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Practical Income Manual 2020.

2. Special case: Floor clauses

Scope of non-restraint

The refund, derived from agreements entered into with financial entities, in cash or through compensation measures, together with corresponding compensatory interests, of the amounts previously paid to those as interest due to the application of loan interest rate limitation clauses (the so-called "floor clause").

Note: The declaration of non-subjection takes effect from January 21, 2017 and is applicable to previous years that have not expired.

Likewise, it must be taken into account that the return of amounts previously paid by the taxpayer due to the application of loan interest rate limitation clauses is not included in the tax base of Personal Income Tax , along with their corresponding compensatory interests, derived from the execution or compliance of judgments or arbitration awards that declare their nullity.

Tax treatment of amounts previously paid by the taxpayer subject to the refund

The amounts previously paid by the taxpayer subject to the refund derived from agreements entered into with financial entities or from rulings or arbitration awards, will have the following tax treatment:

a. When such amounts had formed part, in previous years, of the base of the deduction for investment in habitual residence or of deductions established by the Autonomous Community, the following assumptions must be differentiated:

  • If the return of these amounts is made in cash, the taxpayer will lose the right to the deductions made in relation to them, and must be added to the state and regional liquid quota, accrued in the year in which the agreement with the entity was entered into. financial or in the judgment or arbitration award, exclusively the amounts unduly deducted in previous years in the terms provided for in article 59 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations , without including late payment interest.

    Said regularization will only be carried out with respect to the years in which the right of the Administration to determine the tax debt through the appropriate liquidation has not expired.

  • If the return of these amounts occurs through compensation with a part of the capital pending amortization, the previous addition will not apply with respect to the part of the amounts that is allocated directly by the financial institution, after the agreement with the taxpayer. affected, to reduce the principal of the loan, that is, the deductions previously made corresponding to those amounts will not have to be regularized.

    For its part, the reduction of the principal of the loan will not generate the right to apply the deduction for investment in habitual residence or any regional deduction.

b. When such amounts previously paid by the taxpayer subject to the refund would have been considered a deductible expense in previous years in respect of which the right of the Administration to determine the tax debt through the appropriate liquidation had not expired, such consideration will be lost, and the complementary self-assessment corresponding to such exercises will be carried out, without penalty, late payment interest, or any surcharge within the period between the date of the agreement and the end of the next deadline for submitting self-assessment for this Tax.

c. The amounts that, due to the application of floor clauses, would have been paid by the taxpayer in 2020 and with respect to those that were reached before the end of the self-assessment submission period for Personal Income Tax for said year. the agreement to return them with the financial institution or is a consequence of a court ruling or an arbitration award, will not form part of the deduction base for investment in habitual residence or any regional deduction, nor will they be considered a deductible expense.

Note: For the purposes of the appropriate regularizations, keep in mind that while in the event of an agreement with the financial institution, the regularization is computed from the date on which it is signed, in the case of a judgment or arbitration award, the regularization must be computed from their date (the finality of the sentence, if applicable).