With the publication of Law 13/2023, of 24 May, important modifications were included in tax matters, among which we would like to mention the creation of the new figure of the self-assessment rectification, which replaces the dual system of complementary self-assessment and request for rectification foreseen in the General Tax Law (LGT) that we had been applying until now.
Specifically, it establishes a single system for correcting the data included in the self-assessments, which will allow taxpayers to rectify, complete or modify the self-assessment previously filed, regardless of the result and without having to wait for the administrative resolution.
Royal Decree 117/2024 of 30 January 2024 has been published in the Official State Gazette of 31 January 2024, which, among other issues, amends the regulations of certain taxes to implement this new figure. Specifically, the regulations on VAT, Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Special Taxes and Tax on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases are amended. The entry into force of these modifications will take place when the ministerial order approving the corresponding declaration models is published.
Below, we highlight the five most important points of this new system:
- The presentation of a rectifying self-assessment will be obligatory for those who wish to rectify, complete or modify the self-assessments previously presented and must be made using the form approved for this purpose by the Administration.
- The rectifying self-assessment may be submitted within the four-year limitation period.
- If the debt resulting from the previous self-assessment was deferred or in instalments, the presentation of the rectifying self-assessment shall be understood as a request for modification of said deferment or instalment.
- A self-assessment rectification cannot be submitted in respect of those elements of the tax that have been regularised by the Administration by means of the issue of the corresponding settlement.
- The consequences of submitting a self-assessment rectification depending on the result of this are as follows:
- When the rectification results in an increase in the amount to be paid or a reduction in the amount to be refunded or offset, the complementary self-assessment system shall be applied.
- When the rectification results in an amount to be refunded, the refund (with interest for late payment) will be processed in accordance with the procedure laid down in the LGT.
- When the rectification results in a reduction of the amount to be paid but does not give rise to an amount to be refunded, the obligation to pay will be maintained up to the limit of the amount resulting from the rectification.
Marina Guerrero Castronuño.
