Do I pay interest or surcharges when requesting a tax deferral?

Clarify your doubts by consulting your particular case

A deferral or instalment arrangement may accrue late-payment interest. An enforcement surcharge is a separate charge: it is not imposed merely because an application is filed, but it may be payable if the debt enters the enforcement period. The consequences depend on when the application is made and whether it is granted.

If the application is granted

For a debt in the voluntary payment period, interest is calculated on the deferred debt from the day after the voluntary payment deadline until the due date granted. For instalments, interest is calculated separately for each instalment and is payable with that instalment. If the application is made during the enforcement period, the amount used to calculate interest excludes the enforcement surcharge.

As a general rule, the late-payment interest rate is the statutory interest rate increased by 25%, unless the State Budget Law sets a different rate. If the whole deferred or instalment debt is secured by a joint and several guarantee from a credit institution or mutual guarantee society, or by a surety insurance certificate, the statutory interest rate applies.

Enforcement surcharges

An application filed during the voluntary payment period prevents the enforcement period from starting while the application is being processed, but late-payment interest continues to accrue. If the debt enters the enforcement period, the surcharge depends on when payment is made: 5% if the entire debt is paid before the enforcement order is notified; 10% if the entire debt and surcharge are paid within the deadline in section 62(5) of the General Tax Law; and 20% in other cases. The ordinary 20% surcharge is compatible with late-payment interest. Where the 5% enforcement surcharge or 10% reduced enforcement surcharge applies, no interest is charged for the period after the enforcement period began.

If the application is refused

If the application was filed during the voluntary payment period, notification of the refusal opens a new payment deadline. If payment is made within that deadline, interest is calculated from the day after the original voluntary payment deadline until the payment date. If payment is not made, interest is calculated up to the end of the new deadline, without prejudice to any interest that accrues afterwards; enforcement surcharges may also become due when the enforcement period starts.

If the application was filed during the enforcement period, enforcement continues or starts if it had not already begun. Interest is assessed after payment under the Collection Regulations; the enforcement surcharge is excluded from the amount used to calculate that interest.

Legal basis: sections 26(2)–(6), 28, 65(5) and 161(2) of General Tax Law 58/2003; sections 52(4), 53 and 72 of the General Collection Regulations, Royal Decree 939/2005.