What are the penalties for improperly requesting a refund?

In Spain there are different mechanisms to properly declare taxes to the tax administration. Although the most common is that companies must pay a considerable amount of taxes, occasionally they may have a balance in favor, so they can proceed to request the return of the surplus to the Treasury. Now, making a request of this type when it is not appropriate is a crime, so it is necessary to review properly only if we are fully sure that the data is correct. Otherwise, there could be penalties for requesting a refund improperly, how we will see below.

What is the return

As we have mentioned before, it is an economic amount that has been paid to the Treasury as a surplus. If the declaration shows that the result is negative, it means that the Treasury must enter the money in favor of the taxpayer, that is, it will have to make a refund.

It should be noted that the Treasury has a maximum of 6 months to deposit the resulting amount in favor of the taxpayer. The available time begins to count from the moment the declaration is entered. However, that does not mean that you have to wait that long to receive the income. In reality, the most common thing is that the Treasury makes the return in a very short time, unless the final result exceeds €3,000. In that case, it will be necessary to wait a considerable amount of time, especially for the verifications that the tax administration will carry out. It should be noted that in the event that the Treasury takes longer than the current regulations contemplate, it must pay 3.75% as compensation in favor of the taxpayer. For this reason, the usual thing is that the money is received in a timely manner.

In order to avoid fraudulent practices against state coffers, preventive mechanisms have been developed. And it is in this context that there are penalties for improperly requesting a refund.

Violations for improperly requesting returns

Current legislation contemplates two possible scenarios related to improper returns. In the first place, based on article 193 of the General Labor Law, the taxpayer who improperly requests a refund is subject to a tax violation. This assumption originates when the taxpayer does not deposit what corresponds to the state coffers to improperly appropriate the returns. Depending on the circumstances, it can be classified as a minor, serious or very serious infringement. In this case, there are clearly outlined sanctions in article 191 of the General Labor Law.

On the other hand, there are tax infractions for improperly requesting refunds, according to article 194 of the aforementioned Law. In this case, the interaction is consumed from the moment an improper request is submitted regardless of whether or not the return is obtained. And as in the previous case, it can be minor, serious or very serious infractions.

With regard to serious violations, these occur when false data is handled, regardless of whether it is inclusion or omission. In this case, the sanction corresponds to a proportional fine of 15% of the amount improperly requested.

It is necessary to consider that, since it is a tax administration control interaction, and therefore against the Spanish government, they are considered tax crimes. This marks the importance of avoiding incurring in this type of act. In addition, in the event that the tax authority expresses its disagreement with the submitted application, it is important to have the advice of lawyers specializing in tax law. Therefore, find an advisor to prepare your statements and, as a consequence, avoid any sanction