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Can you challenge the enforcement procedure on the merits?

Clarify your doubts by consulting your particular case


Challenging the underlying tax assessment and objecting to an enforcement order are separate proceedings. A taxpayer who considers an assessment unlawful may challenge it through the applicable procedure and within the relevant deadline. Filing an appeal does not by itself suspend collection; suspension depends on whether it is granted or otherwise applies under the law.

If the debt is not paid by the end of the voluntary payment period, the executive period begins on the date specified in Article 161 LGT. This does not mean that the enforcement procedure starts automatically: it begins when the enforcement order (providencia de apremio) is served (Articles 161(3) and 167(1) LGT).

An appeal against the enforcement order generally cannot be used to reopen every substantive issue concerning the underlying assessment. Objections are limited to the grounds listed in Article 167(3) LGT, including extinction or limitation of the debt, lack of service or annulment of the assessment, certain deferral, instalment or set-off requests filed during the voluntary period, other grounds for suspending collection, and errors that prevent identification of the debtor or debt.

It is therefore important to identify which act is being challenged and when it was served. The assessment must be challenged through its own procedures; an enforcement order is challenged on the specific grounds provided by the LGT. The case file and dates determine whether the time limit to challenge the assessment remains open or a statutory ground for objecting to enforcement exists.