Online submission and payment of tax returns

Abstract

The online submission and payment of tax returns was the aim of a recent common regulation transposed by means of Spanish Ministerial Order HAP/2194/2013 (22 November) regulating the procedures and general conditions for submitting certain self-assessment and information tax returns. Basically, this Order establishes a common regulatory framework for the online lodging of self-assessment and information returns. It concentrates the existing law into one statue and so avoids the dispersion of regulations. This common regulation will undoubtedly contribute to clarifying and simplifying the application of tax regulations in this very recent and changeable area and will improve legal certainty. This Ministerial Order governs matters including the ways for filing self-assessment returns (including the new “PIN 24 Hour” system of signing with an access key in a register beforehand as a user), self-assessment returns that must be submitted online, the general procedure for the online submission of self-assessment returns, the ways for submitting information returns, information returns that must be submitted online (including the controversial online annual VAT summary return) and the procedure for the online submission of information returns.