"Letters of fear" from the Spanish tax agency
"Messages/letters of fear" ("cartas del miedo") is the name of a special notification that the Spanish tax agency sends to indebted taxpayers. This is reported from Spain by the newspaper "20 Minutos".
The income tax campaign is still active, despite the fact that taxpayers have less than a month left to settle matters with the tax agency. At the moment, the Treasury has completed the payment of a total amount of 6,013 million euros to all recipients of the refund.
However, other people may receive less pleasant news. We are talking about an "alarm signal" — a notification that will be received by those careless taxpayers who forgot to pay taxes to the tax agency.
What is "carta del miedo"
This is a serious matter, because notification can have serious financial consequences. In particular, fines ranging from 50% to 150% of the amount owed are imposed. Moreover, the situation may become even more unpleasant if such cases have already occurred or if the tax authorities believe that economic damage has been caused.
Notification expiration dates
And be vigilant, because even a few months after the deadline for filing a tax return, you will not go unpunished: the tax authorities are given four years to send a notification.
Types of "cartas del miedo"
Depending on the type of actions expected from the taxpayer, the "letter of fear" of the Tax Office can be divided into:
✔️ Requerimiento — Requirement
This is a notification received by a taxpayer when the tax authorities discover that the information filled in by him does not match the information contained in his tax reports. It must be answered, otherwise the Tax Office may issue a fine.
✔️ Propuesta de liquidación — Settlement proposal
It comes when the tax authorities believe that some information that they consider erroneous should be changed.
✔️ Inicio de investigación de inspección — The beginning of an inspection investigation
Request for documentation to be checked by the tax authorities.
✔️ Expediente sancionador — Sanctioning dossier
An official confirmation that the Tax Office believes that the taxpayer has committed a tax violation.
✔️ Carta informativa — Information letter
This is a letter sent by the Tax Agency in order to inform. In such cases, it is not necessary to answer it, but it is necessary to make sure that it is received, since all letters are certified.
✔️ Providencia de apremio
This is a letter in which the Tax Office sets the dates on which it will collect the debt. In this case, it is important to respond quickly to try to appeal or delay the payment.
✔️ Diligencia de embargo — An application about the arrest
Similar to the previous one, but in this case, the tax service directly informs you about debt collection. Example of a seizure order: The Tax Office informs me that I have a deadline to pay a debt of 1,000 euros with a 10 percent surcharge.
How to prevent the appearance of a "frightening letter"
If the IRS has noticed an error, you will not be able to avoid the IRS request. However, if you know about an error or oversight, and you have to pay, you can reduce the fine by submitting an income declaration after the deadline. No one will remove the fine from you, but depending on how much time you have spent, you can reduce the fine and the corresponding economic sanction.
Increase in late payment penalties
In addition, for each month of delay, the interest on the fine increases by one percentage point. In other words, if you send a letter in July, you will have to pay a 1% penalty fee. If you send it in August — 2%, and so on.