Tax amnesty in Spain

25 April 2012

On March 31, 2012 Royal Decree Law 12/2012 was published in the Official State Journal. It introduces various tax and administrative measures aimed at reducing the public deficit. One of the most significant measures is the government’s approval of a tax amnesty for taxpayers who own goods or services that have not been declared before the Spanish tax authorities.

In response to the urgent need to reduce the Spanish public deficit, the government has decided to encourage reporting undeclared income by granting a reduced tax rate: a fixed 10% rate over the acquisition value of goods and declared rights. The main priority of this measure is, therefore, to repatriate 25 billion euros which had evaded taxation from the beginning of the crisis in Spain, and which would yield an additional inflow of 2.5 billion euros.

The amnesty applies only to taxpayers of the Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax or Non-Resident Income Tax who own undeclared goods or rights acquired, in general terms, prior to December 31, 2010. The only requirements are the ability to prove or accredit the origin of same and file the form before the beginning of cross-check or examination proceedings on the above mentioned taxes and periods is announced.

This regularization will be carried out by virtue of a special settlement tax return that must be filed no later than November 30, 2012. The filing of this special return will exempt the taxpayer from additional levies, late-payment interests, and tax penalties.

For further information, please contact María Blanco: [email protected]