Spanish Digital tax approved. A troubled start?

Law 4/2020 of 15 October regulating de Tax on certain digital services has been published at the Official Gazette of 16 October 2020. According to the Sixth Final provision and regardless of our comments below, the new Law is to come into force the 16^th January 2021 after the 3 months since its publication contemplated therein are lapsed.

This new, addressed as, indirect tax, with a tax rate of 3%, is to apply  to companies or groups that meet both the two thresholds mentioned in the Law, namely, a global turnover exceeding 750 million Euros the previous year and a taxable income for the purposes of the tax exceeding 3 million Euros the previous year.

The digital tax will have to be self-assessed and declared in the quarterly returns referring to the corresponding calendar quarter. Implementing regulations that regulate the applicable form and filing procedure are still to be approved by the Government.

Unless a mistake, according to the Fourth Final provision of the Law the obligation to declare appear to have commenced in the second quarter of 2020 since the return for this period, along with the one for the third quarter, are to be declared by the 20^th of December. This is difficult to understand given the fact that the Law does not contemplate a retroactive effect.

However, the very twisted wording of the Unique Transitory provision of the Law, expressly destined to regulate how to calculate one of the two thresholds (the one referring to the taxable income) for the period between the coming into force of the Law, so the 16^th January 2021, and the 31st December of this year makes it difficult to confirm that a mistake has been made and give rise to a very puzzling situation.

The Official Gazette is to be scrutinized during the forthcoming days in the search of the correction of such a mistake if such is the case.