Following the publication of the standard forms of the Treasury Department for self-assessment payment in the Official State Gazette on 15th December 2012, the new judicial taxes entered into force on Monday, 17th December 2012 and therefore, shall be applicable to any lawsuit or appeal filed as from said date.

Although the law regulating the new judicial taxes (Law 10/2012 of 20th November, regulating certain taxes in the area of the Justice Administration and the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Science), already entered into force on 21st November, the introduction of the new taxes has been delayed up until now because the corresponding self-assessment payment forms were not available.

The new judicial taxes affect Civil, Social and Contentious-Administrative jurisdictions. The Criminal and Military jurisdictions remain exempt.

The main changes introduced by Law 10/2012 are on one hand a significant increase of between 50 and 750 Euros of existing taxes, and on the other hand, that from now onwards, the taxes do not only affect legal entities, but also individuals, who were previously exempt from the payment of any judicial taxes. Notwithstanding the above, the subjective exemption of those entitled to free legal aid is contemplated, as well as debtors who file for insolvency proceedings, the Prosecutor, Civil Service, Parliament, Legislative Assembly and Autonomous Communities.

Law 10/2012 maintains diverse aspects of prior regulations, such as the criterion regarding the amount of the tax in accordance with two factors, a variable amount taking into account the value assigned to of the proceedings, and another fixed amount, depending on the proceedings.

In civil courts, the execution of the following proceedings constitutes taxable acts:

  • The filing of a lawsuit in any type of declarative proceedings (verbal, cheque or bill of exchange enforcement, ordinary, payment order proceedings)
  • The execution of extrajudicial enforceable rights, and likewise opposition to the execution of enforceable rights.
  • The formulation of counter-claim
  • The initial petition for payment order proceedings and European payment order proceedings.
  • The filing for compulsory insolvency or ancillary proceedings within insolvency proceedings
  • The filing of an extraordinary appeal for procedural infringement, as well as first appeals and appeals to the Supreme Court.

The new judicial taxes in civil jurisdiction are determined based upon each type of proceedings and are as follows:

FIRST INSTANCE
Verbal proceedings 150 Euro
Cheque or bill of exchange enforcement proceedings 150 Euro
Ordinary proceedings 300 Euro
Payment order and European payment order proceedings 100 Euro
Compulsory insolvency 200 Euro
Ancillary proceedings within insolvency proceedings 100 Euro
Extrajudicial execution and opposition to enforceable rights 200 Euro
First appeal 1200 Euro
Supreme Court Appeal 1200 Euro
Extraordinary appeal for procedural infringement 1200 Eur

In social jurisdiction, judicial taxes shall only be paid for appeals in high courts and supreme courts. The new judicial taxes are:

First instance Exempt
First appeal 500 Euro
Supreme Court Appeal 750 Eur

Appeals filed by employees, whether employed by a third party or self-employed, shall be entitled to an exemption of sixty per cent of the applicable taxes.

In both civil jurisdiction and social jurisdiction, as well as the payment of the fixed tax applicable to each case, a variable tax calculated in accordance with the value assigned to the proceedings is also payable. Law 10/2012 has increased the maximum variable tax from 6.000 Euro to 10.000 Euro.

Finally, it should be noted that from now onwards the payment of the tax may be carried out by the legal representation or lawyer in the name of and on behalf of the taxpayer, especially when the latter is not a resident in Spain and without it being necessary that the latter is holder of a tax identification number prior to the tax self-assessment payment. In this case, the legal representative (procurador de los tribunals) or the lawyer shall have no tax liability deriving from said payment.

 

 

Vilá Abogados

 

For more information, please contact:

va@vila.es

 

21st of December 2012