Tax Newsletter - October 2019
Tax ruling: The burden of proof for state aid lies with the European Commission
The General Court of the European Union has concluded in two recent judgments that the burden of proof for the existence of state aid in the tax rulings issued by the tax authorities to companies lies with the European Commission (EC).
Judgments
- Corporate income tax.- The gain obtained from an exchange and subject to deferred taxation must benefit from the tax regime existing when the shares are subsequently transferred
- Corporate income tax.- The auditors cannot adjust deduction of allowance for impairment of investments in equity securities in respect of dividends received in statute-barred years
- Administrative procedure.- Determining different periods for appealing against decisions according to whether or not they are in breach of the Constitution or EU law may not be consistent with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness
- Audit procedure.- The tax authorities cannot hold that transactions in statute-barred periods before July 1, 2004 were performed with evasion of the law
- Management and audit procedure.- Tax obligations audited by the tax authorities cannot be reviewed again
- Penalty procedure.- Penalty procedures over failure to comply with requests from the authorities expire in three months
Decisions
- Personal income tax.- Traveling time is included in calculation of exemption for work performed abroad
- VAT.- Clarification of how to calculate the time limits for decreasing charged amounts of VAT
- Transfer and stamp tax.- The partition needed to terminate undivided ownership is not subject to stamp tax
- Transfer and stamp tax.-Autonomous community authorities cannot question requirements for tax neutrality regime
- Inheritance and gift tax.- Satisfaction of the “family business” requirements must occur at the time of the gift
- Collection procedure.- Enforced collection order is void if the assessment giving rise to it has not been notified
Resolution requests
- Corporate income tax.- The offset of tax losses at companies acquired before 2015 is subject to the limits in the legislation applicable at that time
- Corporate income tax.- The capitalization reserve is included to calculate increase in equity
- Personal income tax.- Interest remaining to be deducted on the financing for a leased property cannot be used to determine the income obtained from leasing other properties
- Personal income tax.- The cost of contributions for self-employed workers is deductible even if the director's services are not remunerated
- Personal income tax.- The contribution or conversion into equity of a debt to a company with the intention of liquidating the company immediately could be regarded as a gift
- Personal income tax.- The incoming expatriates regime may be applied for again if tax residence is not obtained in the first relocation to Spain
Legislation
- New protocol amending Spain-U.S. Tax treaty published
- Legislation adopted on how to report the residence of pension funds and collective investment vehicles for the purposes of certain exemptions
- Canary Islands determines exceptional measures to defer the Canary Islands general indirect tax charges affected by the Thomas Cook case
- Mandatory rules implemented on keeping accounting records for products subject to manufacturing excise taxes
- Publication of the annual equivalent rate for the fourth quarter of 2019, for the purpose of characterizing certain financial assets
Miscellaneous
- New Brexit information leaflets for operators published by AEAT
- Legislation on intra-Community VAT amendments moves forward
