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Spain – Tax payments in Spain will be allowed from foreign bank accounts

By March 27, 2021December 22nd, 2021No Comments

Previously, it was mandatory to make tax payments in Spain from a Spanish bank account. Foreign businesses will not need to….

Previously, it was mandatory to make tax payments in Spain from a Spanish bank account. Foreign businesses will not need to abide by this regulation as of 15 March 2021.

The Spanish tax authorities announced recently that changes were coming to the way tax payments are made in Spain. This will come as a relief to foreign businesses, which previously were obliged to make bank transfer payments via Spanish bank accounts to the Spanish tax office. As of 15 March 2021, they will no longer have this obligation.  

What steps should I take?

Until 15 March 2021, current rules and regulations are to be followed. This means that companies that are not established in Spain will have to continue to use a Spanish bank account to make their tax payments.

However, after that date companies that do not have a Spanish bank account can opt to follow a new process. You do not have to submit an application or take any action; these changes will be available on the tax authorities’ website when submitting your VAT return.

How do I make the payment?

Once you have completed your VAT return, you will have the option to pay the VAT due via a bank transfer. The following information should be included in the appropriate form (some fields will be automatically populated):

  • Tax ID number/NIF of the taxpayer
  • The code of the form
  • Receipt number
  • Amount to be paid (in euros)
  • The first 8 digits of the account where the transfer is coming from. If the account is not an IBAN account, the first 8 digits of the account should be included as well as a BIC/SWIFT code. 

You will then see the bank account information where you need to make your payment. As a reference on your bank transfer, you will need to indicate your Spanish VAT number. All payments should be made in Euros, and any payment made in another currency will be rejected. Also, all bank transfer fees should be paid by the taxpayer.

Because tax authorities indicate the recipient’s bank account each time and different banks participate in this program, it is possible that different bank accounts are to be used each period. This is decided by the tax authorities randomly to include all possible “cooperating entities”.

The payment date will be the date on which the funds are received in the Spanish bank account.

VAT returns are submitted electronically via the tax authorities’ website.

What happens after the payment is made? 

The reconciliation between the payment received and the tax return submitted will be made by the bank using the data provided electronically by the tax authorities. Payments will be rejected when the payment identifier does match any that are in the system, as well as when the payment is made after the 30 days have passed from the issue date.

Any fees incurred due to a returned payment will be the responsibility of the taxpayer making the transfer, so it is key to make sure all the information is correct. 

After the payment has gone through correctly, taxpayers will be able to access a payment receipt on the tax authorities’ website with their payment identifier and the rest of the necessary information from when the transfer was made.

The information in this article is based on the Official Gazette published in Spain about these changes. Once the website of the tax authorities is updated, the above information should be confirmed with the final changes.

 

The above information was kindly provided by Marosa (Spain), https://marosavat.com; contact Pedro Pestana at: [email protected].