News Alert: New developments in tax procedures introduced by the Draft Law on Measures to combat fraud

On 23 October 2020, the Draft Law on measures to prevent and combat tax fraud was published in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament, transposing Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016, laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market, modifying various tax regulations and in matters concerning gambling regulations, hereinafter Draft Law on Measures to combat fraud.

Days later, on 30 October, the text of the National Draft Budget Law for 2021 was published, hereinafter the 2021 Draft Budget Law.

Although these are draft laws currently being processed in the Congress of Deputies (Lower House of Spanish Parliament) and therefore, we will have to wait for said laws and the final text thereof to be approved, and which may be amended, we believe that both draft laws contain relevant tax amendments that are worth knowing in order to be able to carry out prudent tax planning and, where applicable, anticipate decision-making regarding certain operations prior to their entry into force.

It should be emphasised that the series of amendments introduced by both regulations will entail an increase in the tax burden for individuals and legal entities alike. Therefore, knowledge of these regulations prior to their entry into force is essential in order to assess whether any planned decision or action can be brought forward or modified.

To make it easier to understand, we have grouped the new developments according to the tax they affect, without distinguishing their origin, i.e., whether they refer to the 2021 Draft Budget Law or to the Draft Law on Measures to combat fraud.

Likewise, and in order to facilitate reading by the recipients of our News Alerts, we have processed the amendments in three blocks, preparing a News Alert for each of them.

Thus, this block contains amendments relating to the General Tax Law and Law 7/2012 on the modification of tax and budgetary regulations and the adaptation of financial regulations for the intensification of actions in the prevention of and fight against fraud.

You can read the news alert in the attached document.