Tax Newsletter - February 2024

Refunds of reported taxes precluded by EU law must be recognized in the fiscal years the taxes were paid

The Supreme Court has concluded in two judgments that taxes refunded on account of being precluded by EU law do not have to be recognized on the corporate income tax return for the year they were refunded but rather in the year they were paid.

A number of measures introduced by Royal Decree-Law 3/2016 have been held unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court has held that a few of the measures introduced by Royal Decree-Law 3/2016 affected the essence of the duty to contribute to sustaining public expenditure, and therefore their approval in a royal decree-law breaches article 86.1 of the Constitution. TEAC has now ruled on one of the claims pleading that the royal decree-law was unconstitutional, and ordered the tax management body to refund the amounts concerned.

Volunteering to be laid off cannot be used as evidence that an individual layoff on objective grounds is not genuine

As it had already done for collective layoffs, the Supreme Court has again concluded that, in individual layoffs on objective grounds, the fact of the company giving workers the opportunity to volunteer to be laid off, does not alter the true nature of the layoff.

Local councils cannot order attachment measures on accounts open at branches of financial institutions located outside their municipalities

According to the Supreme Court, local governments cannot attach accounts open in other municipalities, even if the attachment does not require steps to be performed outside the area of the local government ordering the attachment.

The tax rules for the vesting of ownership are the rules that applied on the death of the first decedent

The inheritance tax rules applicable to the vesting of ownership are the rules in force when ownership was divided. In other words, according to the Supreme Court, the usufruct holder is entitled to apply the reductions that were available on the death of the first decedent.

The one-day grace period is applicable for lodging applications for judicial review

The Supreme Court has concluded that, under article 134.5 of the Civil Procedure Law, notices of applications for judicial review may be filed on the “day of grace”, namely, until 15 hours on the business day following the end date of the filing period.

The Annual Tax Control Plan has been published

The plan describes, as happens every year, the main control steps that the tax agency plans to carry out, placing the focus, among other elements, on reviewing controlled transactions, payments to nonresidents or on the concept of beneficial owner.

For further details on this month’s judgments, decisions, resolutions and legislation, SEE THE WHOLE NEWSLETTER HERE.