How to file an ETE form

Many companies and individuals are still unaware of this form. Here we tell you what it is, what to declare and who is obliged to file the form, and what happens if you do not.

What is the ETE form and where is it regulated?

The ETE form is an informative tax return filed with Banco de España for statistical purposes, relating to foreign transactions.

Banco de España Circular 4/2012 of 25 April on rules for reporting by Spanish tax residents of financial transactions and balances of financial assets and liabilities abroad sets forth the ETE form regulations. The circular entered into force on 1 January 2013.

Who is required to file an ETE form?

Natural and legal persons (whether public or private) resident in Spain for tax purposes that are not payment service providers registered with the Banco de España and that conduct transactions with foreign tax residents or that hold assets or liabilities abroad are required to file an ETE form.

Transactions with foreign tax residents include transactions of any kind conducted on their account, e.g. acts, business and transactions involving external receipts, payments or transfers, as well as changes in debit or credit accounts or positions.

When should the ETE form be filed?

The filing date will depend on the volume of transactions. There are thus three types of frequency:

• Monthly. The ETE form is filed within 20 days after the end of each calendar month where the transactions during the previous year or the assets and liabilities held at 31 December of the last year are equal to or greater than €300 million.
• Quarterly. The form must be filed quarterly within 20 days after the end of each quarter where the transactions during the previous year or the assets and liabilities held at 31 December of the previous year are equal to or more than €100 million and less than €300 million.
• Anually. The ETE form is filed each year, by 20 January at the latest, where the transactions during the previous year or the assets and liabilities held at 31 December of the previous year amount to less than €100 million. In this case, the ETE form only needs to be sent if expressly requested by the Banco de España.

To find out the specific amounts of transactions when they are not completed in the euro, such transactions must be converted into euro based on the daily spot rate on which the transaction occurs.

If a particular taxpayer’s transactions significantly impact statistics, the Banco de España may request further information or that the information be sent in full.

How should the ETE form be filed?

The ETE form should be sent to the Banco de España Statistics Department electronically. The Banco de España website shows the information required.

Natural persons must have a digital ID card or a digital certificate issued by the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (Spanish Mint). Legal persons must have a digital certificate issued by one of the certifying bodies accepted by the Banco de España.

If the form is completed in PDF format, a PDF reader program is required, saving the document using the menu option ‘save as’.

What happens if the ETE form is not filed by the deadline?

Suppose you fail to file the ETE form by the deadline. In that case, a penalty may be imposed depending on the seriousness of the infringement and in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Legal Regime of Movement of Capital and International Financial Transactions.

Concerning the above, there are two possible types of infringement:

• Serious infringement. This occurs if transactions in excess of €6 million are not declared or in the case of transactions above €6 million for which a tax return is filed, but it contains inaccurate information. In this case, the penalty will be half the amount of the undeclared or erroneously declared transaction, with a minimum of €6,000.
• Minor infringement. When the ETE form is filed after the deadline, transactions amounting to less than €6 million are not declared, or the transaction details are inaccurate. In this case, the penalty will be one-quarter of the transaction amount, with a minimum of €3,000.

If the infringement consists of filing the ETE form after the deadline, but without having been required to do so by the Banco de España, the penalty will be between €150 and €300, if no more than six months have elapsed since the filing date, and between €300 and €600, if more than six months have elapsed since the filing date. The limitation period is one year.

As you have seen, you need to know the regulations to ascertain whether you are obliged to file an ETE form.