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Practical Handbook VAT 2022

Reduced tax rate of 4 percent

The rate of 4 per cent applies to the following transactions:

  1. The supplies, intra-Community acquisitions or imports of the following goods, as well as the execution of works that are considered as services and as an immediate result of obtaining these goods, except when their purpose is the construction and refurbishment of subsidised housing under a special scheme or public promotion:

    • Staple foods such as:bread, bread-making flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pulses, tubers and cereals.

    • Books, newspapers and periodicals, including when they are considered as electronically supplied services, which do not contain solely or principally advertising and do not consist wholly or predominantly of video or audible music content and ancillary items delivered together.The reduced rate does not apply to electronic goods and appliances and school supplies, except for sheet music, maps and sketchbooks.(Modification introduced with effect from 23 April 2020 by the second final provision of Royal Decree-Law 15/2020, of 21 April, on urgent complementary measures to support the economy and employment).

    • Medicinal products for human use, as well as galenic forms, magistral formulae and officinal preparations.

    • Vehicles for persons with reduced mobility referred to in number 20 of Annex I of Royal Legislative Decree 339/1990, of 2 March, and wheelchairs for the exclusive use of disabled persons and, with prior recognition of the right, vehicles intended to be used as special autotaxis or autoturismos for the transport of disabled persons in wheelchairs, as well as motor vehicles that must habitually transport disabled persons in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility, regardless of who is the driver of the same.

      Recognition of entitlement takes effect from the date of submission of the application.

      To be entitled to the benefit of the reduced rate of 4%, it is necessary, in any case, to accredit a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33% by means of a certificate or resolution issued by the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services or the competent body of the Autonomous Community.In addition to the aforementioned degree of disability, the use of a wheelchair or reduced mobility to use public means of transport must be accredited.

      The certificate or resolution of the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services or of the competent body of the Autonomous Community in matters of disability assessment, based on the opinion issued by the Assessment and Guidance Teams dependent on them, is considered sufficient proof of reduced mobility.Likewise, for the purposes of applying the 4% rate, blind or visually impaired persons shall be considered to have reduced mobility and, in any case, members of the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind (ONCE) who can prove their membership of the same by means of the corresponding certificate issued by the aforementioned public law corporation.

    • Prostheses, orthoses and internal implants for people with disabilities.

    • Special regime subsidised housing (the fifth additional provision of Royal Decree 14/2008, of 11 January, establishes that housing classified or declared as subsidised housing for renting, with a basic income, will be considered special regime subsidised housing) or public housing, when the deliveries are made by the developers, including garages, with a maximum of two, and annexes that are transferred jointly.

    • Dwellings acquired by entities taxed under the special regime provided for in Chapter III of Title VII of Law 27/2014, of 27 November, on Corporate Income Tax, provided that the rebate established in article 49.1 of said Law is applicable to the income derived from their subsequent rental.

  2. The following services:

    • Repair services for vehicles for persons with reduced mobility referred to in number 20 of Annex I of Royal Legislative Decree 339/1990, of 2 March, and for wheelchairs and adaptation services for autotaxis and autoturismos for persons with disabilities and for motor vehicles that habitually transport persons with disabilities in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility.

    • Leases with an option to buy of buildings intended exclusively for dwellings classified as subsidised housing under a special scheme or public development.

    • Tele-assistance, home help, day and night centres and residential care services, provided that they are not exempt and are provided in places arranged in centres or residences or through prices derived from an administrative tender awarded to the companies providing them, or as a consequence of a financial benefit linked to such services that covers more than 75 percent of their price.

  3. Article 7 of RD-Law 34/2020, with effect from 19 November 2020 until 31 December 2022, temporarily reduces from 21 to 4 percent the rate applicable to deliveries, imports and intra-Community acquisitions of disposable surgical masks for recipients other than public law entities, clinics or hospitals, or private social entities referred to in paragraph three of article 20 of the LIVA.

    From 1 July to 31 December 2022, the 4 per cent rate for surgical masks also applies to recipients that are public bodies, hospitals or entities covered by Article 20(3) of the LIVA.