Form 720 of assets abroad. Consequences of the sentence of the European Court In January 202
If you are tax resident in Spain and you have assets abroad you will be interested in this summary of the consequences of a recent sentence, warning of some points of this form that are against EU laws. We explain it to you with four questions.
1. What is the form 720?
Form 720 is the declaration that must be submitted in case of being a tax resident in Spain and having assets abroad, with a total value of more than 50,000 euros in any of these three sections:
– Bank accounts
– Investment funds, shares and other financial assets
– Real estate
2. What does the sentence of the European Court of Justice say? The sentence says that three issues are against EU regulations:
– The non-prescription of non-compliance to submit form 720 on term.
– Sanction for such non-compliance with fixed amount fines disproportionate to the penalties provided for similar penalties at national level
– Accumulate these fines with a proportional fine of 150% of the amount not taxed by reason of said assets and rights. On the contrary, the sentence does not establish that form 720 cannot be requested to the tax residents in Spain, considering that it is information that can help tax control and that it does not go against the restrictions on capital movements between EU member states.
3. Which are the consequences of the sentence?
– The elimination of the imprescriptibility of the obligation to submit form 720; consequently, the maximum penalty period will be the general one of four years. Therefore, the lack of declarations of assets that had to be declared in years prior to 2017 would no longer be punishable in terms of form 720.
-The high penalties for late filing of form 720 should be abolished. Regarding the sanctions already imposed, it will be necessary to determine the status of the file to verify if the penalties are null and void.
4 Will form 720 have to be presented in March 2022?
It will indeed have to be submitted, since the sentence does not indicate otherwise or establish that it is a declaration contrary to EU legislation.
5. What changes will there be in the 720 model?
It is expected that in the coming weeks the Government will modify the sanctioning regime, substantially reducing the amounts of the sanctions for the lack of presentation or presentation after the deadline of form 720.
We will continue to inform you when the new regulations are published. For any questions you can contact jose@asesoriagarcialopez.es or marta@asesoriagarcialopez.es
