Author: slnyc

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that the Spanish sanction regime of the foreign asset declaration (Modelo 720) is contrary to European law.

In a judgement dated on January 27th, 2022, the Court has considered that this sanction regime is null and void since it goes beyond the statute of limitations, and also because the fines imposed on taxpayers who do not declare or declare incorrectly or extemporaneously are disproportionate.

This judgement opens the door to recover all fines imposed in Spain for application of this sanction regime.

Likewise the judgement may contribute to regularize the situation of those foreigners who – due to lack of knowledge- did not declare, in due time, the assets they have in their respective countries of origin.

As summary, we remind you since 2012 it has been established in Spain the obligation to inform about the assets and rights that a Spanish tax resident has abroad. This informative tax form is known as “Modelo 720”. And the obligation to declare this model remains intact, despite the elimination of the special sanction regime.

This tax form report is the same that is already mandatory in other countries. For example in the US there is a mandatory obligation to report assets and rights hold abroad when the value exceed $10,000.

The reporting established in Spain incorporated the necessity to report about three blocks of assets located abroad (bank accounts, securities, and real estate), when any of these blocks exceeded the amount of €50,000.

Besides, the recent Law 11/2021 about measures to prevent fraud has established a fourth block of information. Since 2021 it is necessary to report about cryptocurrencies located abroad of which a Spanish tax resident is the holder, or in respect of which she is the beneficiary or authorized.

Foreigners arriving in Spain for the first time will have the obligation to file Tax Form 720 before March 31th of the first year in which they are qualified as tax residents in Spain. In other words, they must file this Modelo 720 even before filing their first Personal Income Tax return.

Once the Modelo 720 has been filed with respect to one or more of the blocks of information, this Modelo 720 must only be filed again when in relation to each declared block there is an increase of more than €20,000 with respect to the one that determined the filing of the last declaration.

Spanish Lawyer NYC is able to assist you with this reporting obligation. Please contact us through our email fgs@SpanishLawyerNYC.com

Additionally, on November 10th a new Law -in form of Royal Decree- has entered into force. This new Law establishes a new way of calculating the basis of this tax, due when someone sales or receives by inheritance or gift a real property in Spain.

This memo try to summarize that practically all the situations that are not affected by the statute of limitations are susceptible to be appealed in order to obtain the refund of the money paid to the City Hall.

It is possible to distinguish between the following situations:

A) Situations produced between October 26th and November 9th.

There is no obligation to pay the tax since between these dates there was no formula for calculating the tax.

B) Situations carried out after November 10th

We agree with the majority of the tax advisors in indicating that it is very controversial how this new Law was created (Royal Decree), since the Constitutional Court has been considering unconstitutional the use of Royal Decrees to regulate essential elements of a tax.

Therefore, we guess that appeals will be filed against situations calculated since the entry into force of this new Royal Decree.

C) Situations occurring prior to the Sentence on October 26th

The Constitutional Court considers that situations prior to October 26th that are not final will be null and void, but only in the event that they have been appealed before this date.

In our opinion, this limitation to retroactivity infringes several articles of the Spanish Constitution and the rest of the legal system.

However we understand that all situations that are not final would be subject to appeal. These situations are those in which less than 1 month has passed since the notification of the liquidation or less than 4 years passed since the presentation of the self-declaration.

Therefore, although it will not be an easy path, and it will probably be necessary to wait for the pronouncements of the European Court of Justice, we understand that all non-firm situations prior to October 26th would be subject to appeal.

D) Situations in which the transfer has been made at a loss or with little gain.

These situations are still fully appealable since the previous unconstitutional Judgements dated on 2017 and 2019 are still fully in force, so it will be possible to request the full refund in case of transmission with losses or if more tax was paid than the gain obtained. This would be the first issue that should be analyzed prior to the rest of situations described before.

If you have transferred a property in Spain in recent years you should contact a specialist to verify if you are entitled to a refund of the tax paid to the City Hall.

Spanish Lawyer NYC can help you to recover quickly and easily the amount paid for the Plusvalía Municipal.

You can contact us by e-mail at fgs@SpanishLawyerNYC.com or through the contact form at www.SpanishLawyerNYC.com