Tax Newsletter - January 2015

The procedure we are familiar with is that when goods are imported, the customs authorities assess any applicable customs duties and import VAT, both of which must be paid on the spot. It is later, when the ordinary VAT return is filed, that the taxable person can deduct the input VAT paid, with the financial effect that this entails.

With the new reform, the customs authorities will continue to assess import VAT, but starting January 1, 2015, the VAT will be collected and paid over (where the taxable person so chooses) in the VAT return for the period in which the assessment is received, which will prevent the financial effect described above, caused by paying the VAT over to the public treasury and later recovering it by making a deduction on the periodic VAT returns.

In this newsletter, we comment on the approval of the new census notification forms which, among other changes, include boxes added to make the above-mentioned election for fiscal year 2015, which may be made until January 31, 2015.

Contents:

I. Judgments

• 1. EU law.- Requiring the pension funds of other states and insurance companies operating in Spain to appoint a tax representative to fulfill their withholding obligations is contrary to EU law (Court of Justice of the European Union. Judgment of December 11, 2014. Case C-678/11)
• 2. EU law.- Granting tax advantages to protect national cultural and historical heritage is not contrary to EU law (Court of Justice of the European Union. Judgments of December 18, 2014. Cases C-87/13 and C-133/13)
• 3. Fees.- It is unlawful for a municipal council to charge a fee for a service that it does not actually provide, because the autonomous community government has adopted the power as a matter of law (Madrid Judicial Review Court No. 4. Judgment of January 9, 2015)

II. Decisions and Rulings

• 1. Corporate income tax.– Application of the tax credit for creating jobs for disabled workers (Directorate-General of Taxes. Ruling V3167-14, of November 26, 2014)
• 2. Corporate income tax.- Several issues regarding article 30.6 of the TRLIS (Directorate-General of Taxes. Rulings V3118-14 and V3123-14, of November 19, 2014)
• 3. Personal income tax and VAT.- Tax treatment of the leasing of a dwelling through a digital platform (Directorate-General of Taxes. Ruling V3095-14, of November 14, 2014)
• 4. Inspection proceeding.- The tax authorities can issue a provisional assessment in relation to acts that do not constitute an offense and consider that other acts relating to the same period and tax constitute an offense and refer the case for criminal investigation (Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal. Decision of December 4, 2014)

III. Legislation

• 1. Form 145, notification of particulars of recipient of salary income to his/her payer or of changes in previously notified particulars
• 2. Census of parties liable to the excise tax on electricity. Form 560 “Excise tax on electricity. Self-assessment”
• 3. Forms 650, 651 and 655, self-assessment of inheritance and gift tax
• 4. Nonresident income tax forms 210, 211 and 213
• 5. Form 143 for requesting the early payment of the tax credits large families and dependents with disabilities
• 6. Changes to customs legislation
• 7. Census notifications 036 and 037
• 8. Annual effective interest rate for the first calendar quarter of 2015 for the purposes of classifying certain financial assets for tax purposes
• 9. Spain-Senegal tax treaty

IV. Others

• 1. Report from the Directorate-General of Taxes on the validity of the current list of tax havens