In its recent judgment of 27 January 2022, Case C-788/19, The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rules on the infringement action brought by the European Commission on 23 October 2019.
The CJEU has overturned the Tax Agency’s Form 720, which obliges taxpayers to declare assets abroad, on the grounds that it is contrary to EU law, that the conditions and penalties set out in the regulation are “disproportionate”, and that Spain has failed to comply with its obligations under the free movement of capital as they may discourage the acquisition of goods abroad.
Taxpayers will be able to recover the amount of the penalties for this tax model now rejected by the European Court of Justice. The Treasury will have to return the penalties even if they are firm and uncontested, by means of the State’s patrimonial responsibility.
Spain must now comply as quickly as possible with the CJEU ruling, which is binding. If it fails to do so, the European Commission can go back to court and ask for financial penalties to be imposed.
The Ministry of Finance has commented that it will reform the system to bring it into line with European standards before the end of March.
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