European Justice knocks down the model 720 about Patrimony

Model 720 about Patrimony is a model that, to date, had to be filled out before the AEAT, for information purposes and where we had to detail all our assets abroad.

The Court of Justice of the EU rules that the restrictions on the free movement of capital that it imposes are disproportionate and the fines are very high.
This decision of the European Court does not imply the repeal of the obligation to present form 720, whose term for the 2021 financial year expires on March 31. If not, rather, a possible correction in the sanctioning regime associated with this presentation.
According to the ruling, Spanish legislation "goes beyond what is necessary" to guarantee effective tax controls and fight against fraud and tax evasion.

Model 720 about Patrimony under investigation

The European judges thus endorse the conclusions of the investigation opened by the European Commission six years ago after two years of investigations motivated by the flood of complaints received due to the strict conditions established in Spanish legislation. Approved in 2012, it affected all goods with a value greater than 50,000 euros (accounts, securities or real estate) and many Europeans with second homes in Spain were surprised by its entry into force. The affected individuals denounced both the amount of the fines and the fact that not submitting the declaration or doing it after the deadline was considered an administrative infraction that does not prescribe (an extreme only foreseen for crimes such as terrorism or genocide) even in cases in which the Treasury could learn about those assets by other means.

It is understood that natural persons residing in Spanish territory, among others, were obliged to present the informative declaration model 720, understanding for these purposes all taxpayers who have to pay personal income tax for the integrity of their income. Likewise, all legal persons resident in Spanish territory, permanent establishments or non-resident entities referred to in article 35.4 of Law 58/2003.

Residents in Spain whose assets (rights and assets abroad) do not exceed €50,000 would be exempt from submitting them. It should be clarified that this value refers to individual assets, not as a whole. So, even if the limit is exceeded as a whole, there will be no obligation to declare them.

The term to present the model 720 about Patrimony to AEAT model is 3 months, from January 1 to March 31.

A penalty of 100 euros for undeclared data with a minimum of 1,500 euros for declaring after the deadline. A penalty of 5,000 euros per data with a minimum of 10,000 euros for not declaring or declaring incorrectly.