A letter from the Spanish Tax Agency: what it is, which deadline applies and what not to do

A deadline can run even if you never open the letter

On paper: deadlines set in days or in months start counting on the day after the letter is delivered (Ley 39/2015, article 30.3 and 30.4); payment deadlines follow their own rules, explained below. If you are not there, the letter can be validly received by anyone at the address you gave for notifications or at your tax address who states their identity, and by the employees of the building's owners' association, such as a concierge or caretaker. If you or your representative refuse the letter, it is treated as delivered (Ley General Tributaria, article 111).

Electronically: companies and other legal persons, and entities without legal personality, must deal with the authorities electronically, and so must, among others, anyone representing someone who is obliged to (Ley 39/2015, article 14.2); a regulation specific to the Tax Agency adds, whatever the legal form, those in certain registers or regimes, such as the monthly VAT refund register (REDEME) or the large companies register (Real Decreto 1363/2010, article 4). Other individuals can generally choose whether to receive notices electronically. In that system the notice counts as served when you open it; if you do not open it, it is deemed refused once ten calendar days have passed since it was made available, and the notification is then treated as made (Ley 39/2015, article 43.2).

If you live abroad, one way to lose a deadline without reading a line is this: the notice sits in an electronic mailbox nobody checks, or reaches a Spanish address where nobody passes it on. Knowing who watches your notices is the first thing we sort out with a new client.

Which kind of letter it is

Not every letter from the Tax Agency is the same, and the right answer changes with the type:

• A request for information (requerimiento): it asks for documents or an explanation. You answer it within the deadline; what happens next depends on what the Tax Agency finds.
• A proposed assessment (propuesta de liquidación): it sets out the adjustment the Tax Agency proposes and its effect, usually an amount to pay or a lower refund, and gives you time to submit your arguments (alegaciones).
• The start of a penalty procedure (procedimiento sancionador): as a rule it runs separately from the tax procedure, unless you waive that (Ley General Tributaria, article 208.1).
• An enforcement order (providencia de apremio): the voluntary payment period is over and surcharges are now being claimed.

Before doing anything else, check what type of document it is, the date it was notified, any deadline to reply and, where the decision can be challenged, the section that explains how, before whom and within what time.

The deadlines that matter

• Individual requests for information: the request must give at least ten days, counted from the day after notification, although inspection or collection bodies may in some cases act immediately (Real Decreto 1065/2007, article 55.2).
• Arguments against a proposal (alegaciones): between ten and fifteen days (Ley General Tributaria, article 99.8).
• How days are counted: when a deadline is set in days, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are excluded (Ley 39/2015, article 30.2). A working day between a public holiday and a weekend still counts unless it has been officially declared a holiday.
• Appeal to the Tax Agency itself (recurso de reposición) or claim before the economic-administrative tribunal: one month from the day after notification (Ley General Tributaria, articles 223.1 and 235.1). It ends on the same day of the month as the notification, and if that day is not a working day, on the next working day (Ley 39/2015, article 30.4 and 30.5).
• Paying an assessment in the voluntary period: if it is notified between the 1st and the 15th of the month, until the 20th of the following month; if between the 16th and the last day, until the 5th of the second following month; if that day is not a working day, the next working day (Ley General Tributaria, article 62.2).

Always check the deadline stated in the letter itself, and write down the date it ends.

Three mistakes worth avoiding

Not answering. Silence does not make the matter go away: the Tax Agency decides with the information it has, which may not be the most favourable to you.

Answering fast and without a plan. Provide what has been requested and any further evidence that is relevant to support your position; documents that have nothing to do with the request only add noise.

Paying without checking. An assessment, or a proposal you are tempted to accept, may contain a calculation error or leave out something you did declare. Before paying, check the decision and the appeal routes it states.

What we do with a letter from the Tax Agency

Where a tax return was filed, we first reconstruct exactly what was originally declared, to the cent, so that it can be compared with the Tax Agency's position. Then we draft the reply in Spanish, provide only what is relevant and keep proof of filing. If more is needed, we prepare and, with your authorisation, file the appeal to the Tax Agency or the claim before the competent economic-administrative tribunal, usually the regional one (TEAR). You get each step explained in writing, in English.