I WASN’T ABLE TO FILE MY 210 NON-FISCAL RESIDENT’S TAX DECLARATION WITHIN THE SET TIME LIMIT. WHAT CAN I DO?
In another post that we published, I explained in brief what the 210 form is.
As stated in the post:
“FORM 210 FOR BEING THE OWNER OF A HOUSE OR PROPERTY. This tax, surprisingly, is quite unknown to many International clients who buy a holiday home in Spain or a property to use for short periods, and they are totally unaware that they have to pay this tax annually.”
“It is a declaration that must be filed during the following year. Therefore, the tax for the year 2019 is filed during the following year of 2020. And every year after that.”
The last day to file the 2019 declaration was the 31st December 2020
If, for whatever reason, you were not able to file the declaration inside the time limit, and now you feel under pressure and anxious, DON’T WORRY, WE HAVE THE SOLUTION!
“THE DECLARATION CAN BE FILED OUTSIDE THE SET TIME LIMIT.”
THE DECLARATION CAN BE FILED OUTSIDE THE SET TIME LIMIT
Although you have not filed your declaration on time, WE CAN FILE IT FOR YOU
As you can imagine, the tax man is always happy to receive your precious money……. So, as can be expected, he has already prepared for this situation.
The Spanish Tax Office allows you to file your tax return after the deadline….
But of course…… there is a small fine to pay.
DO IT BEFORE THEY REALISE
To ‘enjoy’ the application of a small fine, you have to file the declaration BEFORE THEY REALISE THAT IT’S LATE and send you a reminder letter.
As is normal, although the HACIENDA computer is one of the best computers in the world, it is not that fast at identifying the payers who have not filed their tax returns on time and ask them for the tax that they should have paid.
It is true that they can ask you for the tax from the first day of January of the year following the one in which the tax was due, but in my experience, they are not that fast!
BUT HAVING SAID THAT, DON’T RELAX. THE FINES/SURCHARGES THAT HAVE TO BE PAID ARE VERY DIFFERENT IN ONE CASE OR THE OTHER.
WHAT FINE DO I HAVE TO PAY?
The amount of fine that you have to pay when you file a late tax declaration is the following:
If you file it within the following three months (January, February, March) you will have to pay a fine of 5% of the tax that you should have paid on time.
If you file it in between month four and month six (April, May, June), you will have to pay a fine of 10% of the tax that you should have paid.
When you file it after the sixth month, that is to say, July, August, September, October, November, or December, you will have to pay a fine of 15% of the tax figure that you should have paid.
And if you pay it in the following 12 months the fine/surcharge you have to pay goes up to 20%.
All the above fines are plus the tax itself that should have been paid on time.
Remember that whilst they have not sent you a letter, in other words until they catch you, once 12 months passes the fine is always 20%.
As I have already said: THESE PERCENTAGES ONLY APPLY TO FILING A LATE TAX RETURN BEFORE THEY HAVE SENT YOU THE LETTER.
WHEN DO YOU HAVE TO PAY IT?
The first thing you must do, is file the tax return that you should have filed before the deadline.
You do not have to add any type or surcharge or fine to the tax payment. FILE IT JUST AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE WITHIN THE SET TIME LIMIT.
The date on which you filed your tax return, will determine the amount of fine that will be applied (5%,10%,15% or 20%).
This fine will follow and will have to be paid when you receive a letter from the Hacienda (it will arrive by registered post) in which they tell you that ‘you have been a naughty boy/girl’ and therefore have to pay a fine.
As well as explaining everything to you, they will send you various documents, one of the pages will contain information about the fine payable so that you can pay it through your bank.
WHERE DO YOU PAY THE SURCHARGE/FINE?
As I have mentioned above, the letter the Hacienda has sent you, has various documents attached to it so that you can make the payment. In Spanish this is called a “CARTA DE PAGO” or “TALON DE CARGO” (payment slip).
Now, every Online Banking system in Spain has a section that enables you to pay payment demands from the Tax Office. So, you, yourself can look for the section that says “pagar impuestos o tasas de Hacienda”. (payment of taxes or Tax Office taxes).
In a future post, we will explain how to do this with a practical example.
DEADLINE FOR PAYAING THE FINE
Remember, the letter will arrive via registered post, therefore, this means that there is a deadline date to pay the fine. It will be clear what the maximum time limit is to make the payment.
The system the tax office usually uses is this one: If you receive the letter in the first 15 days of the month you have to make the payment by the 20th of that same month.
And if you receive it after the 20th, you have up to the 5th of the following month to make the payment.
SO, TAKE NOTE OF WHAT THE DATE OF THE LAST DAY FOR PAYMENT IS, AND PAY IT WITHIN THAT TIME LIMIT.
TIP: When you are not sure of what the last day to make the payment is, in this link, that has been created by the AGENCIA TRIBUTARIA ESPAÑOLA, (Spanish Tax Office) you can find out. You only have to supply two things: “Numero de justificante” the document case number (look for it with these exact words, in the letter you have received), and also the date that you received the letter (the day you signed for reception of the letter at the post office)
FINAL CONCLUSION
So, as you have read, filing your tax return after the deadline is not so serious, especially if you do it as quickly as possible after the 31st of December.
The later it is filed, the more risk there is in receiving a letter from the tax man and once that happens you will not be able to take advantage of the small reduced fine
As you can imagine, the fines are higher than these surcharges, so don’t think twice and hurry up and file your 210 NON-RESIDENT’S TAX RETURN.
If you find yourself in this situation and are feeling anxious because of it
WE WILL FILE YOUR TAX RETURN FOR YOU AS A MATTER OF URGENCY
