Although the Spanish Form 720 is the means to make the informative declaration on assets and rights located abroad, with clear guidelines regarding the obligation to report for certain taxpayers, it should be noted that there are also exceptions to the Spanish Form 720 reporting obligation, which are also of interest to know.

Indeed, there are exceptions to the Spanish Form 720 reporting obligation, as certain cases are established that exempt from the obligation, depending on the holder and on whether the Spanish Administration is aware of the information by other means (through other information returns previously submitted). In addition, a quantitative limit is established so that, below this limit, there is no obligation to report.

What are the exceptions to the Spanish Form 720 reporting obligation?

Specifically, the following are exempt from filing the Spanish Model 720 on foreign accounts:

(a) The holders in case they are some of the following entities:

• the State, the Autonomous Communities and Local Entities,
• the autonomous State bodies and public law entities of Autonomous Communities and Local Entities,
• the Bank of Spain,
• State Agencies,
• and others.

b) Legal entities and other entities resident in Spanish territory, as well as permanent establishments in Spain of non-residents, holders of foreign accounts that they have registered in their accounts, individually identified by their number and branch where they are open, and the country in which they are located.

c) Resident individuals who, being in Spanish territory and carrying out an economic activity and keeping their accounts in accordance with the Code of Commerce, are holders of foreign accounts registered in said accounting information on an individual basis.

d) Accounts with balances at 31 December that do not exceed, jointly, 50,000 euros, and the same applies to their average balances in the last quarter. Accounts with negative balances are counted for the same purposes.

You only have to report (on all accounts) if any of these joint limits are exceeded. Otherwise, we would be in one of the exceptions to the Spanish Form 720 reporting obligation.

It is important to know for the Spanish Form 720 declaration that accounts with balances at 31 December that do not exceed, jointly, 50,000 euros, and the same applies to their average balances in the last quarter, are an exception to the declaration. Accounts with negative balances are computed for the same purposes.

Some details that should also be borne in mind are:

1. There is an obligation to report the account or asset, if the balance exceeds €50,000, and this regardless of the number of holders.
2. Executives of multinationals who are resident in Spain and have power of disposal over the current account balances of subsidiaries abroad must file the Spanish Form 720, unless any of the above exemptions apply. However, it should be borne in mind that the manager will still have to file this information return when he/she ceases to be authorised, or ceases to be a representative or person with powers of disposal, even if he/she leaves the company.

In 2023, the deadline for filing the Spanish Form 720 to declare assets and rights located abroad is from 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023, although the Spanish Tax Agency indicates that in cases where for technical reasons it is not possible to file online within this period, the filing may be made during the four calendar days following the end of this period. Contact with the Perez Parras Economists & Lawyers Firm if you would like to find out whether you are included in any of the exceptions to the Spanish Form 720 reporting obligation, or if, on the contrary, you must file your declaration of assets and rights abroad this year.

If you need to declare your assets and rights abroad, using the Spanish Form 720, at Perez Parras Economists and Lawyers Firm we are experts in International Tax Law. Contact us so that we can help you and make your declaration of assets abroad correctly, avoiding the penalties that any type of error in the Spanish Model 720 entails. Our professional team, with offices in the centre of Malaga and in Nerja, is made up of lawyers with double degrees in Law and Economics, bilingual and experts in national and international taxation, for residents and non-residents.