What is a tax reconsideration appeal (recurso de reposición)?

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A tax reconsideration appeal (recurso de reposición) is an administrative remedy asking the competent tax authority to review one of its acts. Under the general regime of the General Tax Law (LGT), it is optional: the taxpayer may file it before making an economic-administrative claim, but need not do so. If a reconsideration appeal is filed, a claim against the same act cannot be brought before the economic-administrative tribunal until the appeal has been expressly decided or may be treated as dismissed by administrative silence (Articles 222 and 225 LGT).

The appeal is filed with the body that issued the challenged act and, as a general rule, that body decides it. Specific rules apply to acts issued under delegated authority (Article 225.1 LGT). The general filing period is one month from the day after notification, or from the day after the effects of administrative silence arise. A specific calculation rule applies to periodically due debts notified collectively (Article 223.1 LGT). Always check the notice of appeal rights and the rules applicable to the particular act.

The written appeal should identify the appellant and any representative, the challenged act and the authority to which the appeal is addressed, and set out the factual and legal grounds and the relief sought. Relevant supporting documents should be provided. If the case file is needed to prepare the arguments, the appellant may appear during the filing period to inspect it (Article 223.2 LGT). The deciding body considers the factual and legal issues raised by the file, whether or not they were raised in the appeal, but may not worsen the appellant’s initial position. If it intends to decide on issues not raised by the parties, it must first allow them to make submissions (Article 223.4 LGT).

Filing the appeal does not by itself suspend enforcement. Under the general regime, suspension must be requested and, for automatic suspension, the legally required guarantees must be provided. Tax penalties are automatically suspended when challenged by reconsideration, without a guarantee, under the terms of Article 212.3 LGT. Specific rules and exceptions also apply, including to certain census-related acts concerning shared-management taxes. Check Article 224 LGT and the applicable regulations before relying on a suspension; see section 4.9.

The general maximum period for notifying the decision is one month from the day after the appeal is filed, subject to the exclusions in Article 225.4 LGT. If no decision is notified within one month, the appellant may treat the appeal as dismissed for the purpose of bringing the next available claim. Silence does not remove the authority’s duty to issue an express decision. A second reconsideration appeal cannot be filed against the decision (Article 225 LGT).

Under the general tax regime, an express or deemed dismissal allows an economic-administrative claim where that remedy is available. Local taxation has a specific system: as a general rule, Article 14 of the consolidated Local Treasury Law requires reconsideration before judicial review, but the law provides for economic-administrative claims in certain cases. For the acts listed in Article 137 of Law 7/1985 in qualifying large-population municipalities, prior reconsideration is optional. The correct route depends on the type of act and municipality; check the notice of appeal rights (see sections 4.3, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.13).