You missed your modelo 303, 130 or 111. It happens more than you think and it can be fixed, but the cost depends above all on one thing: whether you file before Hacienda, the Spanish tax agency, says anything or Hacienda gets there first. In the first case you pay a small surcharge and there is no penalty. In the second, the penalty starts at 50% of what you did not pay. This article completes autónomo taxes in Spain, the guide with every return and its deadline.
Here is what each surcharge (recargo) costs, how to cut it by 25%, what happens with returns that show nothing to pay, when there is a penalty and the steps to put right a return you missed. Everything comes from Ley 58/2003, the Ley General Tributaria or General Tax Law (LGT).
The key: the prior request
Surcharges apply when you file late without a requerimiento previo, a prior request (article 27.1 of the LGT). The law treats as a request any action by Hacienda formally notified to you and aimed at checking, regularising or assessing that debt. If you file before receiving one, you regularise on your own and there is no offence (article 179.3). If you receive it before filing, there is no surcharge any more: there is a possible penalty.
How much the surcharge is
The surcharge is 1% plus another 1% for each full month of delay, counted from the end of the filing period (article 27.2 of the LGT). After 12 months, it is 15% and you also pay late-payment interest from the day after those 12 months.
| Delay from the end of the period | Surcharge | Late-payment interest | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than one full month | 1% | No | No |
| One full month | 2% | No | No |
| Six full months | 7% | No | No |
| Eleven full months | 12% | No | No |
| More than 12 months | 15% | Yes, from the day after the 12 months | No |
The surcharge is calculated on the amount the return shows to pay. It does not add to a penalty: it replaces it. The late-payment interest rate is set each year by the Budget Law (article 26.6 of the LGT).
The 25% reduction
The surcharge falls by 25% if you do two things (article 27.5 of the LGT). First, pay everything the return shows when you file it, or pay it in the instalments of a deferral backed by a bank guarantee or surety insurance that you request when filing. Second, pay the surcharge within the period that opens when Hacienda notifies it: until the 20th of the following month if it reaches you between the 1st and the 15th, or until the 5th of the second month if it reaches you from the 16th onwards (article 62.2).
Two examples
Your third-quarter 303 showed €1.000 to pay and you file it 40 days after the deadline. There is one full month of delay: a 2% surcharge, €20. If you pay the €1.000 when filing and the surcharge when it arrives, it drops to €15.
Your 130 showed €800 to pay and you file it 14 months late. The surcharge is 15%, €120, or €90 with the reduction. You also pay late-payment interest for the two months beyond the 12.
If the return shows nothing to pay
A nil or carry-forward 303, a 390, a 349, a 347 or a 190 have no amount to pay, so there is no surcharge. Filing them late is still a minor offence even when Hacienda suffers no loss (article 198.1):
- Returns in general: a fixed fine of €200. If you file on your own, with no prior request, it drops to €100 (article 198.2).
- Informative returns, such as modelo 347: €20 for each item or set of items about the same person, with a minimum of €300 and a maximum of €20.000. With no prior request, half: €10 per item, with a minimum of €150 and a maximum of €10.000.
The fine falls by a further 40% if you pay it on time and do not appeal (article 188.3). The details of modelo 347 are in modelo 347 explained.
If Hacienda gets there first: the penalty
If you do not pay what you owed and Hacienda detects it, the offence is failing to pay the debt from a self-assessed return (article 191 of the LGT). The penalty base is what you failed to pay:
- Minor: a 50% fine, if the base does not exceed €3.000 or, if higher, there was no concealment.
- Serious: 50% to 100%, if the base exceeds €3.000 and there was concealment. Not filing the return counts as concealment (article 184.2).
- Very serious: 100% to 150%, if fraudulent means were used.
You also pay the debt and late-payment interest. The penalty falls by 30% if you accept the proposal (article 188.1.b) and what remains by a further 40% if you pay it on time and do not appeal (article 188.3).
Compare with the €1.000 303 example. If Hacienda claims it before you file, the minor penalty is €500. With both reductions it drops to €210, against €15 with the surcharge.
Withholding has a harsher rule. If you withheld from a professional or your landlord and did not pay that withholding with modelo 111 or modelo 115, the offence is never minor: it is serious or very serious depending on the weight of that withholding (article 191.2.c, 191.3 and 191.4).
What to do if you missed a return
- File it as soon as you can. Each full month adds 1% and, above all, there is no penalty until a request arrives.
- File it for its own period. The late return must identify the period it belongs to and contain only that period's data (article 27.4). If you put the amount into another quarter's return, the surcharge does not apply but a minor offence does (article 191.6).
- Pay when you file. It is the condition for the 25% reduction. If you cannot, request a deferral or instalments at that moment (article 65 of the LGT). Bear in mind the reduction only stands if the deferral is backed by a bank guarantee or surety insurance.
- Do not leave it unpaid without requesting a deferral. If you file without paying and without requesting one, the enforcement-period surcharges are added on top of the late-filing surcharge (article 27.3).
- Pay the surcharge when it arrives. Hacienda notifies it later. Pay it within the notification period to keep the reduction.
- If it was a mistake rather than a missed return, file a supplementary return (article 122.2). The surcharge applies to the extra amount to pay.
So that it does not happen again, note the year's deadlines in the tax calendar.
How Facturaz helps
Facturaz calculates your returns from your invoices and expenses as you add them and reminds you by email and in the app before each deadline. On Autónomo Go (€24 + VAT a month) it prepares the official file for you to file yourself with a step-by-step guide. On Autónomo Plus (€44 + VAT a month) our team files your returns for you. You can try it free for 14 days from pricing.