What is the extraordinary appeal for review in tax matters?

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The extraordinary appeal for review is an exceptional remedy against final acts of the tax administration and final decisions of the economic-administrative tribunals. It is not a further opportunity to reopen any disagreement with the merits: it is available only on the specific grounds listed in Article 244 of the Spanish General Tax Law (Ley General Tributaria, LGT).

The law provides for three grounds: (1) essential documents for deciding the case come to light after the act or decision, or could not have been submitted when it was issued, and those documents demonstrate the error made; (2) the decision was materially influenced by documents or testimony declared false by a final court judgment; or (3) the act or decision resulted from prevarication, bribery, violence, fraudulent schemes, or another criminal offence, as established by a final court judgment.

A manifest factual error apparent from documents already in the case file is no longer a separate ground for this extraordinary appeal under the current Article 244. The former four-year period cited in older versions no longer applies either. The current deadline is three months from discovery of the documents or from the date the court judgment becomes final, depending on the ground relied on. The supporting documents must be provided.

The appeal may be lodged by persons with standing under the LGT. It is decided by the Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal (TEAC), including when the challenge concerns a final act issued by the tax administration. The maximum time for a decision is six months; if no decision is notified within that period, the appeal may be treated as dismissed. This appeal does not suspend enforcement of the challenged act or decision (Articles 233(14) and 244 LGT).

This remedy should not be confused with the application for annulment available against certain economic-administrative decisions, which has separate grounds and a 15-day deadline (Article 241 bis LGT), or with the special procedures for declaring an act void or correcting errors (Articles 217 and 220 LGT). Acts upheld by a final court judgment cannot be reviewed administratively (Article 213(3) LGT). If judicial review is then sought, the competent court is determined under the Spanish Law on Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction and the subject matter of the case.