Don't ignore it: find out which letter it is, note its deadline, and answer in time. Most letters give you a few working days only, counted from the day after you received it.
The usual letters
- Requerimiento: the tax office asks for documents, an explanation or a missing return. At least 10 working days, the number the letter gives. Ignoring it costs a fine of €150, then €300, then €600.
- Propuesta de liquidación: a proposed new figure for your tax, nothing to pay yet. 10 to 15 working days to object (alegaciones).
- Liquidación provisional: an assessment to pay. Received from the 1st to the 15th of a month: pay by the 20th of the next month; from the 16th: by the 5th of the month after. One month to appeal.
- Procedimiento sancionador: a proposed fine. 15 working days to answer. Agreeing cuts it by 30%, then paying on time without appealing by a further 40%.
- Providencia de apremio: a debt not paid in time, now with a surcharge: 10% if you pay by its deadline, 20% after, and then the tax office seizes.
Good to know
- Working days: Saturdays, Sundays and Spanish public holidays don't count. A deadline falling on one moves to the next working day.
- Every letter carries a CSV, a 16-character code at the foot of the first page: typed into the Agencia Tributaria's online office, it brings up the original.
Pick your letter in our free tax letter decoder to see what it asks. We can answer it for you: we tell you the price once we have read it. Ask us in the chat.