if fraudulent means are used. Penalties are reduced by 30 percent for acceptance and by 25 percent if paid voluntarily without appealing.
8. The law regulates the ways to review tax office decisions: special review procedures, the reconsideration appeal and economic-administrative claims, with one-month filing deadlines and single-judge bodies to resolve smaller matters faster.

Who it affects

• Any taxpayer who files returns or self-assessments: Gains new rights vis-à-vis the tax office and clear deadlines and surcharges for late payment.
• Companies and self-employed workers: Are subject to the management, inspection and collection procedures and to the new penalties for breaching formal obligations.
• Company directors: May be subsidiarily liable for the company's tax debts in certain cases.
• People buying or selling real estate: Can ask the tax office for binding information on the property's tax value.
• Withholding agents and those required to make account payments: Must keep third-party data confidential; breaching this duty is a punishable offense.

Words worth knowing

Autoliquidación (self-assessment)

A return in which the taxpayer himself calculates and pays the amount due, instead of the tax office issuing an assessment.

Hecho imponible (taxable event)

The situation defined by law that triggers the duty to pay a tax, for example buying a home.

Interés de demora (late-payment interest)

An additional amount payable for late payment of a tax debt or for improperly receiving a refund.

Período ejecutivo (enforcement period)

The phase in which the tax office forcibly collects the debt through the enforcement procedure, after the voluntary payment deadline has passed.

Tasación pericial contradictoria (contradictory expert valuation)

A procedure in which experts for the taxpayer, the tax office and, if needed, a third party value an asset to set its tax value.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries