Specific obligations
Entities applying the special regime of the group of entities will have the following tax obligations :
The parent entity shall represent the group of entities before the tax authorities.As such, the parent entity must comply with the specific material and formal tax obligations arising from the special regime of the group of entities.
Both the parent entity and each of the subsidiaries must comply with the obligations established in article 164 of the Law of VAT, with the exception of the payment of the tax debt or the request for compensation or refund, and for this purpose, they must proceed in accordance with the provisions of obligation 2 of the following section.
The parent entity, without prejudice to the fulfilment of its own obligations, shall be responsible for the fulfilment of the following obligations :
Communicate to the tax authorities the following information:
In compliance with the requirements, the adoption of the corresponding agreements and the option to apply the special regime.
All this information must be submitted in the month of December prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which the special scheme is to be applied.
The list of group entities that apply the special regime, identifying the entities that give rise to any change in their composition with respect to that of the previous year, if applicable.This information shall be communicated during the month of December of each calendar year in respect of the following calendar year.However, where entities have joined the group in the month of December, the information relating to these entities may be submitted until the following 20 January.
Any modification affecting group entities applying the special regime.This notification must be submitted within the self-assessment period corresponding to the settlement period in which it occurs.
The renunciation of the special scheme, which must be exercised during the month of December prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which it is to take effect, both as regards the renunciation of the total number of entities applying the special scheme and as regards individual renunciations.
The advanced tier option (Article 163 sexies.five of the VAT Law), which must be exercised during the month of December prior to the beginning of the calendar year in which it is to take effect.This option shall refer to all the entities that apply the special regime and form part of the same group of entities, shall be valid for at least one calendar year and shall be deemed to be extended unless waived.
The waiver of the advanced level of the special scheme, which shall be valid for at least one year.
Submit the aggregated periodic self-assessments of the group of entities, proceeding, where appropriate, to the payment of the tax debt or the request for compensation or refund as appropriate.These aggregated self-assessments shall integrate the results of the individual self-assessments of the entities applying the special scheme for the group of entities.
The aggregate periodic self-assessments of the group of entities shall be submitted once the individual periodic self-assessments of each of the entities applying the special regime of the group of entities have been submitted.However, in the event that any of these self-assessments have not been submitted within the deadline, the aggregated self-assessment may be submitted without prejudice to the actions that may be taken due to the failure to submit.
The settlement period for entities applying the special scheme for the group of entities shall coincide with the calendar month, irrespective of their volume of transactions.
Entities that are excluded from the special scheme shall, where applicable, apply the general tax scheme from the settlement period in which this circumstance arises, submitting their individual self-assessments, monthly or quarterly, depending on their volume of operations, in accordance with the provisions of Article 71 of the VAT Regulation.In particular, where the exclusion from the special scheme takes effect on a date other than that corresponding to the beginning of a calendar quarter and the excluded entity is required to submit its self-assessments on a quarterly basis, the excluded entity shall submit a quarterly self-assessment for the remaining period of time until the end of that quarter.
When, for a settlement period, the total amount of the balances to be refunded in favour of the entities applying the special regime of the group of entities exceeds the amount of the balances to be paid by the rest of the entities applying the special regime of the group of entities for the same settlement period, a refund of the excess may be requested, provided that four years have not elapsed from the filing of the individual self-assessments in which the excess arises.
This refund shall be made in accordance with the terms of Article 115(3) of the Law on VAT.In such a case, such balances shall not be offset against subsequent aggregated self-assessments, irrespective of the period of time elapsed until the refund becomes effective.
In the event that the special scheme for the group of entities ceases to apply and amounts remain to be offset for the entities in the group, these amounts shall be allocated to those entities in proportion to the volume of transactions in the last calendar year in which the special scheme applied.
Where a trader or professional includes the balance to be offset resulting from one of his individual self-assessments in an aggregate self-assessment of the group of entities, that amount may not be offset in any individual self-assessment corresponding to a subsequent period, regardless of whether or not the special arrangements for the group of entities subsequently apply.
Have in place an analytical information system based on reasonable criteria for the allocation of goods and services used directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in carrying out the transactions referred to in Article 163 octies.one of the Law on VAT.This system shall reflect the successive use of these goods and services until their final application outside the group.The information system must include a report justifying the allocation criteria used, which must be homogeneous for all the entities of the group and must be maintained for all the periods in which the special regime applies, unless they are modified for reasonable reasons, which must be justified in the report itself.This information system must be kept for the duration of the tax limitation period.
In the event that any of the entities integrated in the group of entities submits an individual self-assessment late, the applicable surcharges and interest will be applied, without the fact that the balance of the individual self-assessment was originally included in an aggregate self-assessment of the group of entities having any effect for these purposes.If the aggregate self-assessment corresponding to the group of entities is submitted late, the surcharges will be applied to the result of the same, and the parent entity will be responsible for its payment.
Entities applying the special regime of the group of entities shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of the tax debt arising from this special regime.
Failure to maintain or maintain the information system shall be considered a serious tax offence of the parent entity.The sanction shall consist of a proportional financial penalty of 2 per cent of the group's turnover.
Inaccuracies or omissions in the information system shall be considered as a serious tax offence of the parent entity.The sanction shall consist of a proportional pecuniary fine of 10 per cent of the amount of the goods and services purchased from third parties to which the inaccurate or omitted information refers.The parent entity shall be liable for any failure to comply with the specific obligations of the special regime for the group of entities, including the obligations deriving from the payment of the tax debt, the request for compensation or the refund resulting from the aggregate tax return-settlement corresponding to the group of entities, and shall be responsible for the truthfulness and accuracy of the amounts and qualifications stated by the subsidiaries included in the aggregate tax return-settlement.Entities applying the special regime for the group of entities shall be liable for infringements arising from breaches of their own obligations.
The actions aimed at verifying proper compliance with the obligations of the entities that apply the special regime for the group of entities shall be understood with the parent entity, as the representative of the group.Likewise, the actions may be understood with the dependent entities, which must attend to the tax administration.The verification or investigation actions carried out on any entity of the group of entities shall interrupt the limitation period of the tax relating to all the entities of the group from the moment the parent entity becomes formally aware of them.The reports and settlements resulting from the verification of this special regime shall be extended to the parent entity.
Example:
The companies OMEGA, S.A. and DELTA, S.A., which meet all the requirements for applying the special regime for groups of entities, have exercised the option and meet the requirements established in the Law of VAT for its application.The company OMEGA, S.A. has a 60% shareholding in the capital of the company DELTA, S.A. On 19 April each company files its individual self-assessment on form 322, with the following result:
Company OMEGA, S.A.:
Company DELTA, S.A.:
On 20 April, the parent entity shall submit a monthly self-assessment on form 353, in which it shall integrate the results of the previous self-assessments, as follows: