Dear Customer:
Due to the exceptional situation caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Spanish Government has adopted various extraordinary measures in the tax order, essentially focused on flexibility in terms of postponements and suspension of administrative, tax and judicial deadlines.
These measures have been recently published through the following legislative texts:
- Royal Decree-Law 7/2020, of March 12, by which urgent measures are adopted to respond to the economic impact of COVID-19
- Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, partially modified by Royal Decree 465/2020, of March 17.
- Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of March 17, on extraordinary urgent measures to address the economic and social impact of COVID-19.
1. Regarding deferral of tax debts:As established by Royal Decree-Law 7/2020, of March 12, tax debts corresponding to those declarations-settlements and self-assessments whose filing and payment deadline ends in the period between March 13, 2020 and March 30, will be deferred. May 2020. This measure would affect, among others, tax debts for withholdings or payments on account during the first quarter, fractional payments of Corporate Tax corresponding to the first period of the 2020 financial year, and debts derived from taxes legally passed on as This would be the case of Value Added Tax.
The deferral, without guarantees, may be requested by those natural or legal persons whose turnover volume in 2019 did not exceed the amount of 6,010,121.04 euros and only those debts of less than 30,000 euros will be deferred. Although the rule does not expressly provide it, for the calculation of the indicated maximum limit, other tax debts that the taxpayer had with the Tax Administration at the time of making the request could be taken into account.
The maximum period for granting the extraordinary deferral will be six months without late payment interest accruing during the first three months.
To facilitate access to all taxpayers, the AEAT has published on its website the instructions for requesting these deferrals, which can be accessed through the following link:
AEAT Instructions.
2. Regarding suspension and interruption of administrative and procedural deadlines.With the entry into force of Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, it was agreed to suspend administrative and procedural deadlines, as well as prescription and expiration periods, during the 15-day period of validity of the Royal Decree and, in where appropriate, of any extensions that may be adopted later. It has been left open to interpretation whether this action was applicable to all tax deadlines as long as they are still administrative deadlines.
Royal Decree 465/2020, of March 17, which modifies Royal Decree 463/2020, clarifies this aspect by expressly excluding from application the tax deadlines, subject to special regulations, and in particular the deadlines for filing of tax declarations and self-assessments, which maintain their general deadlines.
In parallel, Royal Decree Law 8/2020, of March 17, on extraordinary urgent measures to address the economic and social impact of COVID-19, establishes in its article 33 that the following deadlines, as long as they have not ended before March 18:
- The deadlines for the payment of tax debts derived from settlements dictated by the Tax Administration, whether in the voluntary period or in the executive period, the expiration of the deadlines and fractions of the deferral and fractionation agreements granted, as well as the deadlines related to the development of auctions and adjudication of assets due to non-payment of tax debts.
- The deadline for responding to requirements, seizure proceedings and requests for information with tax significance, for the formulation of allegations before opening hearing procedures within tax application, sanctioning or declaration procedures of nullity, return of undue income, rectification of material errors and revocation.
- Likewise, the execution of guarantees on real estate will not be carried out within the administrative-tax enforcement procedures between March 18 and April 30, 2020.
The extension indicates refers to deadlines whose beginning would have taken place before March 18 since, if it were later, those will be extended until May 20, 2020.
Regarding the maximum duration of tax procedures, whether they are tax application, sanctioning or review procedures, the period between March 18 and April 30 will not be considered computable, which represents an increase in said deadlines. in 45 calendar days. However, the taxpayer may present his or her allegations during that period, and the process will be considered completed.
Said period will not be taken into account for the calculation of the limitation periods.
Finally, the deadline for filing economic-administrative resources or claims, as well as for filing administrative appeals, will not begin until April 30, 2020.
We understand that many issues remain to be clarified. The Tax Agency has published a
FAC< /a>, to which we refer, for clarification purposes.
We remain at your disposal for any questions or clarifications in this regard.
In Madrid, March 19, 2020, Father's Day.
Tax Department