Over the last few days, and through various regulatory provisions, the Government has established certain exceptional tax measures, which are described below, ordered by date of approval:
- Tax deferral for self-employed workers and SMEs
Article 14 of the Royal Decree Law 7/2020, of 12th March (BOE 13th March), which outlines the extraordinary measures taken in response to the economic impact of COVID-19, establishes the concession of tax debt in terms of State tax administration for all declarations-settlements and self-settlements of the self-employed and SMEs- the debtor is required to be a person or entity with a volume of operations not exceeding 6,010,121.04 euros in the year 2019- whose deadline for submission and payment is 13 March 2020 and 30 May 2020 inclusive, provided that the applications submitted up to that date meet the requirements referred to in Article 82(2)(a) of the above Law (amount limited to ‘30,000).
Specifically included among the tax debts that can be deferred by this system are those derived from withholdings and payments on account, taxes levied and payments in instalments.
The following are the conditions for deferral:
- A period of six months.
- b) Interest on arrears shall not be yielded within the first three months of the deferral.
- Suspension of administrative deadlines
In addition to the suspension terms and procedural deadlines of all jurisdictional orders established by the second additional provision of Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March (BOE of 14 March), which declares the state of alarm for the management of the health crisis situation caused by the COVID-19, With effect from shortly before midnight on 14 March 2020 and for the duration of its validity, and any extensions thereof, the third additional provision of the aforementioned Royal Decree provides, for the same period, for the suspension of terms and the interruption of deadlines for the processing of procedures by public sector entities.
It is specifically stated that, as an exception, the competent body may agree, by means of a reasoned decision, to the measures of organisation and instruction strictly necessary to avoid serious damage to the rights and interests of the person concerned in the proceedings and provided that they agree that the time limit is not suspended.
In principle, the suspension of terms and the interruption of deadlines affected the entire public sector, as expressed in Law 39/2015, of 1st October, of the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, although logically those procedures and resolutions that refer to situations closely linked to the state of alarm were exempted from this paralysis.
However the Royal Decree 465/2020, of 17th March (BOE 18th March), in which the Royal Decree 463/2020 is modified, introduces two new paragraphs in the abovementioned third additional provision, to make it clear that the suspension of proceedings and the suspension of administrative deadlines do not affect tax returns or self-assessments or administrative procedures relating to social security:
«5. The suspension of the terms and interruption of the periods referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply to administrative procedures in the fields of social security affiliation, settlement and contributions”.
«6. The suspension of the terms and the interruption of the administrative periods referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply to the tax periods, which are subject to special regulations, nor shall it affect, in particular, the periods for the submission of tax returns and self-assessments”.
Therefore, in spite of the exceptional situation, the deadlines for declaration and entry of tax returns and self-assessments, except in the event of those in which the debtor public entity has specifically established its suspension (which some Autonomous Communities and Municipalities have done in relation to the taxes they manage).
- Suspension of limitation and prescription periods
In parallel to the suspension of administrative deadlines, the fourth additional provision of Royal Decree 463/2020 itself establishes that the periods of limitation and expiry of any actions and rights are suspended for the duration of the state of alert and, where appropriate, any extensions adopted. Since the suspension does not generally affect tax proceedings, it must be understood that this suspension of the effects of prescription and expiry does not apply generally in the field of taxation either.
- Suspension of specific deadlines in the field of taxation
Article 33 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, on urgent extraordinary measures to deal with the economic and social impact of COVID-19 (BOE of 18 March) contains, which came into force when it was published, certain exceptions in which, despite the general rule of non-suspension of proceedings in the field of taxation as seen above, certain proceedings were halted in the following terms:
- Extension until 30 April 2020 of the following deadlines, insofar as they have not been completed by 18 March 2020:
- The deadlines for payment of tax debts in the voluntary period derived from settlements made by the Administration, and the deadline for payment of the tax debt once the enforcement period has begun and the enforcement order has been notified.
- Maturities of instalments and fractions of instalments agreements granted.
- The deadlines related to the development of the auctions and the awarding of goods referred to in Articles 104.2 and 104a of the General Collection Regulation.
- – The deadlines for dealing with requests, seizure proceedings and requests for information with tax implications.
- The time limits for making representations in relation to acts of opening of said procedure or hearing, issued in procedures of application of taxes, penalties or declaration of nullity, refund of undue income, correction of material errors and revocation.
- It is specifically outlined that if the taxpayer, despite the possibility of availing himself of the extension of these deadlines, complies with the request for information with tax implications or submits his arguments, the procedure will be deemed to have been completed.
- Within the administrative procedure of urgency, the execution of guarantees that fall on property from the entry into force of the RDL and until April 30, 2020 will not be carried out.
- Extension until 20 May 2020 of the following deadlines, insofar as the agreements are notified as from 18 March 2020 (unless the deadline granted by the general rule is longer, in which case the latter will apply)
- The deadlines for payment in the voluntary period of tax debts resulting from settlements made by the Administration and the deadline for payment of the tax debt once the enforcement period has begun and the enforcement order has been notified
- The deadlines related to the development of the auctions and the awarding of goods referred to in Articles 104.2 and 104a of the General Collection Regulation.
- The term established to attend the requirements, seizure proceedings, information requests or acts of opening of allegations or hearing.
- However, if the taxpayer, despite the possibility of availing themselves of the extension of these deadlines, complies with the request for information with tax implications or presents his arguments, the procedure will be deemed to have been completed.
- From 18 March to 30 April 2020, the calculation of periods for the purposes of the maximum duration of the procedures, as well as the periods of prescription and expiry, in the procedures for the application of taxes, penalties and reviews processed by the State Tax Administration Agency is suspended, although during this period the Administration may promote, order and carry out the essential procedures.
- The deadlines for contesting decisions that end the appeal for reversal and economic-administrative procedures are suspended. For the sole purpose of calculating the period of limitation, the aforementioned resolutions shall be deemed to have been notified when an attempt to notify them is accredited between March 18 and April 30, 2020.
- The period for lodging economic-administrative appeals or claims against tax acts, as well as for appealing through administrative channels against the decisions handed down in economic-administrative proceedings, will not commence until the end of this period, or until notification has been made in accordance with general regulations, if the latter has taken place after 30 April.
5. Exemption from Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty for loan and mortgage credit novelties resulting from the approved measures.
The first final provision of Royal Decree Law 8/2020 establishes that the deeds formalizing the contractual novelties of loans and mortgage credits that are produced under the protection of the aforementioned Royal Decree Law will be exempt from the gradual quota of notarial documents of the modality of documented legal acts of the ITP-AJD.
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