Find out how you can delay the VAT payment incurred on imports.

What is the general system?

The VAT paid on imported goods is set by customs legislation covering customs duties (article 167.2 of the Law on Value Added Tax (LIVA).

This tax is calculated on the CIF value of the imported merchandise plus customs duties and is registered with Customs when the SAD (Single Administrative Document) is processed together with the corresponding tariffs (articles 73.1 and 2 of the Regulation on Value Added Tax (RIVA).

Form 031 serves as proof of the tax having been cleared and payment of said amounts having been made.

This procedure implies a financial – and in certain cases elevated – cost due to the time that may elapse between the date the imported goods are dispatched and the filing of the VAT documentation, or the request for a refund of the non-offset tax.

How can payment of the VAT generated be deferred?

The VAT generated by the import will be settled by Customs, but its payment can be deffered, which would cancel the aforementioned financial cost.

This possibility is regulated in article 74 of the RIVA and gives any entrepreneur or professional who files monthly VAT returns the option of including the amount settled by Customs with the return-settlement corresponding to the period in which they receive the document stating said settlement.

In this way, the monthly form 303 will include the accrued VAT amounts generated by the import and, where the full right to deduct the VAT is enjoyed, its deduction will be made at the same time, without having to make an advance payment of VAT at customs.

What are the requirements?

As mentioned in the previous section, the importer must:

1. Be an entrepreneur or professional, acting as such.
2. Have a settlement period that coincides with the calendar month. That is:

• When, during the immediately preceding calendar year, their volume of operations has exceeded €6,010,121.04; or
• they can apply art. 71.3.2nd of the RIVA; or
• they are registered in the Monthly VAT Refund Register (REDEME);
• or, finally, the group of entities special regime applies.

It should be noted that the fact they have this monthly settlement period implies that the taxpayer must adopt the Immediate Supply of Information System.

Application and waiving. Term and manner

This option must be exercised through a tax registry declaration in the November prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which it should take effect. It is understood as being extended for subsequent years, as long as it is not waived or they are not excluded.

The waiver must also be done through a tax registry declaration in the November prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which it should take effect. The waiver will be effective for a minimum period of three years.

Note that importers who stop filing monthly returns will be excluded from applying this regime. The exclusion will take effect on the date on which the obligation to file monthly returns-settlements ceases.

Observations

Registering the amount settled by Customs is essential. A lack of consignment, or an error in the amount recorded is sanctioned with a proportional fine of 10%. Additionally, the enforcement period to collect VAT amounts that have been settled and not included in the corresponding returns begins to count, automatically, from the day after the expiration of the term of entry of said return.

VAT regulations are highly complex and there is a wide variety of conditions, which is why we encourage you to contact us to talk about your specific situation.

Here at MGI Àmbit, we are experts in national and international taxation and are happy to help you.

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Marc Ivars Iglesias

Sotsdirector general at Àmbit Assessor

Licenciado en Derecho y Máster en Dirección Fiscal y Financiera de la Empresa por la Universidad de Barcelona, cuenta también con el Postgrado en Derecho de Nuevas Tecnologías de ESADE. Es especialista en derecho fiscal y mercantil societario.
Antes de su incorporación de como gerente de Àmbit Assessor en 1999, trabajó como responsable del departamento Fiscal-Contable del bufete Busquets Terradellas.
Durante años compaginó su trabajo con la docencia, como profesor de Hacienda Pública y Derecho Fiscal de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

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