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VAT practical manual 2021.

The tax amounts paid must be considered legally deductible

At this point, three circumstances must be taken into account:

  1. The contributions accrued in the territory of application of the Spanish VAT (Peninsula and Balearic Islands) are deductible, borne by direct impact that correspond to subject and non-exempt operations.

    Example:

    The VAT contributions borne by a businessman in a country other than Spain are not deductible in our country because they have not been accrued in the territory of application of the tax. To recover these fees, the businessman must go to the tax administration of the country in which he incurred them. If it is a Member State of the European Community, the businessman must present the form hosted for this purpose on the Tax Agency's website. In this case, the Member State in question will be obliged to return the contributions paid in accordance with the provisions contained in the community regulations. If it is a non-EU country, it will have to comply with its internal regulations.

  2. Fees cannot be deducted in amounts greater than what is legally applicable.

    Example:

    A publisher sells books for 10,000 euros to a bookseller, passing on 2,100 euros of VAT (therefore a 21 percent tax rate applies). Books must be taxed at 4 percent, according to the Law.

    Even if the bookseller has paid the 2,100 euros, he will only be entitled to deduct 4 percent, that is, 400 euros. This is without prejudice to the obligation on the part of the editor to rectify the erroneous impact made.

  3. Fees cannot be deducted before they have been accrued according to law (see the Accrual section in Chapter 4 of this Practical Manual).