🇪🇸 What types of fines are there in Spain?

In this help article, we will inform you about fines in Spain.

Types of penalties in Spain

• Late payment penalties: Late payment penalties (German: Verspätungszuschläge, VZ) are penalties for the late submission of advance VAT returns (German: Umsatzsteuervoranmeldungen, UStVA), annual VAT returns (German: Umsatzsteuerjahresmeldungen, UStJM) and recapitulative statements (German: Zusammenfassenden Meldungen, ZM or so-called EC Sales Lists).
• Late payment surcharges: Late payment surcharges (German: Säumniszuschläge, SC) are penalties for the late payment of VAT payment debts/sales tax overpayments

Note: In Spain, the payment of the VAT payment charge is a prerequisite for the filing of the returns, thus the VZ and SZ are very closely linked.

Amount of the penalty

The amount of the penalty depends on the time of the late payment, so the following applies:

Advance turnover tax return

• In the first month, 1% of the sales tax payment charge is levied as a penalty payment
• Within the 2nd month, 2% will be charged
• In the 3rd month, 3% is charged, and so on.
• If the VAT is not paid until more than one year later, then 15% is levied as a fixed rate.
• If the non-submitted report is a zero report, the penalty is a flat rate of 150 EUR

Tax audit as a special case: If the Spanish tax authorities find out (e.g. during a tax audit) that the VAT payment has not been paid on time, the authorities can levy penalties of between 50 and 150% of the VAT payment.

Annual sales tax return

• The penalty for late submission of the UStJM is 150 EUR (the annual deadline is 30 April)

Summary message

• The amount of penalties for ZM of 20 EUR per undeclared value, varies from a minimum of 300 EUR to a maximum of 20,000 EUR. 

Please be aware that in most cases, a reduction of the assessed fine is possible if the fine is paid immediately - within a few days. The exact amount and the exact time period for a reduced payment will be communicated by the Spanish authorities in the respective letters. We will forward this to you after receiving it from our Spanish partners.
If the payment is not made within the specified period (for the reduction of the penalty payment), the Spanish authorities will levy further penalties.