4. Unilateral phase

The amicable procedures initiated under any of the three legal instruments (Tax Convention, Arbitration Convention and Directive) may end from unilaterally when, once the application for initiation has been accepted, the competent authority receiving this request considers it to be founded and that it can find a solution on its own. In the case of transfer prices, this solution could consist of the competent authority receiving the request remarking the adjustment made by the tax administration of that same State or that it agrees to make the correlative adjustment when the adjustment has been made by the tax administration of the other State.  

In the event that the friendly procedure is requested in Spain and the competent Spanish authority considers that the application is founded and may finding a solution by itself, the Spanish competent authority shall adopt an agreement to resolve the case without involving the competent authority of the rest of the States concerned. All of this without prejudice to the obligation to notify them of their decision.

The bilateral phase of the amicable procedure would therefore not be initiated.

The agreement shall be notified to the taxpayer. The period for notifying such a decision in the case of procedures initiated under the Directive shall be thirty calendar days from the date on which the decision is made.

The agreement shall apply provided that the taxpayer accepts it and waives the pending resources, if applicable.

The agreement terminating the procedure unilaterally shall not set the precedent (Articles 16,7 and 54,5 of the Regulations on Friendly Procedures).

Similarly, no recourse may be made against the aforementioned agreement, without prejudice to the resources provided for against the administrative act or acts that are issued in application of that agreement (article 14,2 of the Regulations on Friendly Procedures).

Similarly, when the competent authority of the other State can find the solution of the problem itself, it will unilaterally adopt the corresponding agreement (whether to withdraw the adjustment made by its tax administration or to make the adjustment corresponding to the adjustment made by the tax administration in Spain).

If the request for amicable procedure has been filed with the competent authority of the other State and the other State decides to withdraw the adjustment made by its tax administration, it will not be necessary to accept the Spanish taxpayer, although the friendly procedure will be communicated to the taxpayer.

If the request has been filed with the competent authority of the other State in relation to an adjustment made by the Spanish tax administration and the competent authority receiving the application unilaterally decides to make the correlative adjustment, the Spanish taxpayer will be required to accept it.

Finally, if the application for amicable procedure has been filed with the competent Spanish authority, in relation to an adjustment made by the Spanish tax administration or by the administration of another State, the acceptance of the Spanish taxpayer will be required.

In conclusion, in any case, the taxpayer will be asked to accept the request when the application for the amicable procedure has been submitted to the competent Spanish authority.