It is now four years deeply unpopular Modelo 720, the declaration of foreign assets, has been with us. Happy birthday- not ! As of today, there have been no updates on the Agencia Tributaria website since last year, so for now we are assuming that nothing has changed in the rules.
After the initial bewilderment and even fear (looking at the kind of fines that the Agencia Tributaria propose for errors in declaration, produced by Modelo 720 when it was first released), I would say that things have calmed down now. We have still not come across any Tax Office fines or penalties, and it appears from correspondence received from them that they are mainly using the data submitted in Modelo 720 to check that income from foreign assets (e.g. rental income from a foreign property) is being properly declared in Spain- subject to the provisions of the relevant international Double Tax Treaties.
However we continue to advise that those filing this declaration take extreme care to fully and correctly disclose all details. I wouldn´t want to take any risks with the Agencia Tributaria given their capacity for giving and enforcing sanctions and penalties.
As nothing has changed in the rules since last year, I am copying below our general guidelines and have added some more specific technical notes in a further post.
For more information and guidance, please visit our website
Obligation to declare
Spanish residents with foreign assets or income in any of the following categories exceeding 50,000 Euros on 31st December.
- Accounts in any kind of financial institution e.g. banks, building societies.
- a) Investments/ rights of representation in foreign companies or other entities. b) Investments in foreign collective investment institutions (e.g. unit trusts). c) Foreign life/ invalidity insurance; income from foreign annuities.
- Property and rights to property.
Note that the threshold is for the total value of each of the three categories.
Where assets are jointly held (e.g. with a spouse), it is the total value of the asset which is relevant. A separate return must be submitted for each person.
Presentation deadline
This tax return must be submitted by 31st March following the end of the year in which the taxpayer is obliged to declare.
Frequency of declarations
The Agencia Tributaria guidelines state the following:
After the initial return is presented, a new return must be filed when the total of any category of assets/ income increases by 20,000 Euros or more, either at 31st December or during the last quarter of the year.
Valuation of assets
Property: purchase price;
Investments which are traded on the open market: market value as at 31st December;
Other investments: value on last published balance sheet.
Penalties for non-disclosure
The guidelines mention “minimum” penalties of 30,000 Euros for non-disclosure ! I can’t envisage how such big penalties could be applied, or even if they would be enforceable if challenged under EU law.
Information is, in principle, shared very easily between financial institutions and Tax Offices in both EU and non-EU countries these days; this means that, in theory at least, the figures that you declare can be checked by the Agencia Tributaria.
The Agencia Tributaria FAQ’s imply that even the slightest error, even unintentional (e.g. in a bank account number) will be punished by a minimum fine of 10,000 Euros !
This would appear to be nothing more than scaremongering. But the fact is, we don’t know. To date we have not heard from any prospective clients who have received a fine, so at this point we can only conjecture
For more information and guidance, please visit our website