At Ilia Consultoria you will find dedicated professionals specialised in international taxation and, more specifically, in tax Form 720 Spain. Thanks to our experience we have gained in-depth knowledge of the characteristics, case studies and consequences of submitting the information return on assets held abroad or not doing so.
We submit this form for all kinds of clients, both individuals and tax consultancy and management firms who ask for our assistance or outsource us their more complicated Form 720 Spain cases.
We have a team of over 10 experts who specialise in the various areas of this information return. We receive training and provide it, thus ensuring we are permanently up to date with all legislative developments and the binding consultations that arise.
Having gained expertise in this field, we can help and assist you throughout the entire process. We take care of everything, from the initial advisory service to preparing and submitting the form.
With vast experience in dealing with the penalties arising from Form 720 Spain, we can advise you on the current state of these, and file all kinds of appeals before the Tax Authorities. Our area of expertise also includes the preparation and presentation of the D6 and ETE forms.
Over the years, we have become accustomed to helping all types of clients, with both large and small estates. We provide tailored quotes for each individual case, with full transparency and without commitment.
What can you expect from our service?
We have specialised
in Form 720 Spain and
in avoiding the related penalties
In all our years of experience dealing with Form 720 Spain (since its implementation), we have specialised in advising clients on how to go about submitting Form 720 Spain after the submissions deadline. In these cases, it is of utmost importance to have a tax consultant who is specialised in the matter in order to assess the impact of a late submission of the declaration of assets abroad.
Bear in mind that a late submission could give rise to important consequences on other taxes, such as Wealth Tax, Personal Income Tax (IRPF), Form D6, Form ETE… Sometimes these penalties can be as high as 150% the amount not initially declared. At ETL ILIA, we are experts in avoiding Form 720 penalties, yet if this cannot be avoided, we will file the necessary appeals before the Tax Authorities.
1. Form 720 Spain
a. What is Form 720 Spain?
Form 720 Spain, also known as the declaration of assets abroad, covers the assets, goods or rights that a taxpayer owns abroad. It is important to differentiate between ‘declaration’ and ‘tax’. Form 720 Spain is for declaring, but it never leads to the payment of any tax liability, obviously with the exception of any possible penalties.
The preparation and presentation of Form 720 Spain is regulated in the following legislation:
Form 720 Spain is one of the most controversial forms that exist, especially as regards its heavy penalties, which are the subject of major legal disputes.
Form 720 Spain was first used in 2012, and it emerged with the clear purpose of bringing to light assets held abroad, which were traditionally beyond the grasp of the Spanish Tax Agency. The famous “Tax Amnesty” of 2012 has a great deal to do with this, as it allowed taxpayers with income, assets or rights abroad to legalise their situation with the tax authorities at a more than acceptable cost. As a continuation of this regularisation, the AEAT established the obligation to declare all assets held outside of Spain, with the clear aim of avoiding any accumulation of undeclared wealth.
A separate mention should be made of the penalties that the Tax Agency imposes for late or non submission of Form 720 Spain, which have raised all kinds of controversies since their implementation. These penalties can be very expensive, ranging from 1,500 to 10,000 euros, not to mention the penalties provided for in the IRPF regulation for certain cases, which can be as high as 150% of the amount not declared. Noting that these penalties are immersed in a court battle between the Spanish State (Tax Agency) and the European Court, which considers them to be disproportionate.
Form 720 is made up of three blocks, where the taxpayer declares all assets held abroad, separated into categories. Each of these blocks represents an independent obligation to declare. That is, one must declare Form 720 Spain if any of its blocks complies with the mandatory requirements (as a general rule, when the amount recorded in any of the blocks exceeds 50,000 euros).
Current accounts and deposits held in banks located abroad
This block corresponds to all types of accounts held in financial institutions outside of Spain. In general, this section usually corresponds to current accounts, deposits and credit cards or similar. In Form 720 this corresponds to the value of the “Standard key of asset or right” “C”.
The information to be provided to the AEAT in this section is:
- Corporate or company name and address of the entity.
- Numeric ID of the accounts.
- Opening or cancellation date.
- Balances in the accounts at 31 December and average balance of the last quarter of the year.
- Balance on the date of cancellation or disassociation.
Securities representing the holding in any type of entity.
This block corresponds to securities, rights, insurances and income deposited, managed or obtained abroad. In general, this includes declaring shares, securities and insurances located or managed by entities located outside Spain. In Form 720 this corresponds to the value of the “Standard key of asset or right”, “V”, “I” and “S”.
The information to be provided to the AEAT in this section is:
-
- Shares and holdings:
- Corporate or company name and address of the entity.
- Number and class of shares.
- Value at 31 December.
- Shares and holdings:
- Insurance:
- Corporate or company name and address.
- Surrender value at 31 December.
- Temporary income and life annuities:
- Corporate or company name and address.
- Surrender value at 31 December.
Goods and rights on immovable property situated abroad.
Real estate assets and rights on real estate property situated abroad. This block corresponds to real estate properties of any kind located abroad, namely houses, apartments, plots of land… In Form 720 this corresponds to the value of the “Standard key of asset or right” “B”.
b. Who should submit Form 720 Spain?
Individuals and legal entities residing in Spanish territory will be obliged to submit Form 720 Spain, or Information return on assets and rights abroad, when they are in any of the following assumptions:
In general, Form 720 Spain should be submitted by individuals with foreign assets valued at more than 50,000 euros.
- Who are owners, representatives, beneficiaries or holders of powers for disposing of accounts in financial institutions located abroad. That is to say, individuals or legal entities with direct or indirect relationship with current and non-current accounts held in banks located outside Spanish territory.
- When they are holders of securities or rights representing their holdings in any type of legal entity, securities representing a transfer to third parties of their own capital or values contributed for their management or administration to any legal instrument, including trusts or equity components that, notwithstanding the lack of legal identity, may be acting in the course of trade. That is, taxpayers who hold securities or stocks of entities located outside Spanish territory, mainly foreign brokers, shares…
- When they are holders or beneficial owners of shares and holdings in the share capital or equity fund of collective investment institutions located abroad.
- When, at 31 December of each year, they are policyholders of life or disability insurances when the insurer is located abroad or when, at 31 December of each year, they are beneficiaries of temporary income or life annuities as a result of the delivery of capital in money, of rights of a financial content or any movable or immovable property, to institutions located abroad.
- When they are holders or have the consideration of beneficial owners in respect of immovable property and rights over immovable property located abroad.
In summary, and in general, Form 720 Spain must be submitted by any taxpayer (generally private individuals) who has accounts, shares, securities, insurances or immovable property worth more than 50,000 euros.
If you want to know whether you are obliged to submit Form 720 Spain, don’t hesitate to contact our consultants, who will be happy to resolve any questions you may have.
c. Exemptions in the submission of Form 720 Spain
As a general rule, you are not obliged to submit Form 720 Spain if your assets included in any of the declaration blocks do not exceed 50,000 euros. If in any of these blocks, either individually or collectively (for example, in the case of joint ownership of accounts or real estate) you exceed 50,000 euros, then you are obliged to submit this document.
Also, in the case of a legal entity, when these assets are reflected in the its books, provided they are properly identified and individualised. This exemption exonerates the holder (legal entity), but not the authorised parties, representatives, responsible parties…
You are not obliged to submit Form 720 Spain if your assets included in any of the declaration blocks do not exceed 50,000 euros.
Therefore, this exemption excludes legal entities from the obligation to submit Form 720 Spain, provided the assets are correctly reflected in their accounting documents.
Having already declared Form 720 Spain in previous years, the taxpayer will not be obliged to re-submit the return in coming years provided there have been no increases in excess of 20,000 euros regarding any of the assets declared and provided there has been no cancellation of accounts, securities, properties…
Don’t forget to check our FAQ and case studies on Form 720 Spain.
d. When is Form 720 Spain to be submitted?
The declaration of assets held abroad should be submitted between 1 January and 31 March. Always providing information relating to the immediately preceding financial year.
As regards submissions made outside this period, it should be noted that, awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit, there are several assumptions in which the statute of limitations of this return does not apply, due to which we may be faced with aspects that are simply not time barred.
e. How is Form 720 Spain to be submitted?
This declaration can only be submitted electronically, in accordance with the requirements and procedure described in Articles 5 and 6 of its approval order. To be able to submit Form 720 Spain, you must have previously obtained a Digital Certificate or any other form of secure electronic identification accepted by the AEAT.
2. Risks and penalties
As we have been explaining, Form 720 Spain entails important risks and penalties. The declaration of assets abroad has probably become in one of the most controversial and contentious procedures that currently exists, in particular in relation to its penalties, which are immersed in a range of legal disputes
These aspects include the non-existence of a statute of limitations regarding some of its contents and the disproportionate penalties that the Tax Agency applies to late or non-submissions, even without a request by the AEAT.
The risk of not submitting Form 720 Spain, or doing so in an incorrect or incomplete manner, is of vast proportions. This risk, as previously mentioned, is not limited to Form 720 Spain itself, but can have considerable implications in relation to personal income tax or wealth tax.
Of special relevance is the risk arising from the unlikely event of not being able to justify the origin of the assets or rights, a scenario in which we could be talking of penalties in excess of 150% of the amount of these undeclared assets.
As a result, it is of utmost importance to seek a good tax advisor to assess the risks, penalties and any doubts regarding the submission of Form 720 Spain.
To know the amount of the penalties applied by the Tax Agency in relation to Form 720 Spain, please refer to our section ‘Form 720 Penalties’.
It is worth highlighting that the penalty system that applies to the declaration of assets abroad is increasingly called into question and, therefore, one should bear in mind that taxpayers always have the right to defend themselves before the AEAT or the courts. Proof of this are the recent binding queries issued by the AEAT, such as the judgement (High Court Judgement No. 0208 01073/2018) issued by the High Court of Justice of Valladolid.
In this sense, at ETL ILIA, aside from specialising in the preparation and submission of Form 720 Spain, we also specialise in all aspects related to administrative or judicial appeals, binding consultations and, in general, in defending our clients against the penalties imposed by the Tax Agency in relation to Form 720 Spain.
3. Implications of Form 720 Spain in other taxes
As mentioned previously, Form 720 Spain can have implications beyond its own content, and these implications should always be taken into account. The main related taxes are:
- Wealth Tax: Wealth tax taxes assets owned by a taxpayer in both Spain and the rest of the world. With regard to the assets (money, shares, securities, insurances, real estate) located abroad, these are precisely those referred to in Form 720 Spain. The assets declared in Form 720 Spain are therefore reported in full in the Wealth Tax, provided the compulsory requirements for Equity are met. As a general rule, if the value of the assets included in Form 720 Spain exceeds 500,000 euros, it is very likely that the taxpayer will be obliged to submit a Wealth Tax declaration.
- IRPF (Personal Income Tax): The income tax return can also be related to the declaration of assets abroad, mainly for two reasons.
Firstly, if the assets included in Form 720 Spain (mainly shares, securities and real estate) generate any kind of return. For example, interest accrued from current accounts or securities, leases from real estate…), these yields are always declared in the personal income tax declaration. We must not forget that, in the income tax return, the taxpayer declares on the basis of his/her worldwide income, i.e. income obtained anywhere in the world.
- Form D6: Form D6 is closely related to Form 720 Spain. If the Form 720 Spain declaration includes assets abroad for a value equal to or greater than 50,000 euros, this must also be declared in Form D6.
- Form ETE: Form ETE must be submitted in the event of the amount of the transactions carried out with non-residents declared in Form 720 Spain exceeds 1,000,000 euros. If the amount does not exceed one million euros, the taxpayer is exempt for the requirement to submit said form, except if requested to do so by the Bank of Spain.
Another important aspect of the relationship between Form 720 Spain and the income tax return lies in the discussed penalties applied in terms of the emergence of assets not justified in Form 720 Spain. In this case, and awaiting the outcome of the judicial journey of the statement of assets abroad, the AEAT provides penalties of up to 150% of the value of the undeclared asset. Indeed, the Tax Agency may impose penalties that far exceed the actual value of the asset.
4. Conclusions
As the reader who has patiently reached this point will have understood, Form 720 Spain contains special features that make it especially relevant.
This is one of the declarations with the most risk as regards possible penalties, which may even exceed the actual value of the assets listed in the declaration itself.
For this and other reasons it is essential to seek a good tax advisor with expertise as regards Form 720 Spain, to be sure of the steps to be taken and that the advice, preparation and submission of the declaration of assets abroad is carried out with utmost professionalism and diligence.
For any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our team of advisers specialised in Form 720 Spain.
