Deferring or splitting a tax payment to Hacienda in Spain: how to apply, what can be deferred and what it costs

Aplazamiento and fraccionamiento with Hacienda: what they are and when they make sense

Article 65.1 of the Ley General Tributaria (LGT, the General Tax Act) allows tax debts to be deferred or split, on application, when your economic and financial situation temporarily prevents you from paying on time. It applies both in the periodo voluntario (the voluntary period, i.e. within the normal payment window of the return) and in the periodo ejecutivo (the enforcement period, once that window has passed unpaid and Hacienda claims the debt with a surcharge). Two words carry weight in that sentence: "temporarily" and "on application". Hacienda grants nothing of its own accord, and the scheme is not designed for a business that will never be able to pay, but for a specific rough patch.

• Aplazamiento (deferral): you pay the whole debt in one go, but later. For example, the 303 due in October is paid in full in April.
• Fraccionamiento (instalments): you split the debt into several payments, usually monthly. Each instalment carries its own interest.

In both cases you pay intereses de demora (late-payment interest) from the day after the voluntary period ends until each due date (art. 53 of the Reglamento General de Recaudación, RGR, the General Tax Collection Regulation). It is not free, but it is usually cheaper than leaving the debt unpaid: if you file the return without payment or an application, the enforcement period begins when the deadline passes and the 5, 10 or 20% surcharges follow.

It makes sense when you know where the money will come from (a client who pays in 60 days, a pending refund). If the business loses money every month, it only delays the blow and adds interest.

Which debts can be deferred and which cannot

The general rule in art. 44.2 RGR is that all tax debts can be deferred except where the law provides otherwise. Those exceptions are in art. 65.2 LGT, and an application that includes them is not examined: it is inadmitida (rejected outright). A rejected application is treated as never filed for all purposes (art. 47.3 RGR), so the debt stands as if you had never asked for anything: in the enforcement period and with a surcharge.

Three nuances that avoid nasty surprises:

• Withholdings are not your money. What you pay with the 111 or 115 is the retención (withholding) you deducted from the payslip, the professional's invoice or the rent (explained in the guide to modelos 111 and 115). That is why the law does not allow it to be deferred.
• Corporate tax instalments cannot be deferred; income tax instalments can. An autónomo who cannot pay their modelo 130 can apply for a deferral; an SL that cannot pay its modelo 202 cannot.
• Pre-insolvency situations. If your company has notified the court that it is negotiating with its creditors, a specific regime with its own time limits applies under the 11th additional provision of Ley 16/2022.

Autónomo social security contributions are collected by the Seguridad Social, not the AEAT: this guide does not apply to them.

I cannot pay this quarter's VAT: deferring modelo 303 and paying VAT in instalments

VAT (IVA in Spain) is the case that raises the most questions. Paragraph (f) of art. 65.2 LGT excludes debts for taxes that must legally be passed on to the customer, unless it is duly shown that the VAT charged has not actually been paid. In plain terms: IVA repercutido (output VAT) you have already collected from your clients cannot be deferred, because that money went through your account; VAT on invoices your clients have not yet paid can be.

The AEAT processes applications of up to 50,000 € automatically and, in those, presumes without asking for evidence that you have not collected that VAT (Instruction 2/2023 of the Tax Collection Department, point five). That does not make collected VAT deferrable: apply only for the part you could prove if asked. Above 50,000 € you will be asked for proof and, without it, the application is rejected. Have ready:

• A list of invoices issued and not collected: number, date, client, taxable base and VAT.
• Your bank statement or accounts, showing the payment has not come in.
• If the client has paid part, only the part of the VAT still uncollected can be deferred.

If the 303 shows 2,500 € to pay and 1,800 € relates to invoices already collected, the prudent course is to pay that 1,800 € on time and apply to defer only the remaining 700 €. Orden HAP/2194/2013, art. 9, governs this partial payment with deferral of the rest.

And if you have collected it but the money went on other payments? That VAT cannot be deferred and, if you include it, you risk rejection. One alternative is to pay the VAT on time and defer another debt that does qualify, such as the modelo 130 (outside the automated route, Instruction 2/2023 limits deferral of a 130 to the start of the income tax return period in which it is included).

If this happens every quarter because your clients pay late, look into the criterio de caja (special cash accounting scheme): VAT on your sales becomes due when you collect it, but VAT on your purchases is not deductible until you pay for them either (art. 163 terdecies of the VAT Act).

Deferral without a guarantee up to 50,000 € and what is required above it

As a rule, deferred debts must be secured (art. 65.3 LGT), but art. 82.2.a LGT allows the guarantee to be waived below an amount set by regulation. That amount currently stands at 50,000 €: Orden HFP/311/2023, art. 2, in force since 15 April 2023, raised the limit from the previous 30,000 €, and it applies in both the voluntary and the enforcement period.

The limit is measured in total, not debt by debt. At the time of the application, the following are added together:

• the debts you are asking to defer now;
• other debts of yours with deferral applications filed and not yet decided;
• outstanding instalments of deferrals already granted, unless they are duly secured.

Example: with an income tax instalment plan that still has 20,000 € to go, if you apply to defer a modelo 200 of 35,000 €, the total is 55,000 € and you no longer qualify for the waiver.

Above 50,000 €, art. 82.1 LGT sets this order:

1. A joint and several guarantee (aval solidario) from a bank or a mutual guarantee company, or a surety insurance certificate (seguro de caución), where an insurer covers the debt if you do not pay. This is the preferred option and lowers the interest.
2. If you show that you cannot obtain the aval or that providing it would seriously compromise the viability of the business: a mortgage, pledge, personal joint and several guarantee or another sufficient guarantee.
3. Precautionary measures in place of the guarantees above, if you request them.
4. A total or partial waiver when you lack sufficient assets and enforcement against them could substantially affect productive capacity and employment (art. 82.2.b LGT).

The guarantee does not cover only the debt. Under art. 48 RGR, in the voluntary period it must cover the debt, the deferral interest and an extra 25% of the total; in the enforcement period, the debt with its surcharge, the interest and a further 5%. The aval must last at least six months beyond the last due date, and you have two months from the grant to put it in place; otherwise the enforcement period begins with a surcharge.

With a guarantee other than an aval, or with a waiver, you will have to provide more documents (art. 46 RGR). The AEAT's criteria are set out in Instruction 1/2023 of 31 March, issued by the Tax Collection Department on guarantees and amended by Instruction 1/2026 of 7 April.

How to apply for a deferral with the AEAT, step by step

You apply at the AEAT's sede electrónica (online tax office) or in its app, using a digital certificate, the DNI electrónico (Spanish electronic ID card), Cl@ve or eIDAS (electronic identification from another EU country). Your gestor can file it for you as a colaborador social (authorised intermediary) or representative.

If the debt comes from a self-assessment return (303, 130, 200...):

1. Prepare the return as usual and, under payment method, choose the option to apply for a deferral or instalments. If you are going to pay part of it, first get from your bank the NRC (the code that proves the payment) for that part and use the partial payment option.
2. File the return. The online office returns the receipt with a clave de liquidación (settlement code) of 17 characters (an A followed by 16 digits).
3. With that code, go to the procedure "Solicitar aplazamiento o fraccionamiento de deudas" (apply for deferral or instalments), at that moment or later, but always before the payment deadline ends. You cannot combine it with the "reconocimiento de deuda" (acknowledgement of debt) option (art. 9 of Orden HAP/2194/2013).
4. Fill in the amount, type of guarantee if needed, direct debit account, number of instalments, frequency, date of the first instalment and reason. One application can cover up to five debts.
5. Sign, submit and keep the receipt.

Filing the return is essential: if you ask to defer a return you have not filed before or at the same time, the application is rejected (art. 47.1.a RGR).

Before you start, open your notificaciones electrónicas (electronic notifications). The AEAT will not let you pay, defer or check debts while you have a notification pending receipt.

Domiciliación (direct debit) is compulsory. Art. 46.2.f RGR requires it when the Administration makes it the mandatory payment method, and the AEAT has done so: according to its technical help, payment is by direct debit, except for tax IDs (NIF) beginning with E, H or U. The account can be at a bank that is not a collaborating entity as long as it is in the SEPA zone. Due dates fall on the 5th or 20th of the month (art. 52.1 RGR); if that is a non-working day, according to the AEAT's help, they move to the next working day.

What to put as the reason. Explain why the cash shortage is temporary and when you will resolve it (a payment you are waiting for, an unpaid invoice). If documents are missing, you will be asked to supply them within 10 days; if you do not reply, the application is closed.

While it is being processed, pay what you proposed. Art. 51.2 RGR requires you to keep paying the proposed instalments during processing; if you stop, the application may be refused. There are also PDF forms for applications of up to 50,000 € and of more than 50,000 €.

When to apply: on time, late or with the debt already in enforcement

In the voluntary period, the recommended route. This means applying within the payment window of the return: for the quarterly 303, the first 20 calendar days of the month after the quarter, and the first 30 days of January for the fourth quarter (art. 71.4 of the VAT Regulation); the other dates are in the 2026-2027 tax calendar. If you apply in the voluntary period, the enforcement period does not start while the application is being processed (art. 161.2 LGT) and there is no surcharge: only interest.

With the return filed late. If you missed the date (see what to do if you have missed a deadline), the application only counts as made in the voluntary period if you file it together with the late return (art. 46.1.a RGR). Even so, you will pay the recargo por declaración extemporánea (late filing surcharge) under art. 27 LGT (1% plus another 1% per full month of delay). The 25% reduction of that surcharge is only kept with a deferral backed by an aval or seguro de caución requested when filing the return (art. 27.5 LGT). You can estimate it with the late filing surcharge calculator.

With the debt in the enforcement period. If you filed without paying and without asking for anything, the enforcement period began the day after the deadline ended (art. 161.1.b LGT). You can still apply for a deferral, until you are notified of the decision to sell (enajenación) the seized assets (art. 65.5 LGT), but the surcharge has already accrued and the AEAT can continue the enforcement procedure while it decides (only the sale of assets is suspended). The interest, however, is calculated without the surcharge in the base (art. 53 RGR).

If a deferral you requested in the voluntary period was refused, the window to pay opened and you did not pay, a new application for the same debt no longer halts the enforcement period (art. 161.2 LGT), and if it repeats the previous one without substantial changes it is rejected (art. 47.2 RGR).

Maximum terms: how long the AEAT usually allows

Neither the LGT nor the RGR sets a maximum number of months, and the decision may grant terms and conditions different from those you request (art. 52.1 RGR). The actual terms are in Instruction 2/2023 of 3 April, issued by the Tax Collection Department, amended by Instructions 3/2024 and 3/2025 and announced in the AEAT press note of 5 April 2023. Its maximum terms:

These are management criteria, not rights: the AEAT can change them and never grants more time than you propose. On the automated route it refuses the application if you have other debts in enforcement totalling more than 600 € that have not been deferred, or if you include a debt from an agreement you have already breached. A shorter schedule, matched to when you will be paid, lowers the interest.

When the application needs to be examined, the AEAT has six months to decide; after that you can treat it as refused in order to appeal, or wait for the express decision (art. 52.6 RGR). Even if the AEAT is slow, interest keeps running (art. 26.4 LGT).

If it is refused and you applied in the voluntary period, a window to pay opens, the same as for assessments: until the 20th of the following month or until the 5th of the second following month, depending on the notification date (art. 52.4 RGR and art. 62.2 LGT). You pay with interest but without a surcharge; if you do not pay in that window, enforcement begins. You can challenge the refusal with a recurso de reposición (administrative appeal) or a reclamación económico-administrativa (claim before the tax tribunals), within one month according to the AEAT procedure page.

Late-payment interest on deferrals in 2026

Art. 26.6 LGT sets late-payment interest at the legal interest rate plus 25%, unless the Budget Act sets another rate. The last Budget Act passed, Ley 31/2022 (42nd additional provision), set the legal interest rate at 3.25% and late-payment interest at 4.0625%. As no Budget for 2026 has been published in the BOE (Spain's Official State Gazette), those rates remain automatically extended (art. 134.4 of the Constitution), and the AEAT confirms 4.0625% for 2026 in its practical manual until a new act is passed. These rates are also listed in the 2026 tax figures.

• Without a guarantee, or with a guarantee other than an aval: 4.0625% a year.
• With an aval solidario or seguro de caución for the full amount: the legal interest rate, currently 3.25% (art. 65.4 LGT and second paragraph of art. 26.6 LGT). Add whatever the bank or insurer charges you.

How it is calculated (art. 53 RGR): by days, on the deferred amount, until the due date of each instalment; that is why splitting the payment is cheaper than deferring it all to the end. The agreement includes the calculation for each instalment (art. 52.3 RGR).

What it costs not to apply. If you file on time but neither pay nor apply for a deferral, the enforcement period surcharges start the next day (art. 28 LGT):

• 5% if you pay the whole debt before you are notified of the providencia de apremio (the enforcement order with which the AEAT demands the debt with a surcharge and a final deadline before seizing assets);
• 10% if you pay the debt and the surcharge within the period the order gives you;
• 20% in any other case, and this one is added to late-payment interest.

With the 5% or 10% there is no interest, but 5% already exceeds a full year of interest at 4.0625%.

Example: a 4,000 € modelo 303 deferred for six months

Suppose you are an autónoma, your 303 for the third quarter of 2026 shows 4,000 € to pay and all that VAT relates to invoices your main client will not pay until the spring. You can prove it with the list of outstanding invoices. The voluntary period ends on Tuesday 20 October 2026, and interest runs from 21 October.

The calculation uses 4.0625%: 4,000 × 4.0625% = 162.50 € a year. For the days in 2027 we assume the same rate, because it has not yet been set.

Option A: six-month deferral, single payment on 20 April 2027. That is 182 days (72 in 2026 and 110 in 2027). Interest: 162.50 × 182 / 365 = 81.03 €. You pay 4,081.03 € in April.

Option B: six monthly instalments of 666.67 € (the last one 666.65 €), on the 20th of each month from November to April:

Some of these 20ths fall on a weekend (20 December 2026 is a Sunday), so the AEAT agreement will show slightly different figures: treat these as an approximation.

Compared with doing nothing. If you file the 303 on time without paying and without applying for a deferral, the surcharge will be 5% (200 €) if you pay before the providencia de apremio, 10% (400 €) if you pay within the period the order gives you, or 20% (800 €) plus interest if you do not. If you miss the deadline and file it late on your own initiative, before any request from the AEAT, on 15 March 2027 (four full months late), the art. 27 LGT surcharge would be 5% (200 €), and you would still have to pay or defer the debt.

With an aval for the full amount, the interest would be the legal rate, 3.25%: about 64.82 € in option A, plus the cost of the aval. For 4,000 € it is not worth it; the aval makes sense for debts over 50,000 €, where the AEAT requires a guarantee as a rule (preferably an aval, although other guarantees or a waiver are possible).

What happens if you miss a deferral instalment, and the alternative of offsetting

Defaulting is expensive. Art. 54 RGR distinguishes three cases:

• Deferral applied for in the voluntary period: if you do not pay on the due date, the enforcement period begins the next day. You are charged the principal, the interest accrued up to the due date and the enforcement surcharge on the sum of both.
• Instalments without a guarantee, or with one guarantee for all instalments, on a debt that was in the voluntary period: if you miss an instalment, that instalment goes to enforcement with its interest and surcharge. If you do not pay what is then claimed either, all outstanding instalments fall due and the whole debt goes to enforcement.
• Application made in the enforcement period: the enforcement procedure simply continues, with whatever seizures apply.

If you see you will not make a due date, act beforehand: you can ask for the agreement to be modified, although that request does not suspend anything (art. 52.3 RGR). And keep your other taxes up to date, because the agreement can be made conditional on it (art. 52.2 RGR).

The alternative of compensación (offsetting). If Hacienda owes you money that has been recognised, for example a refund already agreed, you can ask for it to be offset against the debt instead of deferring it (arts. 71 and 72 LGT and art. 56 RGR). Requested in the voluntary period, offsetting prevents the enforcement period for the part of the debt that matches the credit, although interest runs until that credit is recognised. The option appears on the same payment method screen of the return. And the other way round: in deferrals with a guarantee waiver, offsetting against any refunds due to you is deemed requested while they last (art. 52.2 RGR).

To avoid surprises on the 20th, it helps to know the amount in good time: kontora prepares the return box by box from your accounts and alerts you before each deadline, so you can decide with time to spare whether to pay, split the payment or discuss it with your gestor (the tax adviser many businesses in Spain use).

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