2012 National Budget Act Passed

17 July 2012

Barely a month before the Government begins dealing with the upcoming tax year’s accounts, the Plenary Session of the Spain Congress definitively approved the General State Budget Proposal Bill for 2012 submitted to the General Courts on April 3rd.

The text, published in the Official State Gazette on June 30th and in force as of July 1, 2012, sets the public deficit target for the whole of the Public Administration at 5.8% of the GDP. In order to reduce the considerable deficit with which the Administration closed the 2011 tax year, above 8%, a series of measures have been established in the area of tax law that affect the main pillars of the tax system.
In the area of Personal Income Tax, the corrective coefficients for purchase value have been increased to 1 per cent for property conveyances not linked to an economic activity.
As regards Corporate Taxes, the measures include an increase, also to 1 per cent, of the coefficient applicable to property assets in conveyances, and the rules regarding the method for determining installment payments on the tax for the 2012 tax year.
In addition, some of the tax measures which had already been approved in Royal Decree-Law 20/2011 have been included, such as the supplementary charge on Personal Income Tax and the increase of the percentage to be withheld for payment on account (from 19% to 21%) of the Corporate Tax, both temporary measures for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years.
For Non-resident Income Tax, and with the aim of adjusting domestic legislation to EU rules, the applicable exemption is extended to profits disbursed by affiliated companies residing in Spain to their parent companies residing in other member states of the European Union and to the countries forming part of the European Economic Area.
Technical modifications have been introduced to the Value Added Tax and the Hydrocarbon Tax; in both cases as a result of the obligation to adapt domestic legislation to EU rules.
Finally, the 4% legal interest on money and the 5% late interest rate has been extended to December 31, 2012.

 For any query, please contact Tomás Brantuas at the following e-mail address: [email protected]