What happens when a taxpayer files a self-assessment after the deadline?

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<p>As a general rule, when a late self-assessment or tax return shows tax payable and is filed without a prior formal request from the tax authority, the late-filing surcharge under Article 27 of the Spanish General Tax Law (LGT) applies. A prior request includes any action formally brought to the taxpayer’s attention and directed at recognition, regularisation, verification, inspection, securing or assessment of the tax debt. The surcharge is 1%, plus a further 1% for each full month of delay, until 12 months have elapsed. If the return is filed after 12 months, the surcharge is 15%. In that case, late-payment interest is also due from the day after the 12-month period ends until filing. The surcharge excludes penalties; before that 12-month point, interest accrued up to filing is also excluded. The former 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% scale is outdated. The surcharge may be reduced by 25% if the payment and timing conditions in Article 27.5 LGT are met; the reduction is not automatic. The law also provides a specific exception for correcting other periods of the same tax involving identical facts already regularised by the tax authority, subject to cumulative requirements (Article 27.2 LGT). If, when filing the late self-assessment, the taxpayer neither pays the amount due nor requests deferral, payment by instalments or offset, executive-period surcharges and interest may also be charged if collection enters that stage (Article 27.3 LGT). Where there was a prior request, the Article 27 surcharge does not apply; the consequences depend on the procedure and the debt’s collection status. A prior request does not, by itself, mean that every subsequent payment is made in the executive period.</p>