A ruling rejects the enforcement action before resolving a request for suspension
The Supreme Court has issued a judgment in which it opposes the way the Tax Agency acts when demanding a debt when a request for suspension is submitted within a voluntary term, according to which, before the Treasury decides on the appeal, requires it with a surcharge of 20%.
In this ruling that unifies doctrine, he agrees with a taxpayer from whom the Treasury claimed a little more than one million euros for personal income tax due to an inspection report on personal income tax. The taxpayer filed a request for precautionary suspension of debt payment within the voluntary period and the Administration rejected it. However, the inadmissibility occurred after the Treasury issued the order of urgency. In other words, it does not assess whether the decision of the Treasury was justified or not, but rather it is pointed out that it is not possible for the executive process to be initiated before having responded to the request for suspension.
However, it is necessary to distinguish in these cases in which the precautionary suspension is requested between the refusal or the inadmissibility, since the refusal confers a new term to pay the debt if the suspension was requested within the voluntary payment period. In the same case, however, the inadmissibility of the request for suspension means that it is considered not submitted, for which reason the enforcement action is initiated directly. Therefore, there is no new opportunity to pay in the voluntary period. For this reason, non-admission entails the payment of surcharges.
Until now, the Tax Agency only paralyzed the collection of settlements when the suspension was requested, without guarantees, due to damages that were impossible or difficult to repair. Apart from this situation, applications that are unfounded or that do not meet the formal requirements are considered not submitted, which leads the Administration to initiate executive proceedings and notify the enforcement order, without even having responded to the request for suspension raised. .
Thus, the decision of the Supreme means in practice that the Treasury will not be able to skip the deadlines. The taxpayer will gain some time, although the end result will be the same.
THIS IS HOW THE TAX AGENCY WORKS TO COLLECT THE DEBT
Most taxpayers pay their tax debts within the period known as the voluntary period, which is set by law. There is the possibility of requesting a postponement, a route that the Treasury has restricted in recent years and that was widely used by companies during the economic crisis, marked by a lack of liquidity. Once the voluntary payment period has elapsed, the so-called executive period begins, in which the Tax Agency can resort to preventive measures such as the seizure to ensure collection. In the enforcement phase, the taxpayer must pay a surcharge that is 20% on an ordinary basis and the corresponding late-payment interest, which currently amounts to 3,75%.
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