It is set out in article 27 of the Spanish General Tax Law and only applies if you move before receiving a formal notice: if the tax agency writes first, you fall into the penalty regime. The step by step for catching up is in the guide I missed a deadline.
You file the late return and pay the tax as usual, and you do not calculate the surcharge yourself. The tax agency assesses it later in a separate letter that arrives in your electronic notifications mailbox. There is also a reduction of the surcharge if you pay it within the period stated in that letter and do not appeal.
A typical example: a freelancer forgets the quarterly VAT return and notices several months later. If they file it right away, they pay a modest surcharge and the matter is closed. If they wait and a requerimiento arrives first, that option is gone. The most common mistake is thinking that, since nobody has asked for anything, it is better to sit still: every month that passes makes the surcharge bigger.
It is linked to the sanción tributaria, which applies when the tax agency moves first, and to the autoliquidación rectificativa or the complementaria when you correct a filed return. kontora prepares returns with deadline reminders so this surcharge stays the exception.
Guides that use this term
- Deferring or splitting a tax payment to Hacienda in Spain: how to apply, what can be deferred and what it costs
- When Corporate Tax is paid in Spain: modelo 200 and modelo 202 dates in 2026 and 2027
- Quarterly tax returns for the self-employed in Spain: which forms you file each quarter and by when
- Non-resident tax in Spain: which taxes you pay and when
- Modelo 210: the Spanish non-resident tax, explained in full
Related terms
Rather have this calculated for you?
kontora generates your tax forms box by box, tells you how much to set aside and reminds you before every deadline.