Tax Newsletter - March 2024

Deduction of an expense cannot be questioned due to the fact it was accrued in a statute-barred period

The Supreme Court has put an end to the ongoing debate over whether expenses recorded in later periods than their accrual period for accounting purposes can be deducted, where the accrual period has become statute-barred. According to the court, the rule only requires that the deduction in a later period than the accrual period must not give rise to less tax, but it does not require them to be non-statute barred expenses. Finding otherwise would prevent the expense from being deducted and would go against the taxpayer’s economic capacity.

Sponsorship expenses for events of exceptional public interest are not deductible

According to the Supreme Court, these sponsorship expenses reduce the corporate income tax liability, and therefore cannot also reduce the tax base, because, otherwise, an unjustifiable double deduction would arise.

The existence of prior mortgages on a property does not prevent it from securing a stay of the debt

TEAC has held that the eligibility of mortgaged properties to secure a stay of the enforcement of tax debts cannot automatically be denied, although the fact that there are mortgages on properties must be taken into consideration to examine that eligibility.

The transferor of a property must be allowed to question the value audited at the purchaser

If, to determine the gain obtained by a transferor on the transfer of a property, the tax authorities use an administrative valuation made for transfer and stamp tax purposes in an audit on the purchaser, they must make give the transferor access to the audit records and even allow the transferor to question that valuation. Otherwise, according to the Galician TEAR, they would diminish the purchaser’s defense options.

A review of the cadastral value of a property stops the clock on the statute of limitations to apply for a refund of incorrectly paid tax

The Catalan TEAR has held that, if the cadastral value of a property is modified, the owner may apply for refunds of excess payments of the tax on economic activities in respect of their leasing activity (which is calculated by reference to that cadastral value), including amounts relating to statute-barred years for the purposes of the tax.

Approval of the 2023 personal income tax and wealth tax return forms and of form 239

The 2023 personal income tax and wealth tax self-assessment forms have been approved. The filing period started on April 3 and will end on July 1 (although forms specifying payment by direct debit must be filed before June 26). Form 239 has also been approved, for submitting information on certain tax planning arrangements in the context of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the automatic exchange regarding CRS avoidance arrangements and opaque offshore structures, which must be filed for the first time in respect of cross-border arrangements for which the reporting obligation commences on or after March 23, 2024.

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